M.O.R.E. 1" Body and Motor Mount Lift

Introduction

One of the biggest issues in modifying a short-wheelbase Jeep into a more capable off-road machine has always been the short rear driveshaft. The process of adding suspension lift for articulation and to fit larger tires results in a steeper driveshaft angle to the point where driveline vibration and reduced u-joint life becomes an increasingly apparent problem. There are several solutions to address this problem. The simplest and cheapest is to install a transfer-case (t-case) spacer drop, sacrificing ground clearance under the t-case to lower the output shaft of the t-case and thereby lessen the driveshaft angles. A more expensive alternative is to replace the overly lengthy t-case tailshaft. Many aftermarket companies provide tailshaft eliminator kits for this purpose, allowing you to gain several vital inches in driveshaft length to reduce the driveshaft angle. This requires replacement of the rear driveshaft with a telescoping driveshaft to take over the function of the now-eliminated tailshaft. Commonly the driveshaft will also be upgraded from a single cardan unit to a double cardan driveshaft (CV) which is much more tolerant of steep driveshaft angles. The most expensive alternative to reduce the rear driveshaft angle is to swap out the lengthy 4.0L I6 along with the transmission and t-case to increase the rear driveshaft length at the expense of the front driveshaft length.

Of the above mentioned options, Project TJ has had a 1" t-case drop installed since it was first lifted. As it grew taller, a tailshaft eliminator kit and rear CV driveshaft became necessary. I have always considered the t-case drop to be an unfortunate compromise, reducing ground clearance and breakover angle of the vehicle. This is most evident in the battered condition of the t-case skid plate from all the terrain it has been dragged over -- a majority of which likely could have been avoided with that extra inch of clearance. Unfortunately, the

Coming down the Big Sluice made it all too apparent that I didn't have enough fender clearance.

tailshaft eliminator kit and CV driveshaft can only comfortably compensate for about 20 degrees of driveshaft angle, making my t-case drop a necessity unless an alternative could be found.  A motor mount lift is one such alternative.  By lifting up the front end of the motor, the whole angle of the drivetrain (engine, transmission, and t-case) is improved for the rear driveshaft. (Correspondingly, the front driveshaft angle is worsened equally, but since the front driveshaft is approximately 3 times as long as the rear, the effect on the front is negligible.) Also, because Project TJ has free-wheeling front hubs, the front shaft never spins when on pavement so high speed vibration is a non-issue. Generally, a motor mount lift requires an equal amount of body lift installed, so that the drivetrain does not contact the body in the transmission tunnel. Additionally (no pun intended), the 1-inch body lift also adds an extra inch of fender clearance for your tires. After our Rubicon trip earlier this year, I knew that extra inch of clearance would be a valuable addition. For Project TJ, I chose the 1" body lift kit and 1" motor mount lift kit from Mountain Off-Road Enterprises (M.O.R.E.).

The Install

Both motor mounts and all the body lift hardware.

Both kits arrived at the same time in separate small boxes. Both kits were packaged well and came with clear, concise instructions (including some photos for the body lift kit). All the body lift fastening hardware was Grade 5, and all the custom metal parts appeared well-made and cadmium-plated. The install was very straightforward -- install the body lift, and then install the lifted motor mounts. We followed the instructions almost entirely -- the only deviation was as follows: In the body lift install, the radiator shroud is lowered by 1" because the fan stays in the same position relative to the frame whereas the body (along with the front grille and shroud) rise by 1". However, the 1" motor mount lift necessarily raises the fan along with the motor by an inch, so its instructions direct you to return the shroud to its original position. Since we were installing both at the same time, we skipped these steps in the instructions, simply unbolting the shroud while the body lift was being installed and reattaching it after the motor mount lift was done. (Just to be clear, you will need to leave the shroud hanging over the fan while you install the motor mounts.)

The body lift install was very simple -- with two exceptions. Basically, you loosen all the body mount bolts, remove the bolts on one side, jack up that side, insert the body lift pucks and reinstall the bolts. Repeat on the other side. There are two spacers for the front grille which attach to the rear-most bolt of the front swaybar frame mounts. The only two issues are the lift block for the steering linkage and the plate extention for realigning the t-case shifter linkage. Installing the lift block for the steering linkage is just a bit awkward, requiring a bit of contortionism around control arms, the frame and the front axle while you fiddle with lining up and tightening some bolts. The t-case shifter linkage was more of a problem -- (a) all the linkage mounting plate bolts were covered by Rhino Lining from when I had my tub lined. This required me to cut the Rhino Lining to remove the bolts. No biggie, just time intensive. (b) Installing the plate which relocates the t-case shifter linkage requires "unlinking" the linkage... which apparently isn't very easy to "re-link". I say "apparently" because I left this step for Lars to do, so I can only go by the amount of time it took and number of curses uttered in that period of time.

Speaking of which, while it's not impossible for one person to do this install (especially for the body lift), a second person will save alot of time -- in particular, having one person handle the floor jack while the other replaces the motor mounts. Fortunately for me, Lars was willing to help out, alternating between working on my Jeep and replacing u-joints on his.

A floor jack isn't a necessity but it made the job far, far easier. Another good bit of advice: spray all the body mount bolts with penetrating fluid a few days prior to removing them. You do NOT want to have to deal with a broken body mount bolt.	The M.O.R.E. body lift is the most complete kit I've seen. Besides the lift pucks, it also came with a plate to relocate the transfer case shifter linkage;	a re-locator to adjust the height of the steering linkage brace;
and blocks to support the sides of the raised front grill. A long socket extension and universal joint were needed to reach behind the winch and bumper.	We were fortunate that all of the body mount bolts were easily removed.	Here's a close up of one of the lift pucks. The aluminum puck installs above the factory body mount pucks.
The additional 1" gap between the body and frame is barely noticable.	Reaching the steering linkage brace was difficult until we decided to remove the inner fender skirt. This brace re-locator effectively increases the length of the linkage while reducing the u-joint's operating angle. This is an excellent indicator of M.O.R.E.'s attention to detail.	Factory motor mount on left, M.O.R.E. 1" BombProofTM motor mount on right. I opted for the "torsion" rubber bushings rather than the polyurethane bushings because I wanted maximum vibration absorption.
Here's a shot of the driver's side M.O.R.E. motor mount.	Once we installed the M.O.R.E. motor mounts, I was finally able to jettison these transfer case spacer blocks and regain lost ground clearance.

You'd be tempted to think that the body lift install would be more difficult than just swapping in two motor mounts, simply by the sheer difference in amount of hardware supplied. Well, at least I thought so. The motor mount install isn't complicated, it's just fairly labour-intensive. Accessing the motor mounts isn't very difficult but we found that for the driver's side motor mount it was much easier to reach with tools if we removed the horns and washer fluid reservoir. One notable issue that arose is that with a 1" lifted motor mount, the oil filter is slightly in the way to access on the passenger's side. In addition, the frame- and engine-side mounts get in the way for tightening the bolts on the passenger's side motor mount. This isn't an oversight on the part of M.O.R.E. -- any 1" lifted motor mount will have this problem on a TJ (or at least my '97 TJ).

Impressions

On the road, initially the motor mounts were stiffer than the stock mounts, giving rise to some body roll from engine torque when starting out in first gear, but the mounts have now worn in and it isn't a problem.

Overall, I'm very happy to have regained the ground clearance from removing my t-case skidplate spacers. The body lift provides me with more room in the wheelwells to protect my fender flares from my tires, as well as space between the body and frame for me to route the air lines for my on-board air system. Simply put, the motor mount is a very nice alternative to having a t-case drop. It is somewhat more expensive, especially with the necessity of a body lift kit as well, but if you've already installed a body lift kit for wheel clearance anyway, then you're already half-way there. People question if one inch of additional clearance is noticeable and I can tell you for a fact that it is.

With regards to the M.O.R.E. body lift kit and their Bomb-Proof[tm] 1" Motor Mount lift kit, I'm quite impressed with the quality and workmanship of the supplied hardware and the thoroughness of the instructions provided. The motor mounts in particular strike me as being significantly stronger than the factory ones they replaced.