Found rust on mine there too. Hit it with a wire wheel and went through the frame
It was a great project. Saved long term damage and now I know what is going on under there. Learned some new stuff along the way too.I found similar on my last jeep. The outside had very light surface rust but no rot, but the section between the frame and the skid plate was a mess. Cleaned it up like you did.
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Thanks, I cannot take credit as it was recommended to me by @Chris when I bought my TJ and asked what I should do for maintenance. I posted the thread because it really surprised me how much rust there was on an otherwise perfect frame.Nicely done OP. This is one of those areas that people tend to ignore, until it's too late!
I decided not to do this, it was suggested by a few folks. Frame and skid plate are clean of rust, primed and painted. I also added oil based lubricant between them prior to reassembly. I also plan on checking it again every so often. I am trying to keep things as stock as possible and when I looked at the indentation on the skid plate it would have taken a bunch of washers to separate the two. It would mean the transmission was dropped and I just didn’t want to mess with the look of the Jeep or mechanics of the transmission.A couple of washers between the skid and frame lets the water out. Zero rust and no painting needed.
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That thing has another 200k miles left in it easily!!I discovered a little bit of rust when I changed my gas tank skid
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Yes, the transfer case. That is unless you have a crossmember, which would be all aftermarket so you’d likely know.So do you have to support anything when taking the plate off?
Jack or jack stand with a piece of wood to distribute the weightWhat’s the best way to support the transfer case.
Before you cut them off, try soaking them with PB Blaster for a week or so. Then take an air gun to them a just blip each one a couple of time like your tightening the bolt. This will compress the nut zerk so they won't spin.I'm really scared to do mine, my bolts are stuck on but I'm going to try and deal with mine once I cut them off. It does not look nice under there
Before you cut them off, try soaking them with PB Blaster for a week or so. Then take an air gun to them a just blip each one a couple of time like your tightening the bolt. This will compress the nut zerk so they won't spin.
Then attempt to loosen them.
I actually just got mine all finished the other day. I had a transfer case drop from the previous owner which for some reason used Allen bolts that got so rounded I couldn't get any torque on them at all.If the PB doesn't do it, mixture of tranny fluid and acetone for the next week or so may succeed. Kroil would be an even better try.
No matter what kind of nuts, tightening before loosening is definitely the way to start. I wish I was born with that knowledge but at least I learned it fairly early. Sometimes you can get away without oil first but I wouldn't try these without oil.
FWIW, I had to look up "nut zerk". Based on google, that may not be a term but they gave me so many pages of nutserts I figure "nut zerk" was a typical result of "talk to text".
initially I too was adding lubricant (fluid film in my case) between the skid & rails, but in time I realized it was attracting enough dirt & debris from off road and that it all eventually combined to became an abrasive which grinded on things, not good; despite the fact that the skid appears static, the frame does move & flex enough to present issues.I decided not to do this, it was suggested by a few folks. Frame and skid plate are clean of rust, primed and painted. I also added oil based lubricant between them prior to reassembly. I also plan on checking it again every so often. I am trying to keep things as stock as possible and when I looked at the indentation on the skid plate it would have taken a bunch of washers to separate the two. It would mean the transmission was dropped and I just didn’t want to mess with the look of the Jeep or mechanics of the transmission.
I just use a Jack under the transmission and then a couple of jack stands once the skid is off.Inspired to check condition of my skid plate. What is required to remove skid? Support tranny an tc, after skid removal. Appreciate some advice.