Installing Shrockworks on my 2014 TE with KDSS

[vail4rnr]

You have to feed them through one of the holes in the frame and "blindly" line the nut with the bolt. Hence the name blind nut! There are plastic caps on both the passenger side and driver side. I pulled them off to gain better access for installing the blind nuts. I used holes on both the inside and outside rails of the frame. Some of these blind nuts were them most challenging part of the install for me.

 

[raaze14]

You have to feed them through one of the holes in the frame and "blindly" line the nut with the bolt. Hence the name blind nut! There are plastic caps on both the passenger side and driver side. I pulled them off to gain better access for installing the blind nuts. I used holes on both the inside and outside rails of the frame. Some of these blind nuts were them most challenging part of the install for me.

What he said. I only had to remove one of the plastic plugs on the passenger side, I was able to install all of the driver's side stick nuts through existing holes.

You'll need to lightly press the stick nut against the frame while you try and start the bolt. If you push too hard you'll push the stick nut out of the way, a soft touch is what's needed here.

I also replaced the 1" long bolts they supplied with some 1-1/4" bolts when I was working on the passenger side, the 1" bolts just didn't seem long enough. You will like having the extra 1/4" in length when you're trying to start the bolts in the stick nuts!

 

[3wbdriver]

EDIT: Actually a follow up question and I realize this may sound stupid. But I realized you can't put the stick nut on the other side of the frame. Then how do you use the stick nuts???

Disregard......

 

[bruindave]

Ok i re-read your posts from the first two pages. I'm going to take a quick break and then try again. I think the first time I read through it didn't make sense to me because I hadn't seen it yet.

Do you just leave those plastic access caps off afterwards?

 

[raaze14]

Providing you don't tear them up too bad when you remove them I'd replace them. I used the flat edge from a paint scraper to get under the lip and then just popped it out.

 

[vail4rnr]

Mine are still off at the moment. Not sure if I will put them back on or not. I mean there are holes all over the frame without caps so I don't see why it is necessary to put them back on unless someone can convince me otherwise.

 

[bruindave]

Providing you don't tear them up too bad when you remove them I'd replace them. I used the flat edge from a paint scraper to get under the lip and then just popped it out.

Seems like in some places the plastic access caps might be under the slider support. So I might leave one off. I just went to the hardware store to grab some bolts that were a little longer as suggested. Let's try again!

 

[raaze14]

It's possible that there were some plugs under the slider brackets on the driver's side, but like I said I went in through existing holes so I didn't remove any plugs there.

I only removed one plug from the inside of the frame rail on the rear bracket on the passenger's side.

Good call on the longer bolts!

 

[3wbdriver]

Ok i re-read your posts from the first two pages. I'm going to take a quick break and then try again. I think the first time I read through it didn't make sense to me because I hadn't seen it yet.

Do you just leave those plastic access caps off afterwards?

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I posted that before I went back and saw you were the one asking those questions. I have saved my plastic caps but not reinstalled them yet. I used the edge of a pocket knife on mine and they popped right out. Just like I said earlier. Once you have everything installed just use a pair of needle nose pliers to fold the left over metal from the blind nuts into the frame and re-install the caps. This will keep dirt and most water out of there.

The biggest thing is patience when starting the bolt on those blind nuts. Once you have done one or 2 you'll get a feel for what they need.

 

[bruindave]

Mine are still off at the moment. Not sure if I will put them back on or not. I mean there are holes all over the frame without caps so I don't see why it is necessary to put them back on unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Well I removed the ones that would be underneath the slider support. I think I may just keep them off. I destroyed a couple of them as they are a pain to take off.

It's possible that there were some plugs under the slider brackets on the driver's side, but like I said I went in through existing holes so I didn't remove any plugs there.

I only removed one plug from the inside of the frame rail on the rear bracket on the passenger's side.

Good call on the longer bolts!

Yea I think I see the benefit of the longer bolts... it made it easier.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I posted that before I went back and saw you were the one asking those questions. I have saved my plastic caps but not reinstalled them yet. I used the edge of a pocket knife on mine and they popped right out. Just like I said earlier. Once you have everything installed just use a pair of needle nose pliers to fold the left over metal from the blind nuts into the frame and re-install the caps. This will keep dirt and most water out of there.

The biggest thing is patience when starting the bolt on those blind nuts. Once you have done one or 2 you'll get a feel for what they need.

You're so right about patience. It took me forever to figure out how to install the first one. Once on I realized I couldn't easily drill the holes I needed so I had to take it off. I cried a little on the inside once I realized I needed to take them off.

 

[bruindave]

So I failed pretty bad at this mostly b/c I misunderstood several steps. I was taking off access caps because I thought you had to use the 3/8 bolts for all the holes. I realized only now I'm an idiot. Use M8s for the front mounting plates for both sides of the 2014 TEs where there are threads...

I only got the passenger side partially on. The instructions only mention drilling one optional hole on the driver side. Did you guys drill 2 holes into the the bottom of the passenger front mounting plate? There's no hole there to put any bolts through.

Will attempt again tomorrow. Should've started earlier so I had more day light.

 

[3wbdriver]

I only used the one available hole on the driver's side front plate. The passenger side lower hole is the one I still need to drill. I may drill an extra hole in each of those where the extra hole is in the plate when I get a chance. But I honestly don't expect I will get silly enough off road or rock crawling to need that additional reinforcement. When I do come down on them it is really softly. But rock crawling is a new concept to me and I am stepping very lightly when I do it.

At least I won't until I have paid a year or so for this thing and no longer worry about bending stuff. Say's the guy who just dragged the center cap off his rear bumper 3 weeks ago.....

 

[raaze14]

So I failed pretty bad at this mostly b/c I misunderstood several steps. I was taking off access caps because I thought you had to use the 3/8 bolts for all the holes. I realized only now I'm an idiot. Use M8s for the front mounting plates for both sides of the 2014 TEs where there are threads...

I only got the passenger side partially on. The instructions only mention drilling one optional hole on the driver side. Did you guys drill 2 holes into the the bottom of the passenger front mounting plate? There's no hole there to put any bolts through.

Will attempt again tomorrow. Should've started earlier so I had more day light.

I only had to drill one hole for the passenger side front mount. I didn't drill the extra hole on the drivers side (or an extra hole on the passenger front) cuz the holes in their plate were so close together I was worried it could tear the tranny mount if it actually took a hot.

 

[jrandom]

I only had to remove a couple off caps to help with the stick nuts on the passenger side, IIRC none were directly under the sliders.

For drilling I only remember one hole, again on the pass side to the front crossmember.

I would put the caps back on too, as mentioned just to help keep the crap out. Sure the frame needs to breathe to dry out but you don't want too much so that crap can build up either. Just my take on it.

 

[bruindave]

Well, after knowing exactly what to do it takes a lot less time. I got the passenger side up minus the bottom bolts. I'm trying to figure out how to get the rear bottom stick nut in. One solution is to grind down the stick nut so that it's smaller and then i can stick it into a hole on the bottom of the frame, but I need to get a grinder.

This job is a lot easier when you know what to do...

 

[raaze14]

I was able to install all 3 stick nuts on the pass rear thru the same plug opening on the inside of the frame.

I almost tried the hole you're talking about, but I was able to reach it from the inside hole after a couple of attempts.

 

[bruindave]

I just finished installing the Schrockworks sliders on my '14 TEP. Wasn't that bad, took me about 2 hours total, working by myself.

Gotta' say the tips and tricks posted here helped a ton, as I knew what to expect.

After reading about all the potential issues when you remove the strap for the gas tank, I ran my fuel down as recommended until the light came up (ended up still having 4 gallons in the tank). Then I placed a socket on top of my floor jack, and gently inserted it into the hole in the skid plate right next to the strap you're removing. I only lifted it enough to contact the gas tank. That way when I removed the strap I had effectively pinned the tank into position, so the strap didn't move.

Sorry the pix don't line up with the text, it's my first post with pix and I don't know how to attach them at a specific point.

Couple of things that will help you on the install - use the box they ship the sliders in to support them during the install. I added a couple of 2x4's on each end and it positioned the sliders almost perfectly (meaning the holes lined up nicely)!

I used the trick posted earlier and used some shims to push the KDSS lines away from the frame, that allowed the slider to slide right in behind them against the frame.

Really wasn't as bad as I expected. Turned out nice, I'm very happy with these.

For your 2014 TEP driver side rear plate install, did you have to actually remove any of the KDSS bolts or the e-brake line (at least I think it's the e-brake) completely? From where these sliders are going it seems like I just slide it underneath. I don't even really need to unbolt anything. Is that right? I just have to pull the lines off while I slide it under.

I'm running out for 5-10 minutes each time b/c it is unbearably hot. It says it's "86" but I know it's probably around 100... it's crazy hot that the sliders are even kind of burning my hands if I bare skin grab them... haha. And no I have no shade... =(

 

[bruindave]

EDIT: Ok so I see that there are nuts on the other side of all of these bolts. If you remove these bolts, how do you get the nut out or get the nut to thread afterwards?

Also, I saw that raaze14 unbolted the gas tank without removing the skid. I tried his method, but then realized the bolt to the gas tank strap is going to be too long to try to fit back through with the gas skid still present. How did you do this without removing the skid then? I'm re-reading, but don't see an easy solution. Did you guys just unscrew a few of the gas tank skid bolts to just loosen it?

 

[Askaltoy]

EDIT: Ok so I see that there are nuts on the other side of all of these bolts. If you remove these bolts, how do you get the nut out or get the nut to thread afterwards?

All the bolt that will need to be remove have welded nuts so they will stay in place when the bolts are removed.

Also, I saw that raaze14 unbolted the gas tank without removing the skid. I tried his method, but then realized the bolt to the gas tank strap is going to be too long to try to fit back through with the gas skid still present. How did you do this without removing the skid then? I'm re-reading, but don't see an easy solution. Did you guys just unscrew a few of the gas tank skid bolts to just loosen it?

you will need to remove all the bolts that holds the gas skid to the bottom of the frame plus the last one with the long strap. Once that is remove it will free the skid from the gas tank enough to be able to take the long bolt out. Hopefully you have less that a 1/4 tank of gas or it will be hard to pull the strap to align with the slider to reinstall

 

[bruindave]

you will need to remove all the bolts that holds the gas skid to the bottom of the frame plus the last one with the long strap. Once that is remove it will free the skid from the gas tank enough to be able to take the long bolt out. Hopefully you have less that a 1/4 tank of gas or it will be hard to pull the strap to align with the slider to reinstall

Ok, that's what I thought about removing the skid. There didn't seem like there was an easy way of doing it without removing the skid with that long bolt. Are each of the holes for the skids threaded or are there nuts behind each one? I'm just confused on how to re-screw on the bolts with nuts that are inside the rail. Won't they just get lost in there?

I unfortunately had to stop b/c I need to get some work done for... well work. I also forgot I was going to install the sliders this weekend and filled up my gas all the way on thursday. It's going to be funny driving around with just one side on. I go on vacation for 2 weeks after this coming friday. :lol: