Transmission Crossmember Skid Plate Fitment Issue

[RyanMerrill]

Hey Forum,
I recently removed the transmission crossmember/ skid plate from my 2000 TJ (4.0, 5spd), in an attempt to install a 1 inch transfer case drop to hopefully eliminate vibrations I had coming from my rear driveshaft. The skid plate was rusted through and had to be cut off, so I am replacing it.
I bought a new skid plate from a junkyard and I am having difficulty installing it. Once one side is bolted on, the 3 holes on the other side of the car don't quite line up, although they are close. They look to be about a centimeter to far to the outside of the frame, as if the skid plate is just a little too wide. The Skid plate appears to be slightly different, coming from a 1999 and going onto a 2000, but the set of three holes on each side line up with themselves exactly, and the general dimensions appear the same(though maybe 1 centimeter wider).
I have been able to thread in all six of the screws, but a few are going in at an angle and there is a lot of tension on them. I think they will require the breaker bar to get all the way in, which will likely surpass the 45ft-lb recommendation.
Has anyone had this same problem before?
Is the 1999 skid plate incompatible with the 2000 frame?
Should I just muscle the bolt in - is there any danger in doing so?

Thank you

 

[Hopper]

My 99 was always difficult to put back on. I would half thread one side then pull the other side in place with a ratchet strap and half thread those. Then tighten one bolt bottom right,top left,bottom left, top right then middle. It was never an easy thing to do on mine.

 

[hear]

First, remove the skid and make sure that your bolts even thread in nice and square. If you force it in at that angle, you're gonna have a bad time either tonight or at some point down the road. Those bolts are chamfered and want to fit nice and square/countersunk into the skid holes. That crazy angle ain't right.

I find that it is a constant game of tighten one bolt a little, then raise/lower the transmission jack I have supporting the skid. And then maybe raise/lower the jack I have under the bellhousing. Lather, rinse repeat. I try to get one bolt started on either side, but I think on the last one I did I ended up doing 2 bolts on one side first after having fought with it via normal means.

But one thing that NEVER works for me is to tighten the four 13mm bolts that hold the skit to the trans mount. I thread those on just enough to get started & not slip out, and then I don't touch them until the skid is home.

In another thread we were discussing manufacturing tolerances on the frame in particular. I suppose it's possible that if the skid is on one end of the tolerance and the frame is on the other end, you might end up with a mismatch. Factory would've sorted it out before it rolled off the line, but if you try and use a different skid 20 years later. Of course that's assuming we are even close to right on that theory.