Skid Systems

DavidDJL69

Member
Anyone know of a vendor other than Hard Rock that’s come out with a skid system to replace the OEM on a Rubicon JL? Seems weird no one has been promoting aftermarket skids since it’s got to be a cash cow with all the JL’s being purchased now. Heard EVO is going to produce one but nothing yet. Thanks.


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
The JL already comes with all the protection you need. Gas tank is protected and much better than the JK before and so is the transfer case. Of course, there is no EVAP under the belly to worry about so really, the only real skid anyone needs is one for the automatic transmission. Oil pan would be nice too but it's much less of a rock target - well, that is unless you really suck at picking good lines or refuse to use a spotter.
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
Admittedly I don't always pick the right lines. LOL. I certainly don't have as much experience as many of you. What I would like is a skid plate to protect these same lines that required a bit of protection on the JK. Otherwise I'm happy with the skids on the JL.20180807_170648-768x1024.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Admittedly I don't always pick the right lines. LOL. I certainly don't have as much experience as many of you. What I would like is a skid plate to protect these same lines that required a bit of protection on the JK. Otherwise I'm happy with the skids on the JL.

Oh yeah, those cooler lines are way exposed and they're about the only thing I'm really really wanting to protect. :yup:
 

DavidDJL69

Member
No one picks the right lines all the time. Not humanly possible. The cooler lines for sure and I’d just prefer reinforcements, especially the cross members that are already tweaked from some hard trails. Some say the JL’s frame is prone to twisting unlike the JK’s. I haven’t experienced that, I don’t think, but a skid to cover the cooler lines and oil pan would be desirable in the event I don’t choose correctly. Beats being towed out which can become rather costly!


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OverlanderJL

Resident Smartass
No one picks the right lines all the time. Not humanly possible. The cooler lines for sure and I’d just prefer reinforcements, especially the cross members that are already tweaked from some hard trails. Some say the JL’s frame is prone to twisting unlike the JK’s. I haven’t experienced that, I don’t think, but a skid to cover the cooler lines and oil pan would be desirable in the event I don’t choose correctly. Beats being towed out which can become rather costly!


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How would anyone know that the frame is “prone” to twisting? The vehicle model is a year old. Nobody could possible determine that.

Unless you are referencing frame flex like an old truck would have. I haven’t seen that on a shorter SUV in a long time.


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
No one picks the right lines all the time. Not humanly possible. The cooler lines for sure and I’d just prefer reinforcements, especially the cross members that are already tweaked from some hard trails. Some say the JL’s frame is prone to twisting unlike the JK’s. I haven’t experienced that, I don’t think, but a skid to cover the cooler lines and oil pan would be desirable in the event I don’t choose correctly. Beats being towed out which can become rather costly!

LOL!! No, I suppose it's not humanly possible to pick the right line all the time but in my limited experience, I have found that it's actually pretty hard to hit your oil pan if you keep your wheels on the obstacles. Again, the cooler lines are very exposed and they are something I'd like to protect but Jeep has pretty much taken care of the rest. Not sure who "some say" are but I'll trust that they're some kind of expert. Me, I'm just a mall crawler.
 

ubbb69

Member
LOL!! No, I suppose it's not humanly possible to pick the right line all the time but in my limited experience, I have found that it's actually pretty hard to hit your oil pan if you keep your wheels on the obstacles. Again, the cooler lines are very exposed and they are something I'd like to protect but Jeep has pretty much taken care of the rest. Not sure who "some say" are but I'll trust that they're some kind of expert. Me, I'm just a mall crawler.

I agree with you in the rocks. One of the issues we have in Mo. is branches. I have stuck branches into oil pans, trans pans, and into the foot well area, most of the time they are lying unseen under a mud puddle or such. I would like to see a a smoother replacement for cross members that have a flat profile as i have hung up on them and really would not like to lift any higher. Would love to see thin light uhmw to cover the face of stock skids.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I agree with you in the rocks. One of the issues we have in Mo. is branches. I have stuck branches into oil pans, trans pans, and into the foot well area, most of the time they are lying unseen under a mud puddle or such. I would like to see a a smoother replacement for cross members that have a flat profile as i have hung up on them and really would not like to lift any higher. Would love to see thin light uhmw to cover the face of stock skids.

I hear ya. Wheeling out west is a bit different for sure. We have plenty of forests with tons of down trees but not a whole lot of mud to hide things. As I said, transmission and oil pan are about the only things that need protection if only because they come with nothing.
 

offcamber

New member
When I was on the stocker tires, I slid off a rock and heard a solid knock. I thought it was the diff at the time, but it was the oil pan, IF you can can call that little muffin can thing a pan...lol. I'm looking at doing the Artec or the Hauk Offroad skid. I was waiting to see if anything else came out.

31478674_10216494874664863_4209717027012608000_o.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
When I was on the stocker tires, I slid off a rock and heard a solid knock. I thought it was the diff at the time, but it was the oil pan, IF you can can call that little muffin can thing a pan...lol. I'm looking at doing the Artec or the Hauk Offroad skid. I was waiting to see if anything else came out.

That little dink is just that - a dink. A little protection to help prevent something like that happening again would be nice but to add big heavy hard to remove and heat retaining skids is not something I'd ever want. The River Raider stuff on the JK were the worst and I'd seem more of them tacoed than not.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I was thinking aluminum?

Still retains heat, still is a pain in the ass to remove just to service your Jeep, still isn't needed being that your factory skids will do the job just as well and at no extra charge. But, it's your money and if it'll help you to sleep better at night, you should do it. :yup:
 

offcamber

New member
Still retains heat, still is a pain in the ass to remove just to service your Jeep, still isn't needed being that your factory skids will do the job just as well and at no extra charge. But, it's your money and if it'll help you to sleep better at night, you should do it. :yup:

I still haven't decided. In 20+ years of wheeling, I've never dented an oil pan before so odds are it was a fluke, but now I'm thinking about it..lol
 

silverbullet88

New member
Anyone know of a vendor other than Hard Rock that’s come out with a skid system to replace the OEM on a Rubicon JL? Seems weird no one has been promoting aftermarket skids since it’s got to be a cash cow with all the JL’s being purchased now. Heard EVO is going to produce one but nothing yet. Thanks.


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https://www.metalcloak.com/Undercloak-Armor-Skid-Plates-JL-Wrangler-4-Door-p/6360.htm

I have a manual transmission, so no cooler lines. I am just waiting for an oil pan skid and maybe trans skid to be released. Hopefully by evo with a similar design to the JK's.

I had a big heavy oil pan that connected to the motor mounts on my JK. Never even scratched it. So I am doing things differently this time around.
 

ddays v2

Member
Mighty particular for something that would be just an inert piece of metal. You left out Artec, so who would you consider to be worthy to grace the presence of your Jeeps greasy side?

LOL, those companies mentioned all make shitty products that are proven to be shitty. River Raider/Hauk is like the goddam Orange County Choppers of the Jeep world. :icon_crazy:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
True story. During the JK-Experience Wild Wild West, there was a guy who had a full skid system installed on his Jeep. Somewhere along the line, his transfer case shift linkage bushing broke at the lever on the transfer case - a common problem and as luck would have it, common enough that I had a spare. Unfortunately, the only way to fix the bushing was to lower the friken massive skid plate system only it was about 100 degrees out at 11pm and that the Jeep had been driving hard all day so everything was stupid hot. Of course, several of the bolts had gotten damage from hitting rocks and we couldn't remove them. It took us until about 2am to finally get enough bolts removed to bend the stupid skid system pried down enough to make the fix and even then, everything was still crazy hot.

This is just one of many reasons why I have and still run factory skids. Of course, everyone knows that I'm just a mall crawler.
 

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