tcase crossmember mounting

[whatevah]

hopefully a quick question...

a rock at Rausch Creek "modified" the crossmember in my 2001 XJ... I got a replacement from a 97 XJ with the 231 t-case, so I assume they should switch ok? there were a few differences in the crossmembers, but the mounting holes seemed to be in the same positions.

when I put the 97 crossmember onto the frame and lowered the t-case down, the 4 bolts at the bottom of the tcase didn't line up, they were about a half-inch off to the passenger side. meaning, the holes in the crossmember were too far to the drivers side.

I thought I mounted it the same as the one the 01 came with. the drivers side as circular holes for the frame mounting, and the passenger side has ones that stretch from side to side. did I goof up?

 

[XJ_Vikings]

could it be off 180*?

 

[whatevah]

I thought it might be, but I'm pretty certain that I put it up correctly. doing this by myself, so I'm inside taking a break, my shoulder is killing me from holding up the crossmember with one arm and fighting with bolts with the other, while laying on my back.

thanks for the thought. hoping somebody would know if they can or cannot mount with it "facing" either direction.

 

[Kejtar]

I thought it might be, but I'm pretty certain that I put it up correctly. doing this by myself, so I'm inside taking a break, my shoulder is killing me from holding up the crossmember with one arm and fighting with bolts with the other, while laying on my back.

thanks for the thought. hoping somebody would know if they can or cannot mount with it "facing" either direction.

1. Kind of curious: how does the tranny mount look and what shape the engine mounts are in?
2. When the crossmember got messed up things probably shifted a hair. What you might want to try (providing the rubber moutns are all fine) is to grab two jackstands or something like that and prop up the crossmember up so that you can attach it to the tranny mount, then make sure that the tranny is jacked up so that the crossmember kind of rest against the frame rails and see if it doesn't need just a small nudge to get things goint (lastly if you were jacking up with a floorjack with the floorjack being at an angle to the jeep you probably shifted things as the jack often will shift position a bit as it's being raised)

 

[whatevah]

thanks. time to go buy some more jackstands. got them all lifting the XJ up enough so I have room under it to work (stock suspension)

 

[Boatwrench]

Ok, may not have anything to do with it, but.....

When I replaced the stock crossmember with an ORGS t/c skid on my 2000 XJ also had to also install an earlier model trans mount. Unfortunately I can't tell you what year mount, I think it would have been an 89 (the year of my other XJ). The point is, somewhere the OEM changed the mounts. So maybe you could purchase an earlier mount and call it good. It was only ~$25 at NAPA.

Good Luck,
Tom

 

[whatevah]

well, I know that a ton of stuff changed from 96 to 97, but I'd figured that 97 and 01 should be "close enough". I'm hoping it's just that the case shifted to the side a little bit. just got back from the store run for more jackstands. wrenching in the dark now...

 

[whatevah]

ehh, well... the swap is done. gave the crossmember a 180 and it was still off, but I loosely attached the crossmember to the frame using the side with the "stretched" mounting holes, and then shifted it so the tcase mounting bolts slipped through the crossmember, tightened them up, then wrangled the other end of the crossmember into position, then tighted the bolts holding the crossmember to the frame.

started it up, and heared a quick rattle when the engine turns over and then goes away. rev it up, and all's good. put it in reverse and drift back a little, all good. put it in drive, and it starts rattling, sounds like it's coming from the front end? let off the brake and drift forward and the rattle speeds up. put it back in park, and the rattle slows down, but not all the way. drift back down my slightly-sloped driveway and rest the back tires against 6x6 blocks, shift back into park and the rattle is gone. *sigh* guess I'll spending some more time with the wonderful search page... but, anybody got some words of wisdom for me? (hey, it's worth a shot)

 

[Boatwrench]

1. Check to make sure your fan is not hitting the shroud. Look for scuff marks on the plastic shroud. The new mount changed position of your drive train and if your motor mounts are worn then the engine is not aligned properly.

2. While sitting still shift through the transfer case also, I found my problem with the trans skid when I couldn't shift into 4L (on the trail).

Good luck,
Tom

 

[Kejtar]

started it up, and heared a quick rattle when the engine turns over and then goes away. rev it up, and all's good. put it in reverse and drift back a little, all good. put it in drive, and it starts rattling, sounds like it's coming from the front end? let off the brake and drift forward and the rattle speeds up. put it back in park, and the rattle slows down, but not all the way. drift back down my slightly-sloped driveway and rest the back tires against 6x6 blocks, shift back into park and the rattle is gone. *sigh* guess I'll spending some more time with the wonderful search page... but, anybody got some words of wisdom for me? (hey, it's worth a shot)

How do the engine mounts look like???

 

[whatevah]

couldn't tell... I'll have to check in the morning, I'm on the east coast.

 

[Kejtar]

couldn't tell... I'll have to check in the morning, I'm on the east coast.

When you check it pay special attention to the one on the drivers side. They die of heat by the means of cracking and separation. Also I believe that when you replace one (rear or either of hte front mounts) you should replace all for the reasons other mentioned.

 

[whatevah]

ok, since it's too dark to really do anything, I did a listen test...

e-brake to full, shifter in drive, and quickly peeked under the XJ to see where the noise was coming from. grabbed a flashlight and... yup... the exhaust pipe was resting on the crossmember. *sigh* what a relief. I'll still check the mounts, though... just to be sure that they weren't damaged.

oh, and I sent in my membership an hour ago. red name, here I come!

 

[Jeep914x4]

the exhaust pipe was resting on the crossmember. *sigh* what a relief. I'll still check the mounts, though... just to be sure that they weren't damaged.
come!

Mine did exactly that when I needed a new tranny mount. Replace all three like someone else mentioned.

 

[crookedletterd]

the drivers side as circular holes for the frame mounting, and the passenger side has ones that stretch from side to side. did I goof up?

Did you end up keeping the crossmember with the "stretched" holes on the passenger side?

Anyone know if this is the correct way for a stock crossmember? It looks as though the stock crossmember can be put on either way, but I'd like to know how to tell which way is the correct way--I had a similar problem when putting my stock crossmember back on and now it looks like my motor mount bushings are somewhat shifted

 

[whatevah]

I can't remember... the problem (for me) was that the bolt on the passenger side had bent in the nutstrip, so I just bent the nutstrip back to where it should have been, and voila! I definately made it a lot harder than it should have been. ah well, live and learn.

if I remember correctly... the one currently under my XJ has a slight bend on one of the sides, that I lined up under the exhaust pipe (I assumed that's how it was meant to be). that help any?

 

[crookedletterd]

yeah that does help. mine also has the slight bend under the exhaust pipe.