Savvy Under Armor / Skid Plate Install Write-Up

[rasband]

TY. Guess need to start looking for Savvy auto tranny mount

I emailed Gerald (at Savvy), he got one out for what seemed like a reasonable enough price within a couple days.

 

[Marklar1983]

Any advice for installing the engine/trans skid? I have the mounts installed, but there’s a lot of interference with the exhaust where it wraps around the driver’s side of the engine. The bolt holes don’t all reach the belly skid. What arrangement of parts has worked for others?

 

[Steeprocker]

Any advice for installing the engine/trans skid? I have the mounts installed, but there’s a lot of interference with the exhaust where it wraps around the driver’s side of the engine. The bolt holes don’t all reach the belly skid. What arrangement of parts has worked for others?

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Try getting the drivers side angle bracket in front of the skid plate. Found this older forum image for reference. But they are using the short bracket at the driver’s engine mount. that should helps shift that left side of the engine skid plate further back onto the transfer case skid. Hope that helps

Edit: the image was pulled from this thread
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...-valve-mated-to-oem-transfer-case-skid.15366/

 

[Marklar1983]

Try getting the drivers side angle bracket in front of the skid plate.

Thanks. Looking at my pics again, I can’t explain why I didn’t try that

 

[Jamison C]

Thanks. Looking at my pics again, I can’t explain why I didn’t try that

I would also leave the engine skid hardware loose except the mounts under the motor mounts. That gives you a chance to maneuver the skid until it plays nice with the exhaust, trans, and TC skid. Make sure you have a decent overlap between the engine and TC skid.

Once you have the skid where you want it, clamp it down, punch your holes, and attach it to your TC skid. It won’t be moving after that. I then went back through and cranked down the engine skid hardware with a 3/8” impact. It drove everything home just fine.

There might be a “proper” way of doing it, but it’s what worked for me.

 

[cpwolf]

No washer on the lower bolts that point up. The hole in the skid clears the head of the bolts usually. They will almost never clear the washers. Upper bolts get washers under the heads, no washers under the flange nuts. If you didn't get flange nuts, then the normal nuts get washers.

Older post, but I've got my Savvy Under Armor Skid laid out to do the install after the 1.25" BL and MML this past weekend.

I put all the bolts together just to make sure. All was painted...year or more ago as life has just been busy so just getting back to all this.

Your post here states "No washer on the lower bolts that point up" and "upper bolts get washers under the heads".

I believe I understand correctly, but my bolt package doesn't have any washers other than the ones for the gold-ish colored. No washers for the upper bolts.

I'll just go buy some, but I want to make sure that's what you're saying, and my package didn't get them. I also get none on the bottom ones because of clearance.

Thanks and apologies for replying to such an old post.

 

[mrblaine]

Older post, but I've got my Savvy Under Armor Skid laid out to do the install after the 1.25" BL and MML this past weekend.

I put all the bolts together just to make sure. All was painted...year or more ago as life has just been busy so just getting back to all this.

Your post here states "No washer on the lower bolts that point up" and "upper bolts get washers under the heads".

I believe I understand correctly, but my bolt package doesn't have any washers other than the ones for the gold-ish colored. No washers for the upper bolts.

I'll just go buy some, but I want to make sure that's what you're saying, and my package didn't get them. I also get none on the bottom ones because of clearance.

Thanks and apologies for replying to such an old post.

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Or just get some small flange head bolts.

 

[cpwolf]

Or just get some small flange head bolts.

Got it...will be at Ace ..... again, ha.

 

[DMopar97]

Just installed my Savvy flat belly skid on my 2005 6 speed LJ Rubicon.
A few things to note for the next person that comes along:
* Despite being an albuqurque rig, I had similar rust as OP on the frame where the factory skid mounts. The only rust I've found on the entire vehicle. I chipped it off, and painted it.
* The tolerances are super tight, which is good. I used the following method:
* I put the outer C's in by removing the body lift puck.
* I jacked the trans up enough to get the cross member in between the outer C's, but didn't connect it to the trans mount.
* I wedged the inner C in between the crossmember and the frame.
* At this point I was pretty far from getting all the holes lined up, even with a drift, and a dead blow hammer.
* So I completely mounted one side to draw the bracket fully onto the frame
* Then I removed the lower bolts from that side, and started loosely putting in alternating bolts on the lower portion side to side. Passenger, then driver, passenger, then driver, etc.
* Once I had all the lower bolts loosely attached, I attached the remaining upper bolts and used them to draw the top on the remaining side tight sequentially.
* Then everything got tightened sequentially to draw everything in.
* Using a drift/alignment punch was necessary, as mentioned previously in this thread.
* Everything fit. Just barely, but it all fits.

 

[Old Jeepin Cowboy]

I decided to document the install of the Savvy modular under armor on my 2005 LJ Rubicon to show the issues I ran into and how I worked them out. This write-up is not intended to be an instruction manual: the install of the MUA is pretty straight forward. As a result of the install, several other items are likely going to need addressed.

Before starting the install I relocated the locker pumps to here:

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I installed the Savvy mml, 1 ¼” bl and the Novak shifter cable before the MUA. Savvy recommends these additions and I personally do not know how a person could install the MUA without them unless you plan to do major tub modification. I don’t have any pictures of the mml, bl or shifter install.

The MUA arrived with the cross member and attaching hardware in unpainted steel. Living in Pennsylvania, I obviously wanted to paint the steel before installation. The cross member has many nooks and crannies on the inside that would be impossible to cover with spray paint. To paint the inside I taped all the openings on the cross member except the very top. I poured approximately 1 pint of black krylon paint into the cross member and sloshed it around to coat the inside of the cross member. Here are a couple of pictures of the taped up cross member:

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After I drained the excess paint from the cross member and let the paint dry, I proceeded to paint the outside and all the other steel parts. I sprayed one coat of krylon primer and two coats of krylon satin black on all the parts. Here are all parts painted:

View attachment 67489

Now it is almost time to start the install. I supported the transmission with a jack stand. I removed the four transmission mount nuts that hold the mount to the skid. I used a floor jack to support the skid plate and removed the six bolts that hold the skid to the frame. I lowered the floor jack and removed the skid. Just as I expected, there was rust on the frame rails where the skid contacts the rails. I have owned a 2005 TJ and this 2005 LJ and both have had extremely clean frames (for Pennsylvania) but both have had rust in this area. This is just a warning to expect to have to deal with some rust in this area. Here is a picture of the rust on the frame rail:

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I used a welder’s hammer to remove the scale:

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I then used a wire brush on a drill to clean up the frame rails:

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Finally I painted the rusted areas with por-15:

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Now I finally get to move on to the actual install. The first step is to install the outer c’s. This requires that the center body mount be removed. I loosened all the body mounts and jacked up one side of the body and then slipped the outer “c” over the frame rail and over the middle body mount location. Here is a pic of the installed outer “c”:

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Next the existing transmission mount and exhaust hanger was removed. Here is picture of the existing mount:

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The rubber thimble in the existing exhaust hanger needs to be removed and installed in the new hanger. The thimble is shown here:

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Here is the new hanger with the rubber thimble ready to install (it just pushes in fairly easy):

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Next the new exhaust hanger was loosely bolted to the trans. mount and the mount was bolted to the transmission. I first tried to install the inner “c’s” on to the outer “c’s” before I installed the cross member but I didn’t have room to get the cross member in place. I had to remove the inner “c’s” and install the cross member first and then slide the inner “c’s” in place. Once the cross member and “c’s” were in place, they were all bolted down. Here is a picture of the installed inner “c”:

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Here is a picture of the installed cross member:

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I jacked up the trans./transfer case until the trans. mount holes lined up with the holes in the cross member. The transfer case was contacting the tub in two places shown here:

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I happened to have this nut in my garage. It is a 1” lock nut that had a rounded top:

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I placed the nut on top of the transfer case where the case was contacting the tub and jacked the transfer case into the tub. Here is a picture of the placement of the nut:

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It did make a dimple in the tub but the transfer case wanted to slide towards the tunnel when I jacked it up due to the slope of the tub. I lowered the case back down and installed a ratchet strap from the transmission mount to the frame rail so that the transfer case could not slide towards the tunnel. Here is a picture of the ratchet strap placement:

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I replaced the nut and this time I wedged a crow bar above the other contact point and jacked the transfer case into the tub again. Here is picture of the crow bar location:

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This time all went well and I had good clearance at both points (approximately 3/8”)

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The next issue I had to deal with was the exhaust. The tail pipe was hitting the frame rail shown here:

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I removed the tail pipe and muffler from the cat. I had a piece of exhaust pipe bent with a 2” vertical offset to be installed between the muffler and the first hanger on the tail pipe. Here is a picture of the original exhaust:

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Here is a picture of the new piece of pipe installed on the existing tail pipe:

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Here is a picture of the new pipe installed on the jeep:

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As a result, here is the clearance that was gained between the tail pipe and the frame rail:

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At this point I took the jeep for a test ride and everything seemed good with no thumps or contact.

Finally, I was now able to install the aluminum skid. Before installing the skid I treated it with two coats of Sharkhide aluminum protectant. I wanted to keep the raw aluminum appearance. I have no experience with Sharkhide so the jury is still out on how it will hold up. Here are pictures of the installed skid:

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And this is what the final results look like:

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I ended up not having any vibes with original driveshaft. I am planning to get a new double cardan driveshaft because the yokes on the upper u-joint look pretty close and I am afraid they may hit at full droop. I did not purchase or install the Savvy transmission/oil pan skid. I had a Rusty’s transmission/oil pan skid that I was able to modify to fit on the Savvy transfer case skid. One final note: I used anti-seize on just about all the threads. Anti-seize is your friend if you live in the northern climate.

In the end I ended up gaining 2 ¾“ additional ground clearance at the skid. I would say the Savvy module under armor is a very well designed and constructed product. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is considering a tummy tuck. I hope this write-up will help someone who is installing or considering this product.

Enjoyed the write-up and appreciate your efforts in undertaking this.

I did same on TJ only I did it in steel. I personally like the heavy steel under the frame and it lowers my CoG. At the time I did it IIRC AEV was making a flat Steel underbelly, I think it was them but that was a LONG time ago, around 2005 IIRC. I also did a few other mods that allowed me to run a straight driveline (NOTE: I had High Pinion axles F/R). So this worked and increased my droop. I also raised my motor with higher motor mounts and brought my body up about 1 ¾ inches, maybe even 2. I used an aluminum spacer with a Jeep wagon puck all the way around. The Jeep wagon was a softer durometer. The overall result was straight drive, with Tom Woods DS and I used 1310 ujoints at the axle pinions.

You will enjoy have a flatter belly for sure, it makes a MAJOR difference.

 

[JMT]

Enjoyed the write-up and appreciate your efforts in undertaking this.

I did same on TJ only I did it in steel. I personally like the heavy steel under the frame and it lowers my CoG. At the time I did it IIRC AEV was making a flat Steel underbelly, I think it was them but that was a LONG time ago, around 2005 IIRC. I also did a few other mods that allowed me to run a straight driveline (NOTE: I had High Pinion axles F/R). So this worked and increased my droop. I also raised my motor with higher motor mounts and brought my body up about 1 ¾ inches, maybe even 2. I used an aluminum spacer with a Jeep wagon puck all the way around. The Jeep wagon was a softer durometer. The overall result was straight drive, with Tom Woods DS and I used 1310 ujoints at the axle pinions.

You will enjoy have a flatter belly for sure, it makes a MAJOR difference.

Rook. Last seen Feb. 18, 2020.

 

[Apparition]

Rook. Last seen Feb. 18, 2020.

 

[DMopar97]

I only found two touch points for my 6 speed rubicon LJ. Both were on the top of the transfer case on the drivers side of the tunnel where the two halves of the case bolt together. I remember reading there were 3? But maybe that was for autos?
@mrblaine ?

Thanks.

And yes I may have clearanced a tad too much and poked a tiny hole in the bottom of the tub. Oops. It’ll be fine though. No more sharp tools for me from now on. Safety scissors only

 

[mrblaine]

I only found two touch points for my 6 speed rubicon LJ. Both were on the top of the transfer case on the drivers side of the tunnel where the two halves of the case bolt together. I remember reading there were 3? But maybe that was for autos?
@mrblaine ?

Thanks.

And yes I may have clearances a tad too much and poked a tiny hole in the bottom of the tub. Oops. It’ll be fine though. View attachment 564116

It doesn't matter how many there are or aren't as long as you find all of them.

 

[DMopar97]

It doesn't matter how many there are or aren't as long as you find all of them.

Thanks. That’s super helpful.

 

[Weasellee]

Working on “Bens deployment build “. Have the Savvy MUA and Engine skid.
MML by MORE previously installed. Did i read somewhere that I need Savvy MML blocks and stock MM for this all to fit?

Also, best way to clearance the tub? Install nut above TC and Jack TC til tub is clearanced?


TIA

 

[cpwolf]

Working on “Bens deployment build “. Have the Savvy MUA and Engine skid.
MML by MORE previously installed. Did i read somewhere that I need Savvy MML blocks and stock MM for this all to fit?

Also, best way to clearance the tub? Install nut above TC and Jack TC til tub is clearanced?


TIA

So, the MML you have should work, the MML is key with the Body Lift.

I put a Body then MML and it made room for the drivetrain to fit. I have read there is no way to do the MUA without a BL.

 

[Old Jeepin Cowboy]

Here is what I did on my TJ. I raised the tub using an Aluminum puck and a Rubber puck; this gave me one ¾. This I put raised motor mounts on, IIRC 2 in. I ran a steel plate flat and used no spacers. I did need to do some trim work around my shifter, I used a B&M shifter manual trans.

What did this do for me? Straight Driveline and keep OEM length Tom Woods DS...That said, I also had Dynatrac ProRock 60 HIGH PINION. I ran 1310 U-joints at the F/R pinion. Why run a "weak" U-joint? LOL Even Tom Woods asked this. Well, being the engineer I am, I did a POFA (Point OF Failure Analysis) on my TJ. I only identified two critical points, and 1310 Ujoints was one of them. What I knew was the a straight drive line will go to mitigate that issue. Got bigger stronger is not always the solution. The 1310s worked as a FUZE, meaning it would fail FIRST! But in 10 years and almost 100k miles I never broke a U joint, did wear some out. Also the pinion U joint is the easy one to fix on the trail.

NO clearance issues...

Just my approach...

 

[JMT]

Working on “Bens deployment build “. Have the Savvy MUA and Engine skid.
MML by MORE previously installed. Did i read somewhere that I need Savvy MML blocks and stock MM for this all to fit?

Also, best way to clearance the tub? Install nut above TC and Jack TC til tub is clearanced?


TIA

If you already have the MML you just need to install a 1.25" BL.

Yes, use a nut at various places your transmission or transfer case are hitting the tub and jack it up to clearance. I didn't have clearance issues with the transfer case, but I did with the transmission.

 

[mrblaine]

Working on “Bens deployment build “. Have the Savvy MUA and Engine skid.
MML by MORE previously installed. Did i read somewhere that I need Savvy MML blocks and stock MM for this all to fit?

You might have but they were wrong. What you have will be fine.

Also, best way to clearance the tub? Install nut above TC and Jack TC til tub is clearanced?


TIA

Exercise care and caution. I used to use various short sockets on the case and jack up the case to clearance the tub. Then one day my helper got enthusiastic and then surprised when the socket disappeared. It disappeared through the socket sized hole it punched in the case.