Help! cant mount transfer case skid plate

[cdogg]

i found a skid plate at a pic n pull that came off of another same year cherokee. when i tried to bolt it to my cherokee i found there is no nut or sleeve to accept the bolt and hold the plate in place. i have the bolts that came off the donor rig and the holes all line up with my rig but no way to fasten them, have one of the old sleeves from donor rig, but its pretty mangled, nobody seems to know what to do, dealer couldnt even find the damn skidplate in his computer, much less the sleeve type nut that needs to be inside my frame and crossmember to accept these damn bolts! very frustrated and need some help! i found a jeep wrecker 70 miles away that would do it for $150.00! that's the whole point of getting the plate from pic n pull was to save money, and put this silly little piece of metal on myself, please help me figure how to get this mounted without the need for welding.

[Mudderoy]

i found a skid plate at a pic n pull that came off of another same year cherokee. when i tried to bolt it to my cherokee i found there is no nut or sleeve to accept the bolt and hold the plate in place. i have the bolts that came off the donor rig and the holes all line up with my rig but no way to fasten them, have one of the old sleeves from donor rig, but its pretty mangled, nobody seems to know what to do, dealer couldnt even find the damn skidplate in his computer, much less the sleeve type nut that needs to be inside my frame and crossmember to accept these damn bolts! very frustrated and need some help! i found a jeep wrecker 70 miles away that would do it for $150.00! that's the whole point of getting the plate from pic n pull was to save money, and put this silly little piece of metal on myself, please help me figure how to get this mounted without the need for welding.

I think what you are missing are the nutserts. Basically it's this thing that expands in the hole, then you can screw a bolt in it. I need to replace 2 or 3 of mine. I don't have my transfer case skid on right now because I need to take those old nutserts out and put in new ones. Now I think you can actually get a nut and bolt on the ones that attach the transfer case to the cross member, but the one that goes in the unibody, well unless I drill a big hole I can get to the other side of the bolt.

[xj4life2]

There are blind nuts welded into the frame , if they are gone weld nuts to a the end of coat hangers fish them into place and them tighten and cut the coat hanger off. Nutserts aren't stong enough to hold the plate and the t/c.

[cdogg]

thanks, but it wouldnt be holding the tcase in place, that is already mounted by its own bolts and brackets. the plate would be holding only itself in place by whatever these bolts and sleeves. it was on very tight when i went to remove it from the donor rig with only three bolts holding it on, one to the frame drivers side and two bolted to the crossmember the goes across the vehicle and passes by the tcase, so it would only be strengthing the whole area , ounce i can get this damn plate to grab a hold of something inside these holes, dont have welding equipment, so need a laymans way of getting this accomplished.

[Mudderoy]

thanks, but it wouldnt be holding the tcase in place, that is already mounted by its own bolts and brackets. the plate would be holding only itself in place by whatever these bolts and sleeves. it was on very tight when i went to remove it from the donor rig with only three bolts holding it on, one to the frame drivers side and two bolted to the crossmember the goes across the vehicle and passes by the tcase, so it would only be strengthing the whole area , ounce i can get this damn plate to grab a hold of something inside these holes, dont have welding equipment, so need a laymans way of getting this accomplished.

Well in my case it is the transfer case skid. You just said skid. I don't know which one you are talking about. I have three factor skids. The fuel tank. The front under the fan and oil pan and the transfer case skid.

It really sounds like you are talking about the transfer case skid to me. Mine had 3 bolts holding it on. Two on the cross member and one on the uni-body driver's side.

That is there to protect the transfer case.

[prerunner1982]

The title does say transfer case. I would say to use large self tapping screws.

[cdogg]

thanks buddy, for having my back on the whole which skid plate in ?..lol i was just replying to someone saying that nutsert wouldnt be strong enough for the t case itself and was just clarifying that it doesnt need to be strong enough for the holding of anything except the plate itself, which is about 20 pounds max, self tapping screws huh? you think that would do it? im willing to try anything to make it work, dont have the welding equip or know how for that matter to entertain that type of fix, so appreciate any and all advice that can lead to this skidplate getting mounted.

[cdogg]

where can u find nutserts, and do u just punch them through or do u need a special tool?

[4.3LXJ]

Check the diameter of the holes and compare that to nutserts available at fastener shops. You may be able to get some to fit and put your own in

[cdogg]

like the sound of that, i think we are getting warmer boys! lol

[XJ Wheeler]

Yeah, nutserts are basically threaded crush sleeves. When you tighten down the bolts it pulls the nutsert in on itself to get a tight fit.

Oh, and you wouldnt want to weld it anyways. Needs to be removable.

[Brasscatz]

My skid won't go on for 2 reasons... Can't get the holes lined up and the nutsert is jacked up. Wheeled it today with no problems, but I'll probably get an aftermarket skid in the future.