nrgetic99

I did my diff drop and followed Steve's instructions to the tee.

I have the following issue when trying to remount the stock skid plate.

1st, the bolts that join the front part of the skid to the back part foul the diff carrier. I think I can grind off the excess bolt that sticks clear of the skid plate and that will help.

2nd, the front mounts that not of the front rad support, but the next ones back, the ones in the little recess in the plate, are at least 3/8" clear of the cross member. No way are they going in without longer bolts.

3rd, a quick test drive gives me a notable vibration coming up thought the driveline that is not there with the lift and dff drop but without the skid plate.

I think the skid plate touching the diff carrier are leading to this vibration as stock, no part of the plate touches the diff or carrier.

Any experience...

E

wjwerdna

nope, my skid definately touches my front diff with no prob... make sure your diff drop bolts are tight

Firefightertaco

My diff drop kit came with 2 longer bolts for the second crossmember and my skid plate touches the diff too, but i have seen people put a piece of rubber between them to stop some vibration.

KyleT

i had to grind on the skidplate to get it to fit with the sonoran steel diff drop. steve included a picture showing what to grind out too. fits like a glove once that was done, doesnt even touch the diff as far as I can tell.

nrgetic99

Copied Steve's instructions to the letter. Bolts torqued to 100 lb ft so they are tight.

David

Gerdo

I had to bend the fronts of the diff washers up, cut the bracing on the skid as Steve shows in his directions, and pound with a 3# sledge on the skid where the diff mount washer/bolts hit the skid to "stretch" two pockets for them to fit into. I was able to use all of the stock bolts with these modifications.

sschaefer3

There is a certain order in tightening the bolts. If you do them in the right order, it all snug’s up. 100 foot pounds on M8's is not correct. 100 foot pounds on M12 or M14's is more in line.

Leave the fronts loose, lave the rear loose and tighten the middle ones. Then tighten the front and rear. Nothing will tough and everything is tight. I have done this 20+ times.

KyleT

ya definately didnt do that and had to learn by fiddling with it...

nrgetic99

Steve,

I know you deal with a lot of folks that are not mechanically aware but I am am never going to be putting 100 ft lbs on an M8. I am a mechanical engineer.

The 100 ft lbs reference was for the diff bolts.

I do not use a torque wrench on the skid plate bolts , I only use a 3/8" drive socket and ratchet which on which I can get around 30-40 lbs ft.

I have replaced all the front bolts with a better size however as I am not sure why Toyota would put a 12mm head on an 8 mm bolt as the rest of the known universe knows, 13 mm head = 8 mm thread. In addition, 2 of the 3 bolts were stripped and the 3rd was galled.

I used 'body bolts' which have a captive washer and a 13 mm head.

Thanks for the tips, quality hardware from you as expected. Good instructions. You may want to add the skid plate tips to your instructions that go out with the diff drop as until now, I would always hook the front on the rad support and then get a back bolt in first.

It would save you having to asnwer the same question multiple times for dummies like me

David

P.S, Where the heck can I get quality hardware ??? If you go to most places around here and ask for an M8 X 1.25 Cap head in SS they think you are from mars

sschaefer3

I wrote the directions a long time ago, right after Caseys 2WD conversion. I should up date them a bit more.

You can pretty much get anything at McMaster-Carr.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

You guys should call me or e-mail me and most of the time I'm not going to find these posts.

nrgetic99

I know... but I an just a web wheeler like Local Motion so I don't want to bother a person that really wheels his vehicles

Thanks,

I will be looking for some nice button head bolts soon so I will start there..its just a shame I can't buy them at a bricks and mortar locally.

David

sschaefer3

You guys should call me, it would save alot of trouble in the long run. I get alot of calls what's a few more.

I just don't have alot of time to read and post here anymore. I have a good solid 8 hours of work every single day.

Localmotion

you mean theres more like me out there?!?!

haha, nice looking runner david!