Nth TT Install

You then must remove all electrical connectors and air lines from the bracket. The bracket in addition to holding the pumps, also has 4 electrical connectors mounted to it, same PITA style as the hardtop uses for the rear window defroster. These connectors must be removed, they will later be zip tied to the fuel lines instead as 3 out of the 4 of them will not be able to reach the new bracket mounting location.

The following step is to rework the speedometer wiring. In its current location it passes right over the highest portion of the Tcase under the relatively lowest portion of the tub. After the Tcase is moved into its new location (much closer to the tub) the wiring harness will be smashed in this location. The instructions have you remove the factory harness tape and pull out the speedo wire, then move it out further up the harness so where there was once one 'T' in the harness there is now none, a new 'T' is now located further up the harness. Tape everything back up and its good to go, no wire cutting involved.

You can see the new tape in the pic, the speedo wire used to connect by the electrical tape on the left, its now been rerouted higher up on the harness. The harness will now be pushed down in front of the Tcase:

The factory harness is held in place on some tabs that stick up on the highest portions of the Tcase, the instructions have you remove the harness from these tabs so it doesn't get smashed and slightly reroute it down the front instead of over the top. I added a few zip ties to keep the harness in its new location.

The locker pumps are then moved to their new home, along side the forward part of the Tcase. For configuring the wiring and new air lines, the pumps are temporarily hung off the fuel line mounts, right above their new location. This allows for all the wiring to easily be sorted in a neat fashion and the connectors that were unplugged earlier to be reconnected.

Locker pumps temporarily suspended from the fuel line mounts:


The only negative thing I have to say about this entire product (and its minor) is the locker pump hose rerouting. The directions have you 'save' air line by doing some creative modifications to your rear air hose to shorten the path , then cut the excess to reuse, or 'gently pulling hose down from above the fuel tank, so you can cut off 3" then reattach it. WTF. This is a $500+ product and you cannot supply me with $0.15 of air hose! I had to reread the directions to be sure I was reading it right. The instructions reference using an included 3/16" and ¼" barbed unions to reconnect the air lines to extended them. I did not have these (my skid was used), so I had to make a trip to the auto parts store, while I was there I picked up some extra 3/16" and ¼" air hose so I didn't need to monkey around with my current air line setup to save a few inches from the rear line.

Then you remove the old transmission mount, (which also has an integrated exhaust hanger) and transfer the exhaust hanger bushing to the new mount and install the new low profile mount to the tranny. This mount is in part what allows Nth to gain ground clearance some others don't, while ground clearance is increased 2.75", the Tcase is only raised 1.5". With the low profile Nth mount, the isolators are moved from underneath the tranny (like stock) to either side of the tranny, allowing it to sit much closer to the skid. The 2 part isolator mount allows more control over the drivetrain, so under load the mounts can better resist the torque from the engine, to prevent movement that in the newly confined space may cause contact.

Stock mount with single isolator on the left, Nth low profile dual isolator mount on right:


In this step it also mentions to drill out the passenger side mount and stick the bolt from the bottom up with a nut (vs top down treading into the mount). For the life of me I could not see the logic here, so I skipped this. Whether it was a nut threaded on a bolt or just the bolt, either would have to be tightened down the same way. My kit was used and the threads were not drilled out, indicating that the PO had not done this as well. The passenger side it a bit of a PITA to get to once installed, but it is doable with a crescent wrench, though slow.

Once the high clearance tranny mount is installed, its time to mount the main skid. This definitely requires 2 people to lift and hold the skid in place while you attach the bolts.

Low profile mount installed, tight clearances between mount and tranny:


After everything is bolted up, there are several clearance checks. At least ¼" clearance must be present at all locations. In the trouble shooting area it mentions that if you have significantly more vibration at idle then something is likely making contact, and was not properly clearanced in this step.

The instructions then say to mount the locker pumps to the skid, this would have been a bit easier before it was all firmly bolted into position. I would highly recommend test fitting your locker pump bracket modification to the skid before you get to this step. Ideally this would be test fit while the TT is not yet mounted. Mine didn't quite line up right, it would have been 1000x easier to fix earlier when neither wasn't mounted on the Jeep. I was also missing the hardware for the new locker pump mount (purchased used remember), so a quick trip the hardware store and I was able to rig up something without to much fuss that did not require me to remove the pump bracket for further modification. Nth specifies ½" clearance is needed for the front driveshaft and you don't want the locker bracket to contact the fuel lines on the frame rail.

Locker pumps viewed from the front of the Jeep, installed with makeshift hardware:


Orient and bolt up the isolators to the skid then tighten the tranny to the isolators (previously only hand tight). The passenger side requires a small miracle to get to but is doable.

You must then adjust the shifter linkage. I don't know why but this gave me a large headache. Seems very strait forward but I must have adjusted the thing 20+ times before getting it satisfactory to my liking.

Dialed my pinion angle back in now that my Tcase sits higher, but now my axle is rotated far enough back (was already rotated back from the lift) that it will likely cause my trackbar to bind since I am not running a CV trackbar bracket. I placed an order for the JKS CV bracket which should be here before the end of the week.

The instructions then go on to describe the shifter clearance modification for 04+ transmission shifters. (Yes that is correct 04+, not 03 though it's the same tranny). This is to prevent your tranny from popping out of gear in 1st, 3rd and 5th. Fortunately if running a 1" MML and BL you get to skip this step as well. My tranny actually shift better now than before the TT when I just had the BL. Since I have a 1" MML, 1.25" BL and the Nth TT raises the Tcase 1.5", everything is pretty close to its factory position relative to each other.

And finally:

Remember the before pic:


After:


The clearance gain is huge. Running a 3" lift with 33s I have more ground clearance at the lowest point than a 4" lift running 35s with the stock Tcase skid. Lift your Jeep smarter, not higher.

I haven't had a chance to try this out on the trails yet since the install, but my initial impressions are this is an outstanding quality product with some of the best documentation I have seen. I would highly recommend this product to anyone considering a TT, its very well thought out and after the install I would say it is worth its premium.

I finished this after midnight on a work night, I will try to get a couple more pics of the finalized install up soon.

Edit: New Images

Here are a couple side profile shots of the new skid I took while airing up at the end of the trail. These add a little more perspective.





The skid plate is barely visable.

The air hose modification does involve cutting the air lines. Since the new pump location is significantly ahead of the old location the front lines have a lot of excess and the rear line is way to short. I had no problem cutting the front line as the excess was rediculous and likely problematic if left uncut, but jimmying the rear line just seemed cheap. While cutting the air line may sound permanet, you can getting fittings to reconnect the cut hoses for about $0.75 at an autopart store and its as good as new. Its the same kind of fitting the factory uses at the air line junctions, so no real comprimise is being made.

As for wires, there is Zero wire cutting involved in this entire process. Just removing electrical tape and relocating the wires further up the harness and retaping.

EXCELLENT writeup, greatly appreciated.
I will be saving this page for sure, I absolutely love how this turned out.
This is on my list, right after the lift and tires.

~John

You need to submit this for the technical article/write-up section.

Crashnburn80

Very good write up, thanks for taking the time and sharing with us !! :thumbsup:

Might you have any info on the dimple process? I want to get rid of my 1" body lift as I like a low COG. I have an auto with Rock Trac 241. My TC makes contact with the tub without the BL.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I love the Nth TT. They weren't selling them when I got the Teraflex. Bummer! Thanks again for the write-up. Alright, seem like I can dimple then only use 5/8" BL that will help some. I'll also look at the tranny mount to see if I can change that. I might be able to gain some room there.

Updated with new side profile images at the end of post #2.

Hey Man, Nice Job. Looks a heck of a lot better on your Jeep than laying in my garage. :rofl:

thanks for the great write up i will need it, i just finished stage 1 of my tummy tuck stage 2 is my MML, stage 3 is TT cant wait:thumbsup::thumbsup: what is a good MML spacer or a whole motor mount like, Daystar,JKS or any of the other one's out there

stage 1 was BL i see why you need it took me 4hrs myself:cheers:

Unless I missed it in your posts whats that hump at the bottom of the skid for? I don't have that in my before AEV skid.