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JKS 1" Basic Motor Mount Lift
on 2004 Jeep TJ Rubicon In conjunction with the
JKS 1.25" body lift, we installed a JKS 1" Basic
Motor Mount lift to help flatten out the rear pinion
and driveshaft angles, further reducing vibrations and, in all
likelihood, lengthening the life of this TJ's drivetrain.
The JKS instructions leave much to be desired. They do provide torque
specs, however, which is nice. Hopefully, this write-up will help
augment the instructions if you decide to complete this modification.
Despite the sketchy instructions, one person completed the JKS motor mount lift
in about
three and a half hours. Probably the most difficult part of the job was
getting the engine lined back up with the mounts to get the bolts back in their holes. Doing this by
yourself certainly will be a challenge but it is
do-able.
Tools Needed
-
15mm socket
-
18mm socket
-
Long Socket Extension(s)
-
18mm combo wrench
-
Vise Grips
-
Floor Jack or Bottle Jack and
Wood Spacer (short length of 2X4)
-
Air Wrench (nice to have)
-
Large Phillips Screwdriver
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Small Wire Brush
-
Bench or Angle Grinder
Additional Parts or
Supplies
Torque Specifications
-
JKS Bolt Extension Stud = 35
ft/lbs
-
JKS Engine Mount Bolts
(replace shorter OEM bolts) = 35 ft/lbs
-
Engine Mount Through Bolt =
60 ft/lbs
Illustration #1: Driver's Side Engine Mount
1. Bolt
2. Through Bolt
3. Nut
4. Bolt
5. Driver's Side Engine Mount Assembly
Illustration #2: Passenger's Side Engine Mount
1. Passenger's Side Engine
Mount Assembly
2. Through Bolt
3. Bolt
Instructions
Begin the installation by removing the radiator overflow bottle. (See
Photo #1)
Photo #1: Radiator Overflow Bottle
To remove the bottle from its mount, press on
the circular plastic "button" near the center of the bottle while
pulling upward on the bottle with your other hand. In the photo above
the "button" is the small, round white area showing through the black
mount about 5" below the top of the bottle. The bottle will come free of
the mount. Remove the overflow hose by pinching the spring-type hose
clamp with your fingers (or a pair of pliers) and sliding it upward
above the end of the nipple. Once the clamp is off of the nipple, gently
slide the hose straight off of the nipple. Set the overflow bottle aside
where its contents will not spill.
Photo #2: The Overflow
Bottle Removed from its Mount
Next remove the four screws that hold the fan
shroud in place. This will allow the shroud to "float" while you lift
the engine. The top hex-head screws and the lower driver's side screw are easy to reach from
above. The bottom passenger side screw, is
easier to reach from underneath the Jeep. Place the screws in a safe
place. You will re-use them if you install a body lift at the
same time you install the motor mount lift as we did.
Photo #3: The Top
Passenger Side Fan Shroud Screw
Once the fan shroud is floating freely you will
need to disconnect the transfer case shifter from the body. This is done
by pulling back the carpet on the driver's side of the Jeep and removing
the four screws found on the transmission tunnel just below the
shifters. (See Photo #4) I used a cordless drill to remove the screws.
This saved quite a bit of time vs. using a ratchet.
Caution!
Mark the top or the bottom of the TC shifter bracket if you are going to
completely remove it. This will save the guesswork and possible
reinstallation later if you install it upside-down.
As we were also installing the SkyJacker TC
bracket at the same time we did the body lift and motor mount lift we did
not reinstall the stock TC shifter body bracket.
Photo #4: The Transfer
Case Shifter Bracket Screws
The JKS instructions suggest completely
removing the entire mount from the engine. We've talked with several
people who did not have to do this. They simply jacked the engine up
high enough that they could rotate the mounts on the Through Bolts, installed the extensions and spacers and then rotated the mount back
into its original position. We tried this method but found that the JKS
bolt extension was too long and the stud had to be ground down. This
required complete removal of the mounts. The passenger side was not too
difficult. The driver's side was a bit of a pain.
Regardless of whether you completely remove the
mounts or not, you will need to complete the next steps.
Remove the bolts from the top of both mounts
and the nuts from the bottom of each mount. The nuts will be re-used
once you install the JKS bolt extension so keep them handy.
Photo #5: Removing the
Passenger Side Engine Mount Bolt
In the photo above you can see that it works
best to use a long extension to reach the passenger side bolt. If you
have an air wrench, and can reach the bolt with an extension on your air
wrench, this is a great place to make use of it.
Photo #6: Removing the
Driver Side Engine Mount Bolt
As you can see in Photo #6, there is much less
space to remove the driver side engine mount bolt. Again, if you can get
your air wrench into the limited space, it will save you quite a bit of
time. Our extension happened to be just the right length to fit
underneath the engine compartment brace.
Photo #7: Driver Side
Engine Mount Stud
In the photo above, you can see the driver side
engine mount stud with the nut removed. You will thread the JKS bolt
extensions onto both the driver and passenger side studs so they reach
through the spacers. We used an air wrench and and two extensions to
reach the driver and passenger side studs. (see Photo #8)
Photo #8: Removing the
Passenger Side Engine Mount Stud
In the photo above, we're using a deep well
socket and two extensions to reach up and remove the passenger side
engine mount stud's nut. We used the deep well socket for two reasons;
first, because the stud extends quite a ways past the nut and, second, it gave
us a little bit of extra reach.
Photo #9: Removing the
Passenger Side Through Bolt
In the photo above, that a ratchet with no
extension just fits in the space available to remove the Through Bolt on
the passenger side. The driver side is even tighter. We had to remove the
passenger side to grind down the stud so the JKS bolt extension would be
flush with the spacer. (see Photo #10) Use an 18mm box end wrench on the
nut and rotate both wrenches in opposite directions to remove and
replace the Through Bolt more quickly.
Photo #10: The Passenger
Side Stud After Being Ground Down
As mentioned, we had to grind down the stud on
the passenger side mount to allow the JKS bolt extension to fit flush
with the spacer. (see Photo #11). This, of course, required removing the
entire engine mount assembly. I used a bench grinder to do the grinding
and then placed the mount in a vise to install the JKS bolt extension.
Photo #11: The Body Mount
Bolt Under the Grille
Although the photo above is a little blurry you
can see that the larger section of the JKS bolt extension does not
extend past the bottom (top in the photo) of the spacer. It is important
that the larger section of the bolt extension not extend past the spacer
so that the spacer seats properly in place.
Caution: Do
not over-tighten the bolt extensions to get them to "flush-up" with the
spacer. They should only be torqued to 35 ft/lbs. Over-tightening may
strip the threads on the stud or the extension or both.
Once the JKS bolt extension is installed slide
the spacer over the extension and line up the remaining spacer hole with
the bolt hold in the engine mount. If you completely removed the Through
Bolt, re-install the engine mount first and then re-install the Through
Bolt. We found it much easier to wiggle the engine around to line up the
Through Bolt than it was to line up the stud and the bolt holes.
Also, we slid both spacers over the extensions
and lined them up with the frame rail extensions as best we could before
SLOWLY lowering the jack. We lowered the jack a few fractions of an inch
and checked and double-checked the stud and bolt hole alignment as we did
so. When the stud was about 1/4" into its hole we inserted the two new,
longer bolts from JKS into their corresponding holes and started them by
hand. We also put the nuts on the studs by hand. This secured the engine
so it would not fall while giving me the wiggle room we needed to
reinstall the Through Bolt. Having a second person to help with
reinstalling the Through Bolt would definitely have been nice.
Photo #12: The Installed
Passenger Side Spacer from Below
In the photo above, you can see the passenger
side spacer (the red block of aluminum) in place between the frame rail
extension and the original engine mount.
Photo #13: The Installed
Passenger Side Spacer from Above
Photo #14: The Installed
Driver Side Spacer from Below
In the photo above, you can see the driver side
spacer (the red block of aluminum) in place between the frame rail
extension and the original engine mount.
Photo #15: The Installed
Driver Side Spacer from Above
Photo #16: Fan and
Radiator Hose Clearance
Once the JKS spacers are installed, reinstall
your fan shroud and make sure you have enough clearance for the fan to
rotate (if you also installed a body lift you should be fine) and
clearance above the lower radiator hose (near the left-center of the
photo). If you do not have fan or radiator clearance you will either
have to modify or relocate your fan shroud. Since we did a body lift at
the same time as the motor mount lift our clearance was fine and we were
able to reuse the original mounting hardware for the fan shroud.
Reinstall your radiator overflow bottle, torque
all bolts/nuts to spec and you're done. Start your
engine and check for any vibrations. If you have vibrations the JKS bolt
extensions may not be flush with the bottom of the spacers.
Installing the SkyJacker
TC shifter bracket also worked well and makes a lot of sense in
conjunction with a MML and BL. The SkyJacker bracket, if you are not
familiar with it, replaces all of the existing TC shifter mounting
hardware with a bracket that mounts only to the transfer case. This
removes the TC shifter's connection to the body of the Jeep - not the
best design in the first place - and improves TC shifting. Check
here for our SkyJacker TC shifter
bracket write-up.
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