'06 Impact Orange LJR Build

[cramil]

Then I loosely installed the inner "Cs".

You can see in the lower picture that you have to snake the drivers side behind the brake lines and fuel line. I moved the fuel line from the top clip to the next one down so it cleared the nuts.

 

[cramil]

Next I installed the transmission mount with the exhaust hanger and isolator I had moved over from the stock unit.

 

[cramil]

This is when I started trying to get the crossmember installed and found that no matter what i tried including jacking the transmission up as far as i could I couldn't figure out how to fit in in there. Remember this crossmember goes on top of the bottom flanges formed by the inner and outer "Cs". First off the transmission bracket can't be installed first so I pulled it off. Also the crossmember has to be slid in place from front to back based on how it fits in front of and under the transfer case. Well the cat is in the way when trying to do this. I didn't want to pull the exhaust if I didn't have to. My solution was to remove the bolts from the drivers side "Cs" and slide it back clear of the inner portion of the frame. Then I could set the crossmember on the passenger side, swing it up on the drivers side then slide the outer and inner "Cs" back in place and under the crossmember.

 

[cramil]

Then I reinstalled the transmission mount and started tightening everything up. Here is how much room i had above the transfer case.

Here is the clearance around the bottom of the transfer case, the cat and exhaust.

 

[cramil]

Here is how things look with the crossmember all tightened up.

 

[cramil]

That is as far as i got today. There was some more noticeable vibration at idle and to start with I wasn't getting any noises. Then after parked for a bit and started back up I was getting some rattling noise at idle that went away after putting it in gear and driving just a short way. Need to get under it and look at what is going on. I also need to get my shift cable installed along with the trans and engine skids.

 

[cramil]

First thing today was to get the Savvy transfer case shift cable installed. Note to anyone else doing this, install the shift cable while the transfer case is hanging down and before you get everything tucked up with the crossmember. I had removed the stock linkage then but figured the cable install could wait til after. I ended up pulling my front drive line to gain some much needed room.

Pretty tough to get a Crescent wrench on the top adjuster nuts where it is at up there against the tub and the one behind the bracket.

 

[cramil]

Then I set out to find the rattle type noise from yesterday. One thing I forgot to mention is yesterday after the 5 mile drive home at city speeds I noticed my temp had climbed up high enough to trigger the check gauges light. With nothing else having changed it got me thinking to check the fan again. Sure enough it was hitting the bottom of the shroud enough to get that rattle noise then also prevent it from spinning. So I pulled the shroud which meant pulling the fan using a big Crecent wrench tapped with a hammer CCW as you look at it from the front. I drilled and filed some new holes just above the old ones so the shroud will sit about 1/2" lower. Out everything back together and everything clears nicely.
Lesson here is with 1.25" Savvy body lift and 1" Brown Dog MMM you still may get fan interference after the Savvy Under Armor/TT install.

 

[cramil]

Next thing on my list to try and get done today in the street in front of my house was to install my aluminum Currie Antirock. I gave a quick look in the front to check things out and noticed right away it was going to be a no go today

Gonna have to pull my front bumper to get the bar through the frame

 

[Chris]

That sucks man! I was lucky enough to be able to get my Antirock through the frame without having to pull the bumper... thankfully!

 

[JMT]

Next thing on my list to try and get done today in the street in front of my house was to install my aluminum Currie Antirock.
Gonna have to pull my front bumper to get the bar through the frame

You could chop off the end of your bumper! No, really, this is looking good. Appreciate the details. A good thread to follow. Thanks for the link over. I knew you were doing this but I'm tied up w DW and trying to solve that! Hopefully I'll be where you are next year!

 

[cramil]

You could chop off the end of your bumper! No, really, this is looking good. Appreciate the details. A good thread to follow. Thanks for the link over. I knew you were doing this but I'm tied up w DW and trying to solve that! Hopefully I'll be where you are next year!

Haha yea I'd rather not go that route eventually might go with a smaller stubby bumper, but there are more important things on my list. Good luck with the DW. Had a mild case back with one of my cherokees that got better after replacing the tie rod ends and shocks that were blown.

 

[cramil]

Got the final package of parts for my Savvy/Currie lift and thought it was interesting to see these when I opened the box.

Not that it's a big deal, I mean they are extended links and not some specialized part.

 

[Rob5589]

Interesting mix between RE and Savvy/Currie. But like you said, they are pretty basic components so maybe more cost effective to not build their own.

 

[cramil]

Another weekend and another day doing some work on the Jeep. First thing was to install the transfer case skid. I had started by loosely attaching the brace that mounts along the back edge but quickly found that having it there makes getting to the nuts on the backside of the crossmember a royal pain. So off came the brace. This is now one of the drawbacks I see to how the Savvy system goes together that I hadn't seen discussed before. Most just say yeah 6 bolts at the frame and 7 along the crossmember to drop The skid. The reality (as i see it anyway) is every time you need to get to the transfer case you need to pull the 9 bolts to remove the brace then the 6 at the frame and the 7 at the crossmember. Granted this isn't too often and I'm not complaining or concerned about it. Just be aware of it as a quirk of the set-up.

Overall this is a very well designed and very complete system. In my case I didn't need to do anything to my tub for clearance around the 241 or the auto trans or even my exhaust, all of which I was super surprised but very excited about. And there were zero areas that needed to be cut or trimmed for clearance as I've heard a lot of folks mention. Everything just fit and worked as well as anything bolted onto a Jeep.

 

[cramil]

One thing I had mentioned before was a noted increase in the amount of noise and vibration at idle that many have mentioned as well. But, over the last week of driving around this has improved greatly. I think things might have settled in some, as now there is only a minor amount of extra vibration inside at idle that is barely noticeable.

 

[cramil]

Next up I went to work getting the engine skid installed. Now this is one area the v1 instructions are totally lacking as the front mounting on the newer v2 skids is totally redesigned, and in a good way, as it is now completely independent of the motor mounts or whatever type of MML you may be using. There are two brackets that mount too a couple of existing holes at the bottom side of the frame horns that the motor mounts sit on.
Drivers Side

Passenger Side

I put the nuts on the inside as they are serrated so once they get a little tight they grab pretty good and don't spin. It is a little tight getting them back there with a couple fingers holding them and starting the bolt through the bracket, but not bad. As far as orientation goes I got that from some posts on another forum. Tab to the back on the drivers side and tab to the front on the passenger side.

 

[cramil]

I loosely installed the "L" brackets, again oriented based on some forum posts. These are two different lengths. Put the 13" long one on the drivers side tab and in the upper hole on the outside front of the skid. And the 12" long one on the passenger side and in the lower hole on the outside front of the skid.

 

[cramil]

Now one thing to mention here is that my transmission skid did not come with any holes drilled along the front for three engine skid even though I ordered it all together. Maybe this was intentional or maybe not. I didn't mind as it is just 4 holes drilled through aluminum and makes sure it fits MY Jeep. I just lined the engine skid up centred and all the way back on the transfer case skid, held it up tight, then drilled a pilot hole with a small bit and then matched a bit up to the bolts for the final size.

I did the first one and put a nut and bolt tightened through it, then did the rest.

I know some have mentioned concern that the countersinks are bigger than the flat head bolts provided, but they don't really protrude through to affect anything.

 

[cramil]

After getting that end bolted on I moved to the front to tighten everything up. Here I ran into a small issue. The "L" brackets were angled back from the tabs under the motor mounts to the front of the skid. I had put the angles on the front of the tabs making them too far forward. I moved them to the back side of the tabs but even then you can see in the bottom picture that the passenger side was still a little far back.

Drivers Side

Passenger Side