Transmission skid plate is about to fall out: Is this safe to drive?

Aspilb

Aspilb

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Sep 29, 2020
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Kentucky
Hello friends,

last week my YJ got a lift and some shock work. I drove it for a week to find that my transmission skid plate is about to fall out! I understand that the skid plate holds the transmition on the YJ’s. Is this correct? Car is parked a work which is a 30 minute commute to home. Not sure if I should drive back or not. Do you have any thoughts?

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Eesh. Yes it's bad. Yes it holds up everything aft of the front motor mounts, No I would not drive it.

How does the other side look? You may need a flat bed trailer unless someone has a different idea.

You will need to support the back of the transfer case before removing the skid pan.

Also, clean up and check the frame. They tend to rust from the inside out. Hopefully those bolts come out ok.

I just went through frame and skid pan repairs and feel your pain.
 
Flyer58 said:
Eesh. Yes it's bad. Yes it holds up everything aft of the front motor mounts, No I would not drive it.

How does the other side look? You may need a flat bed trailer unless someone has a different idea.

You will need to support the back of the transfer case before removing the skid pan.

Also, clean up and check the frame. They tend to rust from the inside out. Hopefully those bolts come out ok.

I just went through frame and skid pan repairs and feel your pain.
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Ugh this sucks. Yeah the frame definitely has rust and the bolts more than likely will break when trying to remove. How much did you pay in repairs?
 
I did all the welding and repairs myself and had a lot more to work with on my skid pan.

I had two skid pan bolts break off while trying to remove them and found the frame was rusted very thin around the nutserts The nutserts can be replaced if the frame is good enough to take new ones. I ended up buying a new pair of center frame channels from eBay for about $60 and welded them in. They're predrilled and have nuts welded in place.

My skid pan had some slight wear around the bolt holes so I welded in some flat steel pieces to beef them up. My total cost in materials was about $100 but you may be looking at around $300 just for the skid pan. I'd look for a used one in good shape for less and then ask around if more welding is needed.

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Oh wow, what you are dealing with there is literally frame rot. That is in no way, shape, or form safe to drive. From what I am seeing, you likely need an entirely new frame 😲
 
How does the rest of the frame look end to end? The center section is a common point for rust but so is are the ends where the spring shackles attach. Do a quick Google search for images of Jeep YJ frame rot and you'll see some scary stuff.

I was lucky to see rust in the center only but found most of the rust I saw had actually come from the skid pan and stuck to the frame. Once I sanded the frame I could see the rust was very limited to nutsert areas. I cut those small sections out and found the internal rust ed area was actually quite limited.

My first view after removing the pan...
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Then I wire brushed the rust away...
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I still found a lot of good metal to work with. Hopefully yours is the same.
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Frankly I cannot believe a shop of any legitimacy did not call you to say NO WAY on the work you wanted done before calling you to come see the underside rust. They outta be bitch slapped into the next month. Its nowhere safe to drive it like it is. The drive train is balancing on the motor mounts more less. The exhaust is basically holding it up and from the pic it looks like its giving out or bent. Safety caps or a similar product might fix that part but what is the rest of the frame like around the spring hangers,body mounts,etc,etc. I'll get flamed for this comment but Ive flipped,modded/owned some 150+ vehicles and NEVER see rust like Jeeps get, Just F'ing inexcusable and I dont care where it was driven or used. So were the other 4x4's on the market and their not literally falling apart like jeeps do not even the early FJ's which everyone seems to bitch about.
 
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Gilaguy23 said:
Frankly I cannot believe a shop of any legitimacy did not call you to say NO WAY on the work you wanted done before calling you to come see the underside rust. They outta be bitch slapped into the next month. Its nowhere safe to drive it like it is. The drive train is balancing on the motor mounts more less. The exhaust is basically holding it up and from the pic it looks like its giving out or bent. Safety caps or a similar product might fix that part but what is the rest of the frame like around the spring hangers,body mounts,etc,etc. I'll get flamed for this comment but Ive flipped,modded/owned some 150+ vehicles and NEVER see rust like Jeeps get, Just F'ing inexcusable and I dont care where it was driven or used. So were the other 4x4's on the market and their not literally falling apart like jeeps do not even the early FJ's which everyone seems to bitch about.
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Totally agree, piss poor metal in the factory frames is the only explanation I can think of. As far as the cross member goes, just a little more money than a stock type replacement, a Throttle Down Customs crossmember can be had. Looks to me to be well worth it.
 
Gilaguy23 said:
Frankly I cannot believe a shop of any legitimacy did not call you to say NO WAY on the work you wanted done before calling you to come see the underside rust. They outta be bitch slapped into the next month. Its nowhere safe to drive it like it is. The drive train is balancing on the motor mounts more less. The exhaust is basically holding it up and from the pic it looks like its giving out or bent. Safety caps or a similar product might fix that part but what is the rest of the frame like around the spring hangers,body mounts,etc,etc. I'll get flamed for this comment but Ive flipped,modded/owned some 150+ vehicles and NEVER see rust like Jeeps get, Just F'ing inexcusable and I dont care where it was driven or used. So were the other 4x4's on the market and their not literally falling apart like jeeps do not even the early FJ's which everyone seems to bitch about.
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Similar era tacomas were as bad or worse…
 
Toyota did at least warranty the trucks by either replacing the frame or paying 1.5 times the market value for the vehicle based on mileage. Had a few friends that made out well on the deal.
 
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ytradio said:
Toyota did at least warranty the trucks by either replacing the frame or paying 1.5 times the market value for the vehicle based on mileage. Had a few friends that made out well on the deal.
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Yeah, I have a friend who argued with the dealer and they replaced it.

Years ago I saw a new F-150 bent like that but not as bad. The guy converted it to a tow truck with the lift hoist on the back . He must have thought the standard frame would be enough.
 
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