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Artec DEF skid and belly pan install notes

JLUR Farout

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Ordered the belly and def skids today. (15% off) Did they send you updated instructions?
A few moments ago I received a long email wuth attachments. Will review in a bit. I also got Northridge4x4's email about the sale and asked if they would honor it for me. TBD there. I'm 100% cool with store credit.
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JLUR Farout

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Ordered the belly and def skids today. (15% off) Did they send you updated instructions?
What I would call Solidworks drawings from my college days depict me having all of the hardware, which is a good thing! Knowing all the pieces are here helps. Between my abilities and the hints given at the start of the thread I think this will be up tomorrow evening after work. I wanted to tackle it today, just didn't happen.
 

JLUR Farout

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In place of starting another thread I'll place my information here for ease of future searching by folks. Before I go further, big respectful hat tip to Northridge4x4 who, though they did not have to, gave me store credit for the current sale price difference from my order last week. The credit won't be there long, and I appreciate them doing it.

I would like to meet the person or people who thought that nut blocks, without tethers or a way to hold them, was a great idea on the front of the skid plate where it bolts to the factory skid / light crossmember. The one I did use, the center one, does not draw the plate snug. I put the pressed thread ring up so the flat base went against the skid. There was a bit of rattle potential so I found a G8 bolt I had and placed that in the passenger side as a hole existed in the crossmember already. That pulled the front portion snug. For the wheeling I do it should be plenty.

Another design issue is the use of hex heads, but the main place it sucks is the bolt rear of the tailpipe. Working alone, on the ground, there was no good way to get the bolt in there and get it snug. I had a bolt the right length and thread pitch so I screwed that into the pressed thread inside the skid plate. That created a stud which I placed a flat washer and nut, 14mm, and was easily able to put a ratchet wrench on it and tighten it down.

As the OP pointed out you do play games with the body bolt and washer. Flat side of the brackets face forward, curved to the rear. Brackets need to be loose to put aluminum conical washer and long bolts in. I have several types of 7/32" hex wrenches and sockets and none fit good enough to really tighten the bolt. Had the bracket steel been 1/4" shorter on the bottom, a normal hex wrench short side would fit in there easily. Again, another oversight by someone.

Here are some pictures. Hope this helps someone.

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memayo

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is there a chance your exhaust can hit the bracket? doesn't seem like much clearance.
 
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BDinTX

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Mine doesn't move around much in there. I suppose it's possible, if coming down on something with the exhaust tip, it could be crushed some at the top but I'm not too worried about that.
 

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BDinTX

BDinTX

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Does anyone know if I will have issues w/ the DEF skid and the MetalCloak "Stock Rear Metal Bumper Reinforcement Brace" ? https://metalcloak.com/jl-wrangler-rear-metal-bumper-braces.html
https://images.metalcloak.com/KMS/P...al-Bumper-Brace-Installation-Instructions.pdf
Nope I put those on recently myself. No shared bolts, no interference. I think I posted up some notes somewhere too. Looking.... found it
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/warn-recovery-gear-d-ring-kit.107937/post-2245123
 

ChuckQue

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Does anyone know if I will have issues w/ the DEF skid and the MetalCloak "Stock Rear Metal Bumper Reinforcement Brace" ? https://metalcloak.com/jl-wrangler-rear-metal-bumper-braces.html
https://images.metalcloak.com/KMS/P...al-Bumper-Brace-Installation-Instructions.pdf
I doubt it. The bumper reinforcement brackets utilized bumper OEM points, the main difference is the thickness of the material used and the fact they tie the two bumper mounting points together rather than keeping them separate as the OEM does. The DEF skid from Asfir doesn’t come anywhere near that, and I’d doubt the Artec does since it looks like they use similar mounting points.

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memayo

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Does Artec have any intructions online for the belly or def skid? Or is this thread all we have…
 

memayo

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Install is done. Wouldn’t say it was easy. Getting the fuel skid plate was a pain, had to pry it into place. I am also a little concerned with bolts that touch the fuel tank. Thoughts?

IMG_2014.jpeg


IMG_2015.jpeg
 

memayo

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Another note, I received a different threaded plate than the -9. Best way to install this is sliding it in on the drivers side toward the frame, remove the 3 bolts that hold the transfer case in place. slightly lift the transfer case enough to raise the bolts up to slide the plate into place then bolt the transfer case back.

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BDinTX

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Install is done. Wouldn’t say it was easy. Getting the fuel skid plate was a pain, had to pry it into place. I am also a little concerned with bolts that touch the fuel tank. Thoughts?

IMG_2014.jpeg


IMG_2015.jpeg
I'm pretty sure the bolt head is supposed to be towards the tank with the nuts facing outboard. The hole going through the skid is square to accept the carriage bolt.

edit to add pics. I used a piece of tape to hold them in place while I moved it around. You can see in second pic.
Jeep Wrangler JL Artec DEF skid and belly pan install notes 85F439FD-63FC-4C8F-AE7A-790D304AF6A4
Jeep Wrangler JL Artec DEF skid and belly pan install notes 05BDEE20-F1D8-49D8-82CD-68531C30C628
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