Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

Front Axle & Transfer Case Skidplates Install

38K views 65 replies 48 participants last post by  Dade 
#1 ·
As I mentioned in another post I have not been a fan of skid plates on vehicles I have owned in the past, because I do my own work and they are a pain in the ass to remove. I didnt order this jeep from the factory with skidplates for that reason, well after getting the vehicle up on a lift the other day and poking around I decided they would not be that bad and I did not like the way the axle transfer case and fuel tank were so exposed compared to past vehicles. I dont do a lot of offroading, but probably a dozen times a year I drive trails that may be a concern to go camping and fishing.

I orded the front axle plate and transfer case plate from my local dealer and received the next day. They were 92.75 each and come with the bolts needed to mount them. I also ordered the fuel tank plate which was almost 200.00 but it was backordered.

I installed the plates today and took some pictures of the install. The front axle plate was very easy, it is also the lighter of the two, it weighs 15.5 pounds compared to the transfer case plate which weighs 23.8 pounds. Although the bolts needed to mount the plates were included they were actually already on the vehicle (which I thought kind of strange).

For the front plate you will need a 13mm deep socket, it also helps to have either a second person or some other method of lifting in place while you secure.

The transfer case plate was a little more challenging. For this you will need a 16mm socket. The instructions were very different from what the vehicle looked like. The last picture in this post are of two small "support braces" that I removed in order to install the plate. They were not shown on the illustration and there was no way to leave them in place and mount the plate. These support pieces seemed to go from the outer frame to the across the exhaust on each side (although they dont mount to or touch the exhaust at all). The new plate I put in place cover most of the area these pieces were running across. The narrow one shown in the picture was on the right side of the vehicle the wider one was on the left. I am pretty mechanically inclined but it was a little bit of a challenge to determine from the picture which bolts to remove or loosen to use for the plate, but once I got this straight it took less than 5 minutes to mount the plate. Having it on a lift definitely helped and i used a slightly modified transmission jack to lift it up and hold in place while I bolted on.

I am happy with the end result. Protect critical parts well and should not be that challenging to remove. Basically 4 bolts on each.

Link to front axle instructions:
http://moparestore.trademotion.com/moparimages/accessory catalog/images/isheets/K6860751.pdf

Link to transfer case instructions:
http://moparestore.trademotion.com/moparimages/accessory catalog/images/isheets/K6860752.pdf


Pictures:

1. Front axle plate looking at top of plate, bottom of pic goes toward back of vehicle.
2. Transfer case plate top of plate, bottom of pic goes on right side of vehicle.
3. View from under front of vehicle of front axle area. The plastic black plate that is showing at the top of pic is the plastic one covering the botton of engine, it shows the silver 13mm bolts that are already holding this in place, 2 of which are also used to hold the front axle plate.
4. Back view of front axle plate. Basically this sits between two factory plastic protective plates.
5. Another view of front axle plate from front of vehicle.
6. Back view showing back of transfer case and transfer case plate below, the big metal thing at the top of pic is exhaust (I have the hemi).
7. Another back view of the transfer case plate.
8. View from front of jeep while on the lift showing nice coverage.
9. The two extra pieces. :D


Well not that big a deal as far as mods go but figured it could be helpful to some.

If someone with factory skidplates could take a look and tell me if either of the two pieces in pic 9 show up on either side of your transfer case plate I would appreciate it.

I will update this when I finally get the fuel tank plate on.
 

Attachments

See less See more
9
#3 ·
Awseome writeup +1
 
#57 ·
X-2. Nice job so simple even a Caveman can do it :eek:
I keep looking for someone that is trading in there Jeep and working a deal to pull the skids off for Cheap :rolleyes:
 
#4 ·
Awesome writeup! Looks like I am adding these to my list of additions after the slush pads and lighted door sills :)

Thanks!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RyeGuy
#7 ·
I just did the same install on my Laredo X Hemi. I had to remove those two pieces also. The instructions for the transfer case skid plate are a little misleading. You only use 4 bolts, not 3 bolts + 2 nuts. There's no way it would work that way on this model.

I'm going to look under a couple Jeeps with the offroad package at the dealer just to verify though.

Thanks for the write up. Nice to see someone else approach the install the same way as I did.
 
#8 ·
If someone with factory skidplates could take a look and tell me if either of the two pieces in pic 9 show up on either side of your transfer case plate I would appreciate it.

I will update this when I finally get the fuel tank plate on.
Did you purchase and install the Fuel Tank plates yet? I have all 3 pending arrival of WK2. Instructions for Transfer & Ft Diff arrived with mounting hardware, although NO instructions or mounting hardware for the 2 Fuel Tank plates. If you have the Fuel Tank mounting instructions, does it use all existing hardware?
 
#12 ·
Sorry I haven't gotten to the fuel tank plate yet, been sitting in my garage for awhile now. I guess the good thing about traveling so much for work is it keeps miles off my jeep picked up in Sep 2010 and doing the 4000 mile oil change tomorrow! (I did one at 1000, this one will be at 4000 and then will keep interval of 4000 - use mobil 1 syn).
If you beat me to it, let me know how that install goes!
 
  • Like
Reactions: e92 WK2
#9 ·
Nice write up along with pics. I approached the skid plate project as you did on my Commander. Nice do-it-yourself project except for the fuel tank plate. I really needed a lift plus another set of hands so I let the dealer do that one plus I bought an aftermarket skid plate for the cat converters and tranny. Excellent item and was wondering if the cats are vulnerable on the WK2 and might need something there also?
 
#14 ·
Whateverworks, great writeup. Thanks for the weights. . . my salesman just tried to warn me that the full set of skids could weigh more than 300 pounds, and would affect milage! If your #s are close, then the full set is adding considerably less than 100 pounds?
 
#16 ·
If someone with factory skidplates could take a look and tell me if either of the two pieces in pic 9 show up on either side of your transfer case plate I would appreciate it.
I did confirm by looking at a new Jeep with the skid plates at the dealership that these two pieces are not on from the factory. If you think about it the function of these two pieces is replaced by the skid plate.
 
#17 ·
I just finished installing the front axle skid plate. Like whatevrworks indicated, the bolts are already attached to the chassis. Install was quite easy. I also used LockTite on the bolts, so that skid plate isn't going anywhere.
 
#20 ·
Not only are the holes there, but the bolts are already there too (at least on the Hemi). If I remember correctly I used no hardware that came with the plates (for the front two). I used existing bolts already in the frame.

I did not use Loktite. I live in the salt belt so oxidation and corrosion will keep these bolts from coming out (even when I want to remove them).
 
#21 ·
For the front skid plate, the 4 bolts were already in place on my V6 Laredo. The front 2 bolts hold part of the plastic belly pan, while the 2 rear bolts hold part of the plastic transmission skid plate.

I used red LokTite so that skid plate ain't going nowhere!:thumbsup:
 
#22 ·
Great write up. It was a huge help.

At first I just bolted the skid plate on top of the two "support braces", but after reading everyone's comments, I removed them. From the looks of the image on the Jeep website, at least the smaller "support brace" should remain and is bolted between the skid plate and the frame. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.



http://www.jeep.com/en/2011/grand_cherokee/capability/off_road_performance/
 
#23 ·
My front axle, transfer case, and fuel tank skid plates just came in and I plan on installing them this week. Are there any installation suggestions for the fuel tank skid plates?

Also, is there a consensus on whether both of those "extra" parts referred to in the first post should be removed?

And finally, should loktite be used. (my feeling is that it could make things pretty difficult if maintenance is required down the road)

Thanks for the help!
 
#25 ·
I did the front axle and transfer case skid plates this past weekend. I also removed the two short braces and did look for a way to somehow use the thin brace as shown on the picture in post #22, but there was no way it could be reinstalled. Seems strange that end of the skid plate isn't really supported.

Ray
 
#26 ·
I did the front axle and transfer case skid plates this past weekend. I also removed the two short braces and did look for a way to somehow use the thin brace as shown on the picture in post #22, but there was no way it could be reinstalled. Seems strange that end of the skid plate isn't really supported.

Ray
You could sandwich it between the skid plate and the frame with the bolt going through both... that's what I originally did, but I took it out before finding that image online.
 
#27 · (Edited)
For those without a jack, some skid plate holes are slotted. If you don't remove the front and side bolts all the way, you can slide the plate between the frame and bolt heads and then easily lever the other end up and attach those bolts. There are three bolts on the side (transfer case plate) loosen the outer two but you will need to remove the center completely.

The hardest part was double checking that all the transfer case plate bolts required were installed, the instruction diagram leaves a lot to be desired.

Those of you that removed the two brackets completely, have you seen any adverse effects? I think they just stabilize the mid drive train mounting bracket and the plate is strong enough to do the job itself, but I dunno.. I was thinking about grinding some material off the small bracket for a better fit. Wonder if chrysler has two part numbers for this bracket.
 
#29 ·
Just finished installing the first two plates (front axle and transfer case). Call me crazy but I left both support brackets in place. I removed the larger one at first, but then I saw that it fit pretty perfectly on underside of the skid plate. It was only on the edge that it wasn't 100% flush with the body (instead it was sandwiched). I then saw that I could bolt the skid plate over top of the smaller brace. I figure this way the braces remain for whatever structural purpose they had and the skid plate is still super secure to do it's job of protecting the underside. I think I'm going to run with it like that and not have extra parts.

I agree with the OP that the instructions are worthless. Matched up nothing like the actual vehicle. Thanks for the pictures, they helped!
 
#30 ·
I didn't order the factory plates as i really don't anticipate enough off roading to justify the weight gain. Nice to know you can add them later without too much difficulty.
 
#35 ·
I didn't order the factory plates as i really don't anticipate enough off roading to justify the weight gain. Nice to know you can add them later without too much difficulty.
I got one with the ORA I package - wanted QT II and I wasn't picky on whether I got the all weather group or off road. Admittedly I'm not happy about the weight gain, but around here, I'm not going to argue about the plates - I've had a fair amount of debris go under our cars and I can only imagine what's been dented up, especially in our Camry (the current recordholder is a truck tire that hit us on I95. Took the paint on the bumper off straight down to plastic and went under the car. Miracle it didn't tear anything off.).
 
Top