Topic: Skid Plate Throwdown

[aw12345]

I am with ya Jeffy, you do not want to put a skid over the current skid, TJ's drag their behind as it is. So any skid that lowers it even more is pretty much a waste of money.
Kilby is good, but I am partial to the Savvy one you can stuff the tank up as high as it will go, it weighs no more than the stock skid, is very strong and they claim that if you demolish the thing  they will give you a new one. Besides it looks bling and 6160 T6 is some really tough stuff

[jeeper78]

I am with ya Jeffy, you do not want to put a skid over the current skid, TJ's drag their behind as it is. So any skid that lowers it even more is pretty much a waste of money.
Kilby is good, but I am partial to the Savvy one you can stuff the tank up as high as it will go, it weighs no more than the stock skid, is very strong and they claim that if you demolish the thing  they will give you a new one. Besides it looks bling and 6160 T6 is some really tough stuff

I'm not overly worried about bling, in fact I've done away with pretty much anything with a shiny metallic hue. I even used black touch up paint to cover the bolts and nuts holding the aftermarket mirrors on. I'm actually starting to think that I will go the route of dropping the tank and installing something more significant like the saavy-- especially to save weight. I never painted aluminum before though, is it much different from painting bare steel?

which one's which? is your's with a side or centered oil drain?

I have the side position drain hole, but I could probably still get away with using the Extreme metal products skid. Maybe just screw a patch piece over the 4.0 oil drain hole and then drill the proper mounting holes to bolt it to the bellhousing.

[neale_rs]

which one's which? is your's with a side or centered oil drain?

The drain on the side is TJ.  I also have to buy TJ fan belts, no YJ belt fits properly.

[neale_rs]

I added one more thing to mine and that was a piece of plate on the backside angled upward, so the skid would not get hung up should you have to back off of something.  It actually angles up towards the two bottom bellhousing bolts.

Thanks for the idea. It´s a nice improvement.

[neale_rs]

I have the side position drain hole, but I could probably still get away with using the Extreme metal products skid. Maybe just screw a patch piece over the 4.0 oil drain hole and then drill the proper mounting holes to bolt it to the bellhousing.

Just took a look at extreme metal products and their price for a TJ gas tank skid is amazing.  It just might be the best deal out there. 

The price for the oil pan skid seems high.  I paid about $10 to get it welded, including the metal (I'm in Mexico).  Once I got it home, I drilled the mounting holes and trimmed the mounting tabs with a grinder. It seems you could make the 4.0 skid fit but you might end up working about as much or paying about as much as it would take to just make it directly for your Jeep.  The key to the low cost was to have a general welding shop make it.  A Jeep fab shop would have charged a heavy premium.

[sharpxmen]

The drain on the side is TJ.  I also have to buy TJ fan belts, no YJ belt fits properly.

do you also have the dual diaphragm brake drum?

[neale_rs]

No, wasn´t so lucky!

[Bounty Hunter]

My '95 oil drain is on the side like a TJ, along with TJ belt-routing, a TJ throttle body, and a hybrid transfer case with internals resembling both the TJ and YJ.  The '95.5 YJ and TJ's used a different oil pump and the earlier oil pans will not fit, the sumps are shaped differently.

[Boomer]

I went with SkidRow. Very pleased with oil pan skid and so are many of my friends. Taken many of rocks to it and has held up very well. I have a YJ so I need to go with Kilby for gas tank skid. The Skidrow plates bolt up real easy on the TJ's, as most of my friends have TJ's and all run Skidrow.

For those interested in getting Skidrow gas tank skid, make it known to Skidrow. I talked with the owner last year at the PA Jeep show and he said if the market calls for more YJ's, he will design one and put it out.

[czjeeper]

Is there any way to to make this work on my '92 YJ? I've got the AX15 installed.
At $44, it's cheap enough. For the hassle of finding somebody to weld one for me, it may be worth it.

http://www.extrememetalproducts.com/4WD-Accessories/Rock-Crawler/c23/p179/Jeep-TJ-Oil-Pan-Skid-Plate/product_info.html?osCsid=fa42b921e450d617975d0287753c9c61

[sharpxmen]

Is there any way to to make this work on my '92 YJ? I've got the AX15 installed.
At $44, it's cheap enough. For the hassle of finding somebody to weld one for me, it may be worth it.

http://www.extrememetalproducts.com/4WD-Accessories/Rock-Crawler/c23/p179/Jeep-TJ-Oil-Pan-Skid-Plate/product_info.html?osCsid=fa42b921e450d617975d0287753c9c61

even with AX15 you still have the 4 cyl bellhousing so that's where the problem is - but i think you can most likely drill other holes and cut/grind off if there are clearance issues with it (on the vertical part close to the oil pan you might need to take some of the material off, not sure though)

[aw12345]

If you go through that much trouble go to a steel yard buy a 1/4 plate remnant and go to town would probably cost ya less than 10 bucks. All the material; for my engine and trans skid cost 30 bucks and that is with a shiny aluminum plate on it

[jeeper78]

       *Revive*

   I finally got the gas tank skid from EMP and installed it while enlarging my tank to 19 gallons and putting on a rear track bar bracket. I also installed the steering skid and am picking up a riddler D30 cover and a cheap D35 guard for the rear (don't wanna put any more cash than I have to in the D35 but don't wanna get stranded on a trail either). After doing a weekend at Rausch Creek and some of it's water holes I really don't wanna take the chance to damage my oil pan. We've talked about having someone weld a custom pan skid before and the thing is that I don't know a welder and  companies I go to won't do small projects like that. My situation is that I have the drain plug on the side instead of the rear. The small amount of companies out there that make skids for four bangers only make them for rear drain plugs. I can get a pan at a junk yard but I was hoping to find out if there were more differences in the pans than just the drain plug.

Will the bolt holes line up?

Will there be any clearance issues with the exhaust? or the oil sump?

Thanks guys

[aw12345]

Just buy a hole saw and it will not matter where the hole for the drain plug is at in the engine skid. You simply cur a new hole and call life good. Fat change you are going to find one with the drain hole in the location you want. Seems to me that cutting a hole where you need it would be the simplest solution

[chrisfranklin]

I went with SkidRow. Very pleased with oil pan skid and so are many of my friends. Taken many of rocks to it and has held up very well. I have a YJ so I need to go with Kilby for gas tank skid. The Skidrow plates bolt up real easy on the TJ's, as most of my friends have TJ's and all run Skidrow.

For those interested in getting Skidrow gas tank skid, make it known to Skidrow. I talked with the owner last year at the PA Jeep show and he said if the market calls for more YJ's, he will design one and put it out.

I've got a SkidRow oil pan skid too and had it driving all of the Rubicon trail last year.  It took a lot of hits because I was only on 31MTs.  But I didn't bust an oil pan, so I can't complain.  And it was probably holding up a lot of the weight of the vehicle at some points. 

4x Doctors in Burbank, Ca. makes a gas tank skid that will fit YJs -- I've got one of those and their diff guards.