Rokmen Tummy Tuck Skid Plate

7-26-08


     Got my Rokmen Tummy Tuck Skid Plate Installed !!!
This is something I have been wanting to do since my first time offroad with the Rubicon. The factory skid plate is by far the Jeeps weakest point. Not so much because the skid cant take the abuse, but because it hangs down so low, and is shaped like a scoop. The factory skid has alot of ridges and rolled edges to give it strength, seeing how its alot thinner plate. But that shaping makes it catch on just about everything, and it scoops mud up on top of itself. I cant tell you how many times I have been high centered on it.
     Here you can see the stock skid, with the Skid Row oil pan skid attached to it. The Skid Row has been excellent, notice how flat and low profile it is compared to the stock skid.

     In order to install the Rokmen Tummy Tuck Skid, you must first do at least a 1" body lift. It can be done without one, but you will have to dent the bottom of the Jeeps body, and so a few other mods. The body lift can have other benefits down the road also, so I decided to install one. If you install a body lift though, you should also install a motor mount lift, which also raises the motor up and inch, this helps keep everything inline. The reason for all this is that since the Rokmen skid is a "Tummy Tuck" skid, it doesnt hang down as far as the stock one. Well, your transmission sits on top the skid and is bolted to it. So, if you raise the skid up, you have to have room to raise the transmission also.
     The Rokmen is shipped without paint, so the first thing I did was file down any sharp edges and sand the skid down a bit. Then I gave it a good coat of primer, and several coats of gloss black. I know spray paint is not as durable as some other coatings, but no matter what, its going to get scratched. I figured the spray paint would be easiest to touch up.

     As usual, I had my buddy over helping with the project. But, I was also lucky to have a fellow Jeep Club member stop by and help out with the install. He had just done the some install on his 06 Rubicon, so he knew what issues I was going to have. The only real issue is a main bracket that bolts under the tranny, which also has an exhaust mount on it. There is about a 3" wide plate that runs up the side of the tranny, that has a rubber bushing at the top that the exhaust hanger slides into.  The problem is that when you raise the tranny, you are also raising that bracket, and the exhaust. Doing this positions the front portion of the exhaust only about 1/8" away from the front upper control arm bracket on the frame. Under load, especially in reverse, the motor can torque over, making the exhaust hit this bracket. So, 5/8" had to be cut out of the bracket, and then weld it back together.
     After that, the Rokmen bolted right in, even the factory locker pump bracket bolted right onto the Rokmen with the supplied bolts and spacers. It actually ended up being an easier install than I thought it would be. The Skid Row skid plate however, did need to have a hole relocated, that the lower control arm bolts through. In the stock location, it would not reach the Rokmen skid so that I could bolt them together. I drilled a new hole in the Skid Row almost 2" forward of the stock hole. This gave it just enough to reach the Rokmen. After lining things up, I marked and drilled the holes in the Rokmen. Then bolted the rear f the Skid Row to the front of the Rokmen.
     This made a much smoother transition between skid plates than with the stock "scoop". The flap hanging down in the photo above is the mud flap on the car behind the Jeep. So far I am very pleased, between giving me a couple more inches of clearance, and being almost perfectly flat, it should be much less likely to catch and get me high centered.
     The shifter feels slightly higher, but I have no issues getting it to change into all gears, the 4WD lever works fine, and I have no vibes of any kind.


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