TJ Skid Plate Modification

Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by xrr in Extreme Projects

We recently installed a Rubicon Express RE7000 4.5” Super-Flex lift kit on a Jeep TJ. This particular TJ was the Rubicon edition and featured a skid plate for the automatic transmission’s oil pan. Once the lift kit was installed and the Jeep was sitting on the ground we noticed that the skid plate for the automatic transmission was going to hit the front driveshaft. Most TJ owners’ just remove the skid plate to resolve this issue, however this particular customer wanted to keep the additional skid plate.

To resolve this problem we decided to modify the stock auto transmission skid plate by cutting the skid plate between the skid plate itself and the driverside main mounting bolt with the intention of routing the skid plate up and over the driveshaft. To assist in the design, templates were made from cardboard while the uncut skid plate was installed. Once the templates were designed they were drawn in CAD and transferred to a plasma CAM. The material of choice for this modification was 1/8” steel.

Once the templates were tacked in place, the modified skid plate was temporarily installed to be sure that the skid plate didn’t interfere with the transmission or driveshaft. The only issue that we ran into was the transmission coolant hose, which is a stainless steel tube, was firmly pressed against the skid plate. The tube was gently bent so that it cleared both the transmission and the modified skid plate. After the fit was confirmed, the remaining structure was tacked into place.

From the pictures you can see a notch in the new structure. This notch was to clear the transmission and the coolant hose. The welds were left as-is instead of grinding them flush for strength reasons.

This design is being updated so that the welds can be ground flush yet still maintain strength. Updates to the design will also include additional bracing for strength. If you’re interested in having your skid plate modified please email us at sales@extremerocrigs.com.