Strange Damage to Gas tank shield and others from our First Jeep Jamboree

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I had checked the clearance btw my drive shaft and steel gas tank shield before I left for the Texas Spur Jeep Jamboree. A couple of inches and no rub marks noted so I should be in great shape!.

So when I did a post off road inspection I was very surprised to see that the drive line had somehow rubbed and I believe pulled part of the steel shield down ???

I didn’t know that could happen.

At first I thought perhaps I had hit something under the gas tank that caused it to bend.

Matt sent me a link to, how he trimmed his shield ( thanks), and even after that I would have just assumed that it would just help prevent rubbing, not what happened to me. The steel is not super heavy duty, but it is not thin either.

At first I thought I would just bend it back up… Not… Then I started to see how hard it would be to remove the shield and bend it back up. Never got to the point of totally figuring out how to remove it and while I was still thinking that way, I realized even if I should get it back in place, it would only happen again.

So it looks like I will be cutting this section out.

You can see in the photos that the drive shaft has also just barely scraped the gas tank itself even after the shield was pulled down.
Strange to me ??

Has anyone else experienced this ?

I didn’t know there could be that much movement back there!



This area is supposed to be FLAT all the way.





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Strange…




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Shows witness marks on gas tank itself.

It looks like that the “band “that looks like it clamps the rubber looking part (I know great description!), where the bans over lap and lock, may have been the first part to “catch” on the shield (?). The part that was pulled out the most appears to line up with it.



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Rear View !! LOL..



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Not strange. .. myself and a few others have had that issue as well. When the axle drops it shifts towards the drivers side. Add in the flexibility of all the bushings and it results in the driveshaft hitting that area. Trimmed mine and no more issues. :)

I just had to document my first scrapes of honor! Had a variety of them!




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The SA sliders did a fantastic job and got a lot of use. Both side stood up phenomenally well! I had a few places that rubbed through the bed liner all the way to the steel.




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Didn’t I have a longer antenna here?



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Now I know why you need something better than the stock rear Diff cover.




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This metal was slightly pulled on both sides of the Jeep.



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Both sides and bottom edge of my SA Steel Bumper left behind their marks on the Texas country side! Something for it to remember me by!



Had this on both sides!

BEFORE >>>…….


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AFTER>>>… and my fix for everything!





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So I think I came out very lucky for what we did with the Commander for the first time!
Must have been the great skillful driving on my part!! LOL..

To see the event > http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showt...=1%23post43334

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt

Not strange. .. myself and a few others have had that issue as well. When the axle drops it shifts towards the drivers side. Add in the flexibility of all the bushings and it results in the driveshaft hitting that area. Trimmed mine and no more issues. :)

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I'll be trimming mine soon.. Thanks Matt...I just couldn't imagine that it could move that much ! LOL..

Trial and error !! I was trying to minimize the error's... learning something new everyday.. thanks for everyone sharing, that also leads to less troubles.

Add what Matt said to the fact that I believe you are running 5 1/2" of lift to begin with, no? Do you have an adjustable rear track bar? A few companies make them and they are only around $100 or so. Then you could adjust the rear diff back to center - maybe even offset it a little to the right to compensate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thance

Add what Matt said to the fact that I believe you are running 5 1/2" of lift to begin with, no? Do you have an adjustable rear track bar? A few companies make them and they are only around $100 or so. Then you could adjust the rear diff back to center - maybe even offset it a little to the right to compensate.

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He is familiar with the adjustable trackbar, he had me put mine on.

So glad I have an American Rebel rear diff cover!! I had the same issue with my drive shaft hitting the gas tank skid when flexed out. Rustys rear adjustable track bar and gas tank skid mod fixed that...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt

Not strange. .. myself and a few others have had that issue as well.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 07JeepXK

... I had the same issue with my drive shaft hitting the gas tank skid .....

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Oh.. And now you all tell me !! Why am I always the last to know ??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thance

Add what Matt said to the fact that I believe you are running 5 1/2" of lift to begin with, no?

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Good question.. I started off with a 4" SL but that was compressed down to a 2 1/2 ish lift in the L rear when I was done. So I have posted this > http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showt...ll=1#post43417

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pjmjr508

He is familiar with the adjustable trackbar, he had me put mine on.

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Yes indeed ! And we had a good time doing it !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 07JeepXK

So glad I have an American Rebel rear diff cover!!

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I was glad to have the 4XG but if I keep doing this and start getting more rambunctious ( and I will), I would really like to get a complete armored Diff cover, especially after I saw first hand what can happen !



As for a rear adj track bar, I had considered it and thought I did not have a need for one ( w/ the SL). Well after the great off roading we were fortunate to be able to do, I was rubbing the gas tank even after the shield was out of the way ! So yes, I think I need to start seriously considering getting one myself before I get a chance ( and that might be a while) to get off road like that again.

Honestly I didn't think that would be an issue with the superlift since the axle is limited from coming up under the body as far due to the bump stop extensions.

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Update.....

Adjustable rear track bar in garrage.... may take me a while to find time to install ( whats new ?). I'm thinking that I may only need to move a 1/4 to 1/2 inch ish towards the passenger side.

I will add the Steel Amarillo's 12 bolt rear differential cover when it comes out. I'm thinking that will give me a little more protection than the 4G cover that I currently have and did a good job for me.

Gas tank shield now trimmed. See photos

I'm looking forward to putting them all to the test again !



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