Skid Plates good or bad

Tackerdown

Banned
What year do you have? If you have a 2012+, it's not worth buying in stages. Each skid is like $160 or $180 and the whole setup of all three is $400. Not worth getting them one piece at a time, it will be a lot more expensive.
I have a 2011 and I'll go with the EVO ,the price really isn't that much more than the other stile I was looking at and it'll be bolted to the block. I think the oil pan will do for now.
As a few have mentioned, it really is a good idea to protect those things that come from the factory without any protection namely, the oil pan. If you have a 2012-up with an automatic, the transmission and cooler line as well. Aside from that, the factory skids are more than adequate for protecting the underside of your Jeep. To this day, I have yet to see or hear of a single one failing. Sure, they will get beat up but, that doesn't mean they need to be replaced with an aftermarket skid that will retain heat and make maintenance harder to do.

For whatever it's worth, I still run factory skids on my big white JK of which I have had and taken to the mall and back for over 6 years now. :yup:
Ha ha I've seen your mall trips you tend to take the long way.lol Around here there a tons of small pointy rocks and the underside has a lot of scrapes,I'm with you on the factory plates holding up just fine. I see no reason to change them. I was surprised at how easy the diff. cover got messed up though. I haven't decided which differential cover to get though. I really don't see how any of them are that different from each other.


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I was surprised at how easy the diff. cover got messed up though. I haven't decided which differential cover to get though. I really don't see how any of them are that different from each other.

Truth be told, aftermarket diff covers are pretty much all the same. Some will provide better clearance of the front track bar and some will have multiple fill ports and weap holes and still others will do a better job of clearing the factory Rubicon locker solinoid. I have run TeraFlex, ARB, Solid and a few others in the past but now run Dynatrac covers and like them a lot.

Having said all that, I think it would be wrong of me to say that you can just take your factory covers and grind down the bottom edge so that it sits just a hair higher than the bottom of the differential housing. Also, don't waste your money and run a gasket like a Lubelocker. That alone will keep it from peeling back from a rock hit and really, it's all that you need. Aftermarket diff covers look cool and are relatively cheap and that's why I run a set. :yup:
 

MTG

Caught the Bug
Truth be told, aftermarket diff covers are pretty much all the same. Some will provide better clearance of the front track bar

I know there is an issue with the new PSC front Dana 44 bombshells and some trackbars. Mine seems to clear fine but I have a relocation bracket on mine. :thumb:
Aftermarket diff covers look cool and are relatively cheap and that's why I run a set. :yup:

:cheesy:
 

Tackerdown

Banned
Having said all that, I think it would be wrong of me to say that you can just take your factory covers and grind down the bottom edge so that it sits just a hair higher than the bottom of the differential housing. Also, don't waste your money and run a gasket like a Lubelocker. That alone will keep it from peeling back from a rock hit and really, it's all that you need. Aftermarket diff covers look cool and are relatively cheap and that's why I run a set. :yup:

Now that's thinking out side the box,:thumb: I like it. definitely on the to do list before I go out next. thanks.
 

RamP

Member
You may also want to consider that any aftermarket skid will have mud, rocks, and water potentially build up on the wrong side of them. Especially here on the east coast. A full system , like the rock hard, will be a bitch to keep "dry". This could bring on pre mature erosion.
Just a thought.
Go with the Evo's
 

Spartan

New member
Truth be told, aftermarket diff covers are pretty much all the same. Some will provide better clearance of the front track bar and some will have multiple fill ports and weap holes and still others will do a better job of clearing the factory Rubicon locker solinoid. I have run TeraFlex, ARB, Solid and a few others in the past but now run Dynatrac covers and like them a lot.

Having said all that, I think it would be wrong of me to say that you can just take your factory covers and grind down the bottom edge so that it sits just a hair higher than the bottom of the differential housing. Also, don't waste your money and run a gasket like a Lubelocker. That alone will keep it from peeling back from a rock hit and really, it's all that you need. Aftermarket diff covers look cool and are relatively cheap and that's why I run a set. :yup:

I ran ruff stuff specialties diff covers on my last Jeep, and plan on running them on my new Jeep because unlike most other Diff covers ruff stuff specialties diff covers are welded plate steel.
 
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