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Who wants to build a flat tcase skid or has already made one?
Flat skid
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I have had a piece of 3/8 sheet diamond plate laying around for the last 7 years that I wanted to build a flat tummy tuck skid with I just haven't had the time... I'm going to be doing a 1 1/2 body along with a mm in the next few months so maybe I'll think about building it this spring.
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Sounds good. And imped I didn't expect it to be hard, but when dealing with anything for these jeeps there are always little unexpected things to account for. Any tips? I was looking at a few build on JF last night an seems straight forward enough.
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My biggest concerns were the linkage because it has given me issues before, and if it would be alright to mount directly to the plate or if I should build a recessed area for the bolts similar to the stock plate.
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I was thinking about it, because my skid had a giant dent in it and I think it's causing my linkage to make a clinking sound because it threw the pinion angle off maybe?
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I would just check your linkage, pinion angle wouldn't have anything to do with the linkage making noise. What kind of dent?BackCountryMud said:
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Slipped off a rock and happened to land on a giant pointy rock on the skid lol
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Ouch. Haha that's what it is there for. I wouldn't doubt the linkage is messed. Heck I completely replaced mine with all new everything except the Rods and fixed a ton of stuff and still get a popping noise on occasion. The important thing is it works. I'm gona be going to a cable style in the future when I can drop that kind of change. Prob when I do this tt.BackCountryMud said:
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3,524 Posts
You can't do it correctly and still use the stock linkage. You just can't. Believe me, the stock linkage is one of the worst-designed pieces on the vehicle. Be glad you can upgrade to a much simpler, smoother setup.
I built my skid to keep the drivetrain as low as possible
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No touch
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The Novak linkage
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The skid
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I built my skid to keep the drivetrain as low as possible
No touch
The Novak linkage
The skid
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Looks good man. And I know who ever though putting that many crappy pieces of parts together for linkage would be a good idea, with the nature of wranglers ? Jeez. And from what I have seen the jk linkage is prone to failure easily as well. I can't wait for that new shifter lol. And plate looks nice thanks for the pics.
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How did you decide on the dimensions and build of that raised piece. I don't see it being more difficult than measuring cutting drilling welding an testing fit a long the way. Obviously keeping the piece lower will keep the tcase lower as well.
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I ran a Rokmen skid before. I knew that I wanted to go flat so that defined that requirement. I noticed how much space was wasted between the drivetrain and skid. So, I measured the height difference between the stock transmission mount I was running and the UCF LoPro mount and looked to see if I could lower the it down anymore without hitting. I determined how low I could go and cut down some angle iron to the appropriate height and tacked it on. I cut out the sections so that the front tranny mount bracket bolt heads could recess into them. I test fitted and it was perfect, with the lowest point of the t-case barely 1/4" off the skid. When all was said and done, my skid gained 2" over the Rokmen skid and I didn't raise the t-case at all. I essentially made better use of the space between the drivetrain and the skid. Plus, do to the design of UCF's mount (and combined with my stiffer Brown Dog motor mounts), the t-case hardly torques over when on the gas so I don't have to worry about movement and interference occurring anywhere.
As for making the skid, I laid my Rokmen skid on a big piece of 1/4" and traced it out. All critical dimensions were copied exactly over and I had a machine shop cut it out with their plasma table.....came out super clean and looks like it could be sold to the public. I'm planning on making a 3/8" aluminum skid with countersunk bolt holes sometime in the future.
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Thanks guys again. And yeah I need to get the sye cv control arms and a few other things in before I start. Just want to get a handle on it so I know where I'm going when I'm ready to start.
So you did use the under cover fab lo pro mount? Okay cool. And yeah that's sounds exactly like what I want to do. I'll have to go check out what they have in ways of plasma tables around here to cut. Grinding half inch isn't fun. I might try quarter inch steel and reenforce it.
As far as driveshaft clearance on the skid, no issues there? I actually get slight rub on the front of my stock skid currently which has only happened once.
So you did use the under cover fab lo pro mount? Okay cool. And yeah that's sounds exactly like what I want to do. I'll have to go check out what they have in ways of plasma tables around here to cut. Grinding half inch isn't fun. I might try quarter inch steel and reenforce it.
As far as driveshaft clearance on the skid, no issues there? I actually get slight rub on the front of my stock skid currently which has only happened once.
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Yep, it was my product idea. :thumb:
As for the drive shaft, are you referring to full droop? Plenty of room. If you've got a factory auto trans skid, then that's what's giving you problems, not the t-case skid.
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Nice :thumb: and your are correct duh. I knew that I just don't always think through when I am typing. I'll have to look into that too. Maybe do a little cutting.Imped said:
My FLAT skid, write up by request, - JeepForum.com This is the write up I plan on copying soon and genright now sells a weld in crossmember like he uses in here. Hopefully this helps you out bud. Good luck!!
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Cool man thanks for the link!
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