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At what point are additional skids needed?

TTU03

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New to Jeep’s and interested in some mild to moderate off-roading. I’m building up recovery gear in hopes to make it to Hot Springs to try my hand at the easier trails and in particular snake which is a boh trail. Snake is rated as mild. I have a stock Willys with mud tires. Should I b concerned with additional skid plates before making the six hour trip to Hot Springs?
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mx5red

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New to Jeeps and interested in some mild to moderate off-roading. I’m building up recovery gear in hopes to make it to Hot Springs to try my hand at the easier trails and in particular snake which is a boh trail. Snake is rated as mild. I have a stock Willys with mud tires. Should I b concerned with additional skid plates before making the six hour trip to Hot Springs?
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/unplanned-trip-to-hot-springs-orv-park.59018/

I’m a noob. The willys doesn’t have any stock skid plates like the rubicon?
I have been super impressed what my stock rubicon will do. I have worried so much about what skids I *have* to buy, and I’ve had minor scrapes to my stock ones.
If you don’t have any stock I think it’d be worth getting basic skids for peace of mind.
Early Litebrite videos on YouTube show just how much you can abuse stock rubicon skids, which are weak… and I’ve barely touched them doing pretty rough forest roads out west.
What I briefly watched on Snake Trail doesn’t look that bad, but it always looks flatter on video. Seems similar to what I’ve ran?
I still think it’s worth protecting stuff that will be hard to fix/get you stranded so I’d do rubicon-esque transmission skid, maybe the Rusty’s LCA frame skids, maybe shock and diff skids/covers.
My .02.
 

NachoRuby

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Without knowing your area, you are probably fine. I believe all JTs have skid plates already, and you don't really need more unless you'll be dragging the belly on everything climbing. Rubicons have a few more, like on the corners of the bed, but "mild" should mean you won't need to worry about that too much.
 
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brianinca

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The Rusty's LCA bracket skids are cheap and easy to install. Whamming the LCA mount on the frame is HIGHLY likely in the JT, just the nature of a long wheelbase.

A skid for the receiver hitch could be very helpful, as well. If you have one, that is.
 

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TTU03

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while I'm not familiar with the terrain down there, I would say start with the lowest points that hit. Its real rocky where I wheel so I figured it was best to protect what can bend easy or get hung up. Once the damage is done, it's done and can be tough to straighten back out. There is plenty more to protect, but this is a start:
Rustys frame side CA skids $90
Rockhard 4x4 F&R CA & Shock skids $175
Ranco F & R Diff Sliders $160/ea
Thanks. With what you linked should I be buying both the rustys and the rockhard? Looks like the rockhard has the same skid protection as the rustys for rear lower control arms.
 

Axeman

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Thanks. With what you linked should I be buying both the rustys and the rockhard? Looks like the rockhard has the same skid protection as the rustys for rear lower control arms.
The rock hard kit is for the axle side only. The Rustys skids go on the frame side of the rear lower control arms ( a notorious spot getting hit on the JTs)
 

kevman65

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When you start rubbing underneath, you need more skids. You can encase the whole underside or you can cover the expensive parts only.
 
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TTU03

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The rock hard kit is for the axle side only. The Rustys skids go on the frame side of the rear lower control arms ( a notorious spot getting hit on the JTs)
Through searching I saw that you had installed the rock hard and rustys but has an issue with the shock bolt. Do I need to purchase a longer bolt before hand? If so what exactly am I looking for?
 

Axeman

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Through searching I saw that you had installed the rock hard and rustys but has an issue with the shock bolt. Do I need to purchase a longer bolt before hand? If so what exactly am I looking for?
Ha, yea you will need a longer shock bolt. the skid is so thick that the oem bolt barley catches the threads on the lock nut. RH doesn't supply longer shock bolts, but they do for the CA skids....go figure. I don't remember what size bolt it was exactly, I think I just brought it to Home Depot and got one an inch longer
 

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My view is you can’t add to much protection. I put on the full Rock Hard skid plate package. Did not think about the LCR frame. Bet those up pretty bag at Big Bear/ Gold Mountain trail. My advice is put on everything you can afford. Peace of mind is a great thing
 

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Definitely the oil pan/transmission skid.

It’s supremely vulnerable and soft. The shocks and diffs are all really solid steel so can take a glancing blow. But the oil pan and Y pipe are soft and don’t take much to deform.

641322EB-536B-455A-8E9A-6E533923D973.jpeg
 

Axeman

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Definitely the oil pan/transmission skid.

It’s supremely vulnerable and soft. The shocks and diffs are all really solid steel so can take a glancing blow. But the oil pan and Y pipe are soft and don’t take much to deform.

Jeep Gladiator At what point are additional skids needed? 641322EB-536B-455A-8E9A-6E533923D973
This is true, but where its higher up I went with an aluminum engine/trans skid from ASFIR. Yours looks like a manual transmission though so the exhaust may be a little different
 

Rubi_Rhod

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This is true, but where its higher up I went with an aluminum engine/trans skid from ASFIR. Yours looks like a manual transmission though so the exhaust may be a little different
Yeah, i have a manual. So theres no added crossbar across. I ordered up a new Ypipe to replace the damaged one, and got Quadratecs aluminum skid on its way to cover up that area.
 

Knightindullarmor

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Wait... all Willys come with the transfer case & gas tank skid plates. Also the rock sliders rails from the Rubicon too. For a mild trail, you should need nothing in a sport, letalone a willys
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