I
recently
installed a Skid Row
transfer
case skid plate on my 97 XJ. Of the four skids I installed
(
engine/trannsmission,
Lower control
arm and gas tank skid) this was the first
one installed and the trickiest one...by comparison to the rest at
least.
The kit comes with the plate itself along with (4)
self tapping 3/8"
bolts, (3) - 3/8" x 3" Carriage bolts and (3) lock washers and nuts.
Installation seemed simple
enough. First, fit the skid up against the
frame rail and cross-member, so that the leading edge of the plate is
approximately in the middle of cross-member. Hold the skid in place
with a jack, then drill four 5/16" holes in the frame rail and use the
4 supplied 3/8" self tappers to secure the plate to the rail (red
circle in the image). Finally, use the 3 supplied carriage bolts to
secure the plate to the cross-member (yellow circle). Easy, right?
Well,
not exactly. The plate is designed to "accommodate a 1 inch
cross-member drop," which my XJ does not have. When I fit the skid, it
would not go in square at the frame rail (red circle) without the
leading
edge (yellow circle) on the drivers side hanging down about 1.5". The
passenger side of the leading edge was almost up against the
cross-member. In other words, the leading edge of the plate angled down
from the pass side to the drivers side when it was square at the rail.
Needless to
say this made lining it up correctly to make sure I drilled
the holes in the right place a real pain. (Unfortunately, I did not
get pictures of this…I was too busy trying to solve the problem at hand
and did not think to get the camera). If you run into the same problem,
just take your time and triple check it.
Once I got it lined up, I drilled the holes and
bolted it up at the
frame. Then I just used a floor jack to push the leading edge of the
plate into place. Now I already had the holes in the cross-member for
this…but according to the instructions, not all XJ's do.
Now
just tighten all the bolts up and you're done!
