Tummy tuck before lift

[JNURubi]

My main goal, which should be done by March is to put a 3.5" Core Camp Series kit on my 06 Rubicon. In the meantime, I have been going down the tummy tuck rabbit hole, and was thinking about getting that first. I was looking at the Barnes4x4 and Teraflex flat bottoms (if there are better, I would love to see them)

What I am planning is the new belly pan, 1"MML, relocation of air, and a Woods DC Ds. I guess my biggest questions would be: Will the ds work before lift, it states for lifts 2"-6", but being DC I assume that is "should" be ok? And also, will a Body lift be needed? I have read mixed things, but knoing the large Tcase in the Rubicon and the air system...

Or am I just backwards and should tackle the lift first?

Thanks all!

 

[Moglocker]

My main goal, which should be done by March is to put a 3.5" Core Camp Series kit on my 06 Rubicon. In the meantime, I have been going down the tummy tuck rabbit hole, and was thinking about getting that first. I was looking at the Barnes4x4 and Teraflex flat bottoms (if there are better, I would love to see them)

What I am planning is the new belly pan, 1"MML, relocation of air, and a Woods DC Ds. I guess my biggest questions would be: Will the ds work before lift, it states for lifts 2"-6", but being DC I assume that is "should" be ok? And also, will a Body lift be needed? I have read mixed things, but knoing the large Tcase in the Rubicon and the air system...

Or am I just backwards and should tackle the lift first?

Thanks all!

Check out the ucf flat skid and engine skid

 

[Chris]

Driveshaft length will likely change. The best way to do it would be to do it all at once. You're gonna need the adjustable control arms most likely.

I'd also strongly recommend a 1.25" body lift. The extra clearance is a very good thing to have.

 

[tworley]

I'd also strongly recommend a 1.25" body lift. The extra clearance is a very good thing to have.

And required to lift the belly

 

[Chris]

And required to lift the belly

I'm pretty sure if you go with one of those UCF LoPro mounts you can avoid the body lift. However, I don't know why anyone in their right mind would want to do that.

 

[GoldenGorilla]

With a SWB Rubicon I think you'd still be fine with the stock driveshaft, 1.25" body lift, 1" motor mount lift and the flat belly skid. It should have you at less than 3" of net lift between the output shaft of the 241OR and the diff while keeping them parallel. This is usually OK with this rear driveshaft. But I think it could be touchy. I have a 2.5"-ish lift and when I went to a Barnes no-lift skid (not tummy tuck and no BL or MML), it pushed my output shaft angle up a smidge and barely exceeded the allowable driveline angles on the upper driveshaft joint. I had to use some T-case skid spacers - which you could also do as a temporary solution should you encounter troubles. Plan for a Rubicon NP241 specific cable shifter for the transfer case as part of this project because you're gonna need it. I went the Savvy route and have no complaints.

I am happy with the quality, fit and finish of my Barnes no-lift skid (painted Rustoleum hammered bronze over primer this side). And honestly this does get you a bunch of added clearance without the body lift. I bought the Barnes no-lift skid because I had to deal with some rust between the frame and original skid. I liked that this had no dimples to hold water against the frame, drains in all 4 corners and didn't require a body lift - cause I've never liked the way they look. I never cared that much about the stock skid clearance and my old skid had the bash marks to prove it over the 20+ years I've owned it.

If you go with either, make sure to buy the Rubicon locker pump bracket for whichever you go with. Easy to miss on checkout but necessary.

 

[GoldenGorilla]

The instigation that made me angry. I'm in CO and we don't usually have issues with rust.

For the record with my dad's 06 LJ Rubicon we needed to deal with the same issue. I bought a used skid out of AZ, refinished it and put some thick washers in there. He's applying some surface shield on the frame while I stripped, repainted and surface shielded mine. We both used KBS cavity coater inside the frames and drilled drain holes in front of the rear lower control arm mounts.

Mine installed with the frame stripped and repainted. I did a ton of other repairs and updates at the same time including a new clutch, new MORE motor mounts, RMS, the aforementioned frame paint, headers, catback... so this was kinda a big milestone to have the transmission back in on it's own support. Something bumped the skid as I was lifting it up to the frame. It slid off the jack scratching the paint I'd worked hard to get right (smh).

You can see here how much clearance this gains even with the 1" T-case drops. (note LJ at stock height + 31s, TJ at 2.5 lift + 33s)

 

[rasband]

I'm in CO and we don't usually have issues with rust.

Don't lean too hard into this, be sure to use anti-seize and paint exposed metal. Our rust isn't as bad as out east, but it does still creep in there.

 

[GoldenGorilla]

Don't lean too hard into this, be sure to use anti-seize and paint exposed metal. Our rust isn't as bad as out east, but it does still creep in there.

My family goes back several generations here. My first car was an '80 Suby DL-5 my grandpa handed down that was always a Denver car with a quarter million miles on it. You could open the doors and see right through the bottom of them. It wasn't my only old car with rust issues. Modern coatings and steel have much better mitigation than the old days so we don't tend to see as many problems anymore.

My TJ spent most of it's life in my garage until my "daily driver" booted it to the driveway 6 or 7 years ago and it had no rust under there at all at time. I still keep really good care of it. The sprinkler between my house and my neighbor's was getting enough water in the skid/frame interface to develop some rust pretty quickly when nothing else showed any, including the scratched up rocker skids which also got hit with the sprinker overspray. Those rivnut pockets are a menace. But I took care of everything properly.

My dad is in his late 70s and while he's had that LJR nearly 20 years, he wouldn't have done anything had I not pointed it out to him. I didn't have the time to strip and repaint it. Despite spending all of it's life outside, his wasn't close to anything spraying up under the skid and wasn't as bad there. I think an annual coat of surface shield will keep it under control for long enough to see him through his driving years. At which point I'll remind him of the fine print.

You don't really own your jeep until you've rebuilt it - and I did the rebuilding for him.

 

[Rickyd]

If yo

My main goal, which should be done by March is to put a 3.5" Core Camp Series kit on my 06 Rubicon. In the meantime, I have been going down the tummy tuck rabbit hole, and was thinking about getting that first. I was looking at the Barnes4x4 and Teraflex flat bottoms (if there are better, I would love to see them)

What I am planning is the new belly pan, 1"MML, relocation of air, and a Woods DC Ds. I guess my biggest questions would be: Will the ds work before lift, it states for lifts 2"-6", but being DC I assume that is "should" be ok? And also, will a Body lift be needed? I have read mixed things, but knoing the large Tcase in the Rubicon and the air system...

Or am I just backwards and should tackle the lift first?

Thanks all!

The 241 is pretty big. Keep that in mind when choosing a skid

 

[TheBoogieman]

You can see here how much clearance this gains even with the 1" T-case drops.

View attachment 647547

Their website states up to 1" clearance gains depending on the year Jeep.

 

[L J]

And also, will a Body lift be needed? I have read mixed things, but knoing the large Tcase in the Rubicon and the air system...

highly recommended and probably the best bang-for-your-buck mod: https://blackmagicbrakes.com/ols/pr...its-97-06-tj-and-tj-unlimited-all-trim-levels

 

[lumberjacklloyd]

UCF ultra high clearance is my flavor of tummy tuck. I ran tummy tuck, JB super short SYE and adjustable arms for quite a few years until recently lifting. The driveshaft I measured and had built still works with lift.

 

[Moglocker]

UCF ultra high clearance is my flavor of tummy tuck. I ran tummy tuck, JB super short SYE and adjustable arms for quite a few years until recently lifting. The driveshaft I measured and had built still works with lift.

Yep that and their engine skid,really good addition,moving exhaust kinda sucked but well worth it.body lift also.

 

[JMT]

My main goal, which should be done by March is to put a 3.5" Core Camp Series kit on my 06 Rubicon. In the meantime, I have been going down the tummy tuck rabbit hole, and was thinking about getting that first. I was looking at the Barnes4x4 and Teraflex flat bottoms (if there are better, I would love to see them)

What I am planning is the new belly pan, 1"MML, relocation of air, and a Woods DC Ds. I guess my biggest questions would be: Will the ds work before lift, it states for lifts 2"-6", but being DC I assume that is "should" be ok? And also, will a Body lift be needed? I have read mixed things, but knoing the large Tcase in the Rubicon and the air system...

Or am I just backwards and should tackle the lift first?

Thanks all!

With a 2006 you have the Savvy MUA option. Much better

You have to do a 1.25” BL first to make room for a high tuck.

UCF has a no BL tuck but it makes compromises with the lo pro Mount.

Requires adjustable control arms. Do the lift first, then the tuck, then your driveshafts

 

[lumberjacklloyd]

With a 2006 you have the Savvy MUA option. Much better

You have to do a 1.25” BL first to make room for a high tuck.

UCF has a no BL tuck but it makes compromises with the lo pro Mount.

Requires adjustable control arms. Do the lift first, then the tuck, then your driveshafts

Everything Savvy is great, but apart from the crossmember design and modularity with their engine skid, it's not the only good option.

A tuck IMO is a much more noticeable upgrade offroad than a couple inches of suspension and tires. Start with the tuck and grow into whatever lift you want...

MML, 1.25" BL, UHC skid, JB super short SYE, adjustable arms, new DS. I've been running the lopro mount for 120k miles and replaced the rubber pad once....

 

[JMT]

A tuck IMO is a much more noticeable upgrade offroad than a couple inches of suspension and tires.

How is that possible since a tuck only lifts the belly pan and a suspension lift lifts everything above and hard attached to the frame and tires lift everything?

 

[lumberjacklloyd]

How is that possible since a tuck only lifts the belly pan and a suspension lift lifts everything above and hard attached to the frame and tires lift everything?

sure...incorrectly phrased. I gained 3" of belly clearance and lost the ginormous shovel underneath. It felt like a bigger upgrade than 33's and getting hung with a stock skid.

 

[Moglocker]

Everything Savvy is great, but apart from the crossmember design and modularity with their engine skid, it's not the only good option.

A tuck IMO is a much more noticeable upgrade offroad than a couple inches of suspension and tires. Start with the tuck and grow into whatever lift you want...

MML, 1.25" BL, UHC skid, JB super short SYE, adjustable arms, new DS. I've been running the lopro mount for 120k miles and replaced the rubber pad once....

I used the tuck so I wouldn’t have to run a huge suspension lift have 3 inch teraflex springs.all of this to only clear 35 inch tires,I thought tires are the only way to add ground clearance?

 

[TheBoogieman]

Everything Savvy is great

Except for their ability to send decals with the orders.