Front Differential service with skid plate in place???

webejeepn · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:27 pm

Well I attempted to service the front/rear diffs and the transfer case today, and only got the rear, and the transfercase done. Does anyone know an easy way to service the front diff w/o removing the skid plate? Removal looks like it will be a total pain in the booty! 2 qts of 75W-140 already cost me $30 bucks, I'm considering just letting the local dealer do it for a $100 and taking the oil back. Any suggestions that could make this process easier for me to complete myself????

Thanks,

Dan

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:44 pm

skid plate is only held on with 4 bolts not hard to take off at all. maybe 10 minutes at most, unless its really rusted bad :roll:

Tom

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:22 am

tommudd wrote:

skid plate is only held on with 4 bolts not hard to take off at all. maybe 10 minutes at most, unless its really rusted bad :roll:

Tom

After the first time, I'd say 5 minutes at most. All you need is a socket with an extension to get up inside the pockets that the front bolts are in. Back out the rear ones (which bolt into the crossmember underneath the bellhousing) about half way.. They are in notched cutouts in the plate, so don't bang things around while loose or the back end of the plate might slip off uncontrolled. Come around and support the front of the plate while completely removing the front bolts. Seated in front of the bumper, I slide my legs under and support the back end with my toes while I let the front down onto my knees and slide the whole thing forward. It's probably only 30/40 lbs.(+

Once out, the diff casing is easy to get to and has a nice drain (yay). I recommend the little $7 oil pump kit at your auto-parts store if you don't already have one. It screws right onto the gear oil and you can pump it in with just a little elbow grease. The pump is a bit of a forearm workout, but not bad. Fill-to-spill (or to "dribble") and you're done.

webejeepn · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:11 pm

Thanks for the info, I guess I just got frustrated because my skid plate has served its purpose numerous times, and one of the bolts is bangedx up to the point I cant get the socket on!

Dan

Edvalencia · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:05 pm

If your bolt is that bad, the dealer will probably want to charge you extra to get it out. I remember when I thought about taking it to the dealer, they wanted to charge extra just to remove the front skid (with all good bolts).

I ended up doing it myself and am glad I did.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:29 pm

cannot change it without taking it off.

It takes 1min tops to get it off.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:47 am

webejeepn wrote:

Thanks for the info, I guess I just got frustrated because my skid plate has served its purpose numerous times, and one of the bolts is bangedx up to the point I cant get the socket on!

Dan

I have had to resort to vice grips to remove one of my bolts once since it was hammered and I also spent some time filing one side clean on another bolt so I could get a socket on it.
Sounds like a great time to change out the bolts while you are at it too.

One thing I do to make future removals easier is to use some anti-seize on the bolt threads during reassembly so they don't rust up between services.

KJ04 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:34 am

By all means, use anti-seize on all the bolts. The front two bolts on my front engine skid snapped when I tried to remove them.

surfRenegade · **Posted:** Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:12 pm

Im actually having a hard time finding where the 4th bolt is. I took out three that go through the housing. looks like the skid should just swing down now but it doesnt
never mind...i diddnt even need to take it off

audiboy86 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:25 am

I was about to say there is no real point in removing it to do a simple oil change. Just drop the bottom plug and open the top one then reinstall the bottom one and pump it back full. There is no need to take the front cover off unless you have alot of metal fillings or a unusually noise.

Front Differential service with skid plate in place???

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