JK - Underbelly the tale of rocky tracks - AUSJEEPOFFROAD.COM Jeep News Australia and New Zealand

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Old 05-01-2010
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Default JK - Underbelly the tale of rocky tracks

After some recent outings to Ormeau over the last month or so I have roughed up the belly of my JK pretty bad. I already have a decent lift installed and will be going taller tyres later on. From my experience and damage I see 3 areas need some attention. BTW I have a unlimited CRD on 33' MT MTZs. Any opinions would be good.

Pic1-You can see how bad I have bent my bolt on crossmember, its like that the entire length. Decent solution here would be to replace the cross member along with a decent skid plate. I have seen poly performance replaces the crossmember with its transmission skid, but they say it's not compatiable with the diesel models(due to the exhaust I think) , maybe it's possible to fabricate something up similiar and cheaper.

Pic2- You can see how bent the left rear lower control arm bracket is bent. The other side has been hit just as bad. The best solution I think are the Offroad Evolution rockstar skids for extra clearence. You might loose some down travel but gain it the other way plus it get your shock up higher out of the way. I have seen someone on AJOR install these...You have to cut and grind things off to do this as well.Any opinions.


Pic3- F^&ing fuel tank. Just wish it was tucked up higher. The depressions in the fuel tank are about 20mm all at the front of the tank. The mid section and rear of tank is okay wth some scraps only. I could not justify buying an bash plate that cover the entire tank cause 1. The weight 2. The cost.
Would think a bash plate that covers the 1st 1/3 of tank would be great. Maybe welding on 5mm plate to the stock tank on the first 1/3 of tank would be good. Any thoughts?
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Old 05-01-2010
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Skid row do some skid paltes for the control arm brackets as well i think. I remember looking when i bent one of my front ones. But all in all i'd say yours looks pretty similar to most LWB JK that have been rock crawling. Some underneath armour is the way to go.
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Old 05-01-2010
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Mine copped a flogging from ormeau the other day too. I am surprised at how weak the crossmember is. Plus I bent a rear control arm. Oops, now I need to upgrade. Hehe.

Regardless I think a replacement crossmember is too risky for a vehicle still in warranty. A bash plate for it is a much better idea. 3mm plate bent up to fit over the crossmember and bolt to its existing chassis bolt holes would be quite fine and not cause any significant clearance issues. Alot of the bolts really need to be changed out in favour of some which use a hex head so they are not as affected by rock damage. You could even grind the head of the bolts a bit so its not a square edge.

Fuel tank just needs to be lifted up so its not hanging below the chassis, IMHO. A bodylift would allow you to push the fuel tank up higher but that has its own problems. Will be a pipe dream as custom fuel tank fabrication demands ridiculous money.

Don't forget the transfer case. That things bash plate takes a pounding but seems to just spring back into shape.
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Old 05-01-2010
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oh and if you have a v6 The exhaust gets matching dints to the crossmember as it sits right along it.
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Old 05-01-2010
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Ha ha you should see under mine ill put some picks up tomorrow it’s f—ked up.
I just got my front control arm guards and my new control arms from the states , still waiting on panhards from solid 5weeks now, they say this week diff covers next few weeks.
Been looking don’t know still tiring to get info on armour for the under side the best stuff is just to much money to get here maybe looking at getting one of the body builder shops to have a look at it for me I will let you know how I go
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Old 05-01-2010
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rossj, you should really watch where you are driving hey
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Old 05-01-2010
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Superior wheel placement will alleviate this

Oh and skill depleting mods

At least it gets offroad John.

JTO
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