flat skid/belly up

[Jeeper guy]

   Has anybody around here built or bought a flat skid/belly up on there jeep? I was wanting to do one on my yj, as of now Ive got a 1 inch body lift and 4 inch rough country. Ive ordered some 1 inch motor mounts from brown dog offroad they seem like nice mounts.(anybody heard of brown dog offroad??) I'm hoping that with the 1" mml ill be able to get rid of the transfer case drop that I got with my rough country kit and then with a sye/cv i could run a belly up. Help me out if I'm correct or not? Anybody got any pics of how you built the skid? Ive been hung up on my stock lowered skid and it sucks.   

Thanks Alex

[YJ_Aaron]

I've done a few flat skids as have many other members.  Brown Dog makes excellent motor mounts in my opinion.  I know some make a flat skid for the YJ's just not sure who off the top of my head.  I wouldn't do the flat skid until you have the SYE installed. 

[GHOST00TJ]

I've been wanting one also, and will probably make one, I need a sye and mml first. There are a few write ups and threads on Jeep forum, I couldnt find it but one guy had the measurements for a home made belly skid.

[YJ_Aaron]

One thing I've learned from doing them, make a seperate crossmember/mount for the trans.  That way you can drop the skid without having to support the trans/xcase.  My CJ was setup like a stock jeep skid was the mount and it sucked everytime I had to service it. 

[highsociety]

Brown Dog motor mounts rock.  I run them on my comp tj and love them.  We designed and fabbed our flat belly skid and oil skid tied together and can remove them without the trans and atlas falling. We cut our floor and refabbed the floor pan so as not to have to run a body lift.

[Jeeper guy]

Yeah the crossmember is defiantly the route that I'm gunna take, but I'm not quite sure how the crossmember mounts to the inside of the frame, what did you guys do with with the cables and brake lines? As for the tranny mount, do i use the stock one in conjunction with the cross member or just bolt the tranny right to the crossmember. Has anybody used the advanced adapters sye, johns 4x4 installs them and a custom shaft. Thinking about going that route.  

[YJ_Aaron]

Usually you mount the crossmemeber using spring eye style bushing on the inner frame wall.  A factory style transmission mount is retained but usually a thinner one. 

I've put in a few AA SYE, and they all go about the same.  Just make sure you cough up the $ and don't do a hack and tap style, i've seen more than 1 fail and they are a PIA to do.

[iJeep]

Just make sure you cough up the $ and don't do a hack and tap style, i've seen more than 1 fail and they are a PIA to do.

x2

For the extra labor involved with the hack-n-tap, the HD kits are worth the little extra that they cost now.

You should be able to get rid of the t-case drop and probably avoid the motor mount lift (unless you just want it) as long as you do the SYE/CV.

[Jeeper guy]

I agree, Im going the hd sye. My motor motor mounts come in tomorrow so if i get time ill install them and get rid of my t case drop. How hard are the hd sye's to install?

[YJ_Aaron]

SYE's aren't that difficult.  Without knowing your level of mechanical ability though its hard to say if you want to tackle it.  I've done them in the jeep and by pulling the case.  First one its easier to pull the case, after that leave them in.

If you do it yourself invest in a GOOD set of snap ring pliers.

[xj42]

SYE's aren't that difficult.  Without knowing your level of mechanical ability though its hard to say if you want to tackle it.  I've done them in the jeep and by pulling the case.  First one its easier to pull the case, after that leave them in.

If you do it yourself invest in a GOOD set of snap ring pliers.

I agree completely with this.  I had no idea what I was getting into when I did mine so I pulled the case, which was a major PITA.  Now that I have a feel for what needs to be done I would leave it in.  I was actually surprised how easy I installed the SYE, dropping the case is another story however.

[Jeeper guy]

   Well it looks like ill have my sye done at a shop or something. I installed the brown dogs and they Freak'n ROCK, and fast shipping it was delivered in three days. Installing them wasn't too bad and just had to get them to line up with everything. I got rid of the tcase drop and got some vibes, but hardly noticeable, I found out where all of the 4 bangers power was going.... out the old mounts that didn't have the engine even securely mounted .  I'm glad that I went with the soft rubber, the polyurethane would have been way to stiff. With the combination of sye/cv shaft and 1 inch mml i think i wont have any vibes( knock on wood) with the belly up.

[Jeeper guy]

Well i finally got around to doing the flat skid after the 8.8 install, me and andrew got the crossmember done tonight. Iam very happy with the results and didnt get any vibes or strange noises, also found out my old trans mount was shot. So as far as the skid goes, delrin or plastic material?, or what thickness of metal would you recommend im afraid 1/4" would be too heavy... What are you guys running. If you have any questions feel free to ask. 

[YJ_Aaron]

You can always use aluminum if your worried about weight.  I used 1/4" on both of mine, and cut some holes in it to let the heat from exhaust escape.

[Jeeper guy]

wheres the best place to buy some 1/4"ish alumium? dont really wanna buy a 4x10 sheet..