Did I do harm by removing skid plate without supporting transmission?

[JMT]

Thank you!!! Thoughts on if I should bother disconnecting the tranny / transfer case skid from the transmission first and then lift? Or just lift from the skid under the transmission mounting bolts?

Lift from the bell housing. Leave the Transfer Case attached.

 

[wajeepin]

Lift from the bell housing. Leave the Transfer Case attached.

Thanks! I looked at the Motor Mounts and all seems okay, but who knows. I may try and get some good pictures to post here. When I started lifting by the bell housing, the fan even got pushed up further.

Yes, you need to lift the tranny up, and seriously check the engine mounts. See if you can get things lined up. Sounds like a problem with one of the two engine mounts.

Thanks. I will try to take some pics of the engine mounts to share. They look fine at first glance but don't have anything to compare to. Since I am supporting everything via the transfer case skid which is still connected to the transmission I can tell things are out of whack by the fact that the skid isnt lined up with the frame holes.

 

[JMT]

Thanks! I looked at the Motor Mounts and all seems okay, but who knows. I may try and get some good pictures to post here. When I started lifting by the bell housing, the fan even got pushed up further.

Thanks. I will try to take some pics of the engine mounts to share. They look fine at first glance but don't have anything to compare to. Since I am supporting everything via the transfer case skid which is still connected to the transmission I can tell things are out of whack by the fact that the skid isnt lined up with the frame holes.

Is the TCase skid detached from the TCase? There are 4 nuts in the center of the skid that you have to detach to do so.

Either way, if you can’t get the skid plate to line up with the frame holes, something is wrong.

 

[wajeepin]

Look at the location of your engine mounts on either side of the engine. That is the fulcrum of the engine. If the engine is still bolted to the engine mounts and the mounts are not torn off or broken, then when you lift the transmission (which is behind the engine mounts) then the front of the engine at the fan will lower to center the fan back in the shroud. Fix your fan blade, of course.

Hey JMP - I have attached a few pix of the mounts. Currently I have the transmission supported (albeit in a low position). Based on the position of the Motor to the mounts as well as that the fan blade is hitting the drivers side of the shroud it appears that the drivetrain is skewed running right to left from back to front. Do you think this would be from the Motor mounts, or does the transmission just need a good shove? When I tried to raise it a bit it wanted to push the motor higher. I will take another look and see if anything is causing everything to bind up.

 

[JMT]

Hey JMP - I have attached a few pix of the mounts. Currently I have the transmission supported (albeit in a low position). Based on the position of the Motor to the mounts as well as that the fan blade is hitting the drivers side of the shroud it appears that the drivetrain is skewed running right to left from back to front. Do you think this would be from the Motor mounts, or does the transmission just need a good shove? When I tried to raise it a bit it wanted to push the motor higher. I will take another look and see if anything is causing everything to bind up.

View attachment 262867

View attachment 262868

The housing on the motor mount looks bent in the second picture, like the tranny fell down and toward the driver's side and distorted the shape, which would allow the driveline to be off center, as you described. I'd get some more eyes to look at this, but I'd be thinking I might need some new motor mounts.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Looks like my new ones.

 

[dlm1450]

As title says, I pulled the skid plated from under the transmission without realizing that it was more than a shield, and supporting the transmission.

It sat for several days as I was taking care of some frame rust and rust on the plate itself. It has just been sitting, not moved at all and not put in gear.

Now that I went to look at it after seeing a post mentioning supporting the tranny, the drive train was sagging noticeably. I don't recall seeing this when I first pulled the plate, but I suppose it could have. So now I have supports under where the small bolts are.

Is it likely anything has been damaged?

Sorry, had to laugh. I did the EXACT same thing when I removed mine. That was about 2 years ago and no, nothing was harmed.