What is a tummy tuck?
Take a look under your Jeep Wrangler TJ and one of the first thing's you'll notice is that the transfer case hangs down really low (especially if you have a Rubicon model). A tummy tuck means that you're lifting the transfer case up into the body more and getting rid of that low hanging stock skid plate in favor of something flat, that doesn't hang down (or at least doesn't hang down as low as the stock skid plate).
Why do I need a tummy tuck?
Well, you don't
need a tummy tuck, but if you do a lot of offroading in your TJ then at some point or another you're going to get your transfer case skid plate stuck on something, whether it be a rock, a log, etc.. With as low as the stock skid plate hands, most serious offroaders will agree that a tummy tuck is a necessity.
What do I need for a tummy tuck?
Depending on the Jeep you have and which route you intend on going you might need one or more of these for your tummy tuck:
Body Lift- There are various routes to go with body lifts which include
JKS, Daystar, Performance Accessories, Currie, etc.. A 1" body lift is about all you'll need for a proper tummy tuck. Don't believe the bad hype you hear about body lifts. In this case a body lift is absolutely a must have for any proper tummy tuck (unless you want to hammer the crap out of your transmission tunnel). A 1" body lift is hardly noticeable and will allow other mods like a high clearance gas tank skid. They also help lift the body without changing the COG very much, reducing the amount of bumpstop you need to clear a given tire size. My personal recommendation is the
JKS 1.25" body lift.
Motor Mount Lift (MML) - Is needed when doing any high clearance transfercase skid on a Jeep that has a suspension lift of 2” or more. Stockers can usually get away with out it, but if you are doing a tummy tuck chances are you aren’t keeping the stock suspension height. The reason this needs to be done is when you are stuffing your tranny and tcase farther up you want to tilt the output shaft of the tcase down to help with the geometry you are messing with. By bringing the front of the engine up, you will be able to tilt the output shaft of the tcase down. There are various MMLs out there including
JKS,
Currie,
Brown Dog, and
M.O.R.E.. If you choose new motor mounts instead of the spacers, get the rubber bushing versions to reduce engine vibrations. Poly bushings transmit more engine vibrations, which will really start to annoy you in short order. My personal recommendation is the
M.O.R.E. Bombproof mounts.
Double Cardan Driveshaft - Is needed when doing any tummy tuck on a Jeep that has been lifted 1.5- 2” or more via its suspension. Stockers can usually get away without it, but if you are doing a tummy tuck chances are you aren’t keeping the stock suspension height. This will be needed regardless of whether you have a Rubicon or non-Rubicon. There are a few out there (Currie, Teraflex, ect.), but the only one that I would go with is a Tom Wood.
Slip Yoke Eliminator (SYE) - Is needed when doing any skid on a Jeep that has been lifted 1.5" or more via its suspension. Stockers can usually get away without it, but if you are doing a tummy tuck chances are you aren’t keeping the stock suspension height. If you have a Rubicon, you will
not need one of these. Many people say that the Rubicon already has an SYE, but that is incorrect. It would have to have a slip yoke in the first place to elimininate it - Rubicons have fixed flange rear outputs. There are several good kits on the market such as Advance Adapters, JB Conversions, Rubicon Express, etc..
Rear upper adjustable control arms - Will be needed to rotate your pinion upward. There will be some fine tuning to eliminate driveshaft vibrations. Currie, Savvy and Metalcloak are the only ones I would consider personally.
Rear track bar relocation bracket - This angled bracket will be needed for your trackbar when rotating the pinion. With out this bracket your stock or adjustable trackbar will bind.
Rear lower shock mount extenders - When rotating your pinion up, you will find that the can of your shock (if you have piston down, you may not have this problem) will rub the axle. Some extensions like those from Currie will get the job done. If you're looking for maximum flex, this is a good time to consider shock mount relocation to use long travel shocks.
Spring perch modifications - Will sometimes have to be done, but I personally have not seen a Jeep that has absolutely needed it. Rotating the pinion will cause the spring sit a bit different- resulting in the spring trying to arc...meaning the bumpstops will no longer align. This mod is not absolutely necessary with smaller lift heights, and mainly helps suspension geometry on taller lifts.
Transfer case bracket - The stock shift lever can often be used when a tummy tuck is install in conjunction with a MML & BL, since these keep the drivetrain and accessory angles as close to stock as possible. The Savvy transfer case shifte
r is hands down the best transfer case shifter on the market for our TJs (yes, it's even better than the Novak). There should be no question in your mind, Savvy is the way to go. Savvy makes a transfer case shifter for the
NV231 transfer case and one for the
NV241 Rubicon transfer case.
Skids - Last but not least you'll obviously need a new skid plate if you plan on doing a tummy tuck. There's ton of options out there, but I think that the best one on the market is the Savvy skid plate. It's completely flat (doesn't hang down at all), it's made from aluminum (so it's much lighter than the stock one), and the quality is top notch. Again, there's a ton of options out there, but the Savvy one is my personal preference, and if you read around you'll see a lot of people would agree.
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Exhaust mod- For almost all skid plates you will likely have to mod your exhaust so it will not contact the skid and or the lower control arm. Some people can get this done by themselves while others need to go to an exhaust shop. Going to an exhaust shop usually isn’t too expensive for this fairly simple mod.
Conclusion
Do the math on the products you need for your specific Jeep and ask yourself these questions:
- Can I afford a tummy tuck?
- Do you play in the rocks enough to justify one?
One thing is for certain, a proper tummy tuck is
not cheap!
Last but not least, if there are any errors or anything that needs to be added please let me know!