Trans skid plate dropped

[godsey]

When i took the bolts out of the skid plate ,the whole driveline fell down.this cant be normal is it? I was wanting to clean my Transmission and tf case any help apprciate

 

[Old Dog]

Yep thats normal.

 

[BusaDave9]

The skid plate also acts as a cross member holding up the TCase and tranny.

 

[godsey]

Thanks guys...

 

[jamie]

i need one of these crossmembers. where can i find one. all the junkyards have crushed the jeeps around here

 

[IOPort51]

that must have been a thrill!
Put a jack under the bell housing to keep the tail end from dropping. Did you tear the motor mounts??

 

[BusaDave9]

i need one of these crossmembers. where can i find one. all the junkyards have crushed the jeeps around here

I don't like the OEM skid-plates/cross-members. I built my own. Can you weld? (me neither, but I wish I would start). I had a friend help me build mine.

It's as simple as angle iron bolted to each frame rail and a bar welded between the two. I cut off the extra metal from the angle iron.

I never did understand why the Jeeps always used one Tranny mount and a doughnut gasket to hold up the drive-train. I used 2 tranny mounts to build mine.

 

[IOPort51]

good looking fab job. I will admit to it being a cross member but not a skid plate.
what problem do you have with the stock skid plate??
The only problem I have with it is it fills up with mud and junk and is a PITA to clean out. I don't see you having this kind of problem in your hood.

 

[BusaDave9]

good looking fab job. I will admit to it being a cross member but not a skid plate.
what problem do you have with the stock skid plate??
The only problem I have with it is it fills up with mud and junk and is a PITA to clean out. I don't see you having this kind of problem in your hood.

The problem I had with the skid plate was it was cracking and about to break. The PO cut it (I guess to install the T-18 ). Now that is was smaller it started to crack bad.
No it is not a skid plate. With 36 inch tires on a CJ5 I never have a problem with scraping my belly. If I ever get around to stretching the wheelbase (pipe dream) I will add plates to the cross-member.

 

[jamie]

ohhh, i like that crossmember. do you have any dimentions, or plans?

 

[BusaDave9]

Jamie, I didn't have any plans but I first removed the OEM tranny mounts. It was made with a donut on one side and a Tranny mount on the other. Instead I bought 2 tranny mounts like this:

These tranny mounts are very common and I found them at a local auto parts store.
The adapter plate between the Tranny and TCase has 2 bolt holes but the tranny mount is too wide to fit in there so I had to space the mounts down with a bar. I also used a piece of angle iron because the tranny mounts extend further out than the adapter plate. At this point I had 2 tranny mounts under my tranny with the polyurethane side pointing down. You can see the angle iron in front of the tranny mounts.
Now I bolted 2 pieces of angle iron to each frame rail. In the side view above you can see I cut the leading and trailing edge of the angle iron but don't worry about that yet. I cut that last.
Next I took a piece of channel iron and cut it to fit between each angle iron. I also drilled holes to match up with the tranny mounts.
Next step I bolted this channel iron to the tranny mounts.
Then I had a friend weld the channel iron to the angle iron on each frame rail.
Now (as i mentioned above) I trimmed up the angle iron. It extended down further than necessary plus I angled the leading and trailing edges.
Now paint it.

 

[73CJ]

i need one of these crossmembers. where can i find one. all the junkyards have crushed the jeeps around here

Send me a PM if you still need one.