Recommended Diff Protection?

[Sespe]

I thought I had posted here, guess not. I'm just not as awesome an offroad driver as 21RG. Guess my "day job" interferes. After a short trek through a very rocky streambed, I looked under the Jeep to see where the scrapes were. My diffs needed help. I put the Rancho "gliders" on until I could save up enough money from my "day job" to afford specialized ninja-rock-avoidance training.

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[Mtpisgah]

I thought I had posted here, guess not. I'm just not as awesome an offroad driver as 21RG. Guess my "day job" interferes. After a short trek through a very rocky streambed, I looked under the Jeep to see where the scrapes were. My diffs needed help. I put the Rancho "gliders" on until I could save up enough money from my "day job" to afford specialized ninja-rock-avoidance training.

i see that your u bolt does not fit either. I am working with Rancho tech support now to figure it out.

 

[TomH]

A stronger diff cover is the way to go. The damage comes from pushing a stamped cover into the ring gear on the front from impact. The rear diff cover frequently has the lower edge peeled away from sliding over a rock causing a leak of the gear oil.

A skid under the differential is going to be more of a rock anchor and a ground clearance reducer.

 

[Bonanza]

And back to the regular programing... Because I don't regularly find a bed of nails to drive over or splash through water to cause ingestation of fluids... Common sense goes a long way, or at least further than driving over nails.

Tire placement and technical driving will prevent the majority of the bumps and scrapes. But again, if you like to bash your $40K+ vehicle into rocks, go ahead. I don't do that with any of my vehicles and I do off-road them on a regular basis.

Add more weight with thicker diff covers and all the other gucci protection....
Reduce ground clearance when adding gucci "skip plates" to the diff.....

But maybe you'll just add stiffer springs and put bigger tires on.

So if you want to purchase a skid plate to skid along rocks, I'll gladly build you a set. Let me know what you want and I will provide a cost and date for them to ship. I could use the extra cash to purchase a cnc brake and make all kinds of stuff for those that need protection due to bad driving habits or the cool factor.

Ha, Pennsylvania kids. The hardest trails in that state are mild difficulty in California. I can tell from the bolded sections you've likely never wheeled a real rock garden in your life, much less in a long wheelbase truck. But hey, I'm sure you could tell me the exact line to take here, right? Should I unbolt the factory skids for all that sweet weight saving?

 

[StingyJT]

G2 covers were recommended by my Jeep shop

 

[RangerG]

I thought I had posted here, guess not. I'm just not as awesome an offroad driver as 21RG. Guess my "day job" interferes. After a short trek through a very rocky streambed, I looked under the Jeep to see where the scrapes were. My diffs needed help. I put the Rancho "gliders" on until I could save up enough money from my "day job" to afford specialized ninja-rock-avoidance training.

I put the same Rancho skids on my LJ. Worked great. I have put them on my Gladiator.

 

[mtudb24]

I put the same Rancho skids on my LJ. Worked great. I have put them on my Gladiator.

I had the Rancho's on my 2010 JKUR and they performed great. Have them on order my my JT

 

[wvyankee2]

ARB just installed. Got 2 for the price of one on installation, since they had to replace a rear pinion bearing on warranty.

 

[Mtpisgah]

@wvyankee2
Have I had too much wine or do your tires not match?

 

[wvyankee2]

@wvyankee2
Have I had too much wine or do your tires not match?

My spare is different. Bought the cheapest (closeout) 18" wheel and tire I could find for spare. $70 for wheel and $175 for tire. But it is sized properly and ready if needed.

 

[Professor_Chaos]

Lol. Yes I am very young...

And yes I do come across obstacles, but I don't bash into them requiring me to have massive amounts of armor. If you read my post thoroughly you would have noticed I mentioned "TECHNICAL DRIVING".

Technical driving is another way of saying I don't smash into obstacles so hard that I punch a hole in the diff cover or bash the diff so hard it cracks. Both are very durable.

Let me help you with the Gucci stuff. For every item you buy for your Jeep to "protect" it, take the same amount of weight and place into a rucksack and carry that rucksack with you all day. Add an item, place the same weight into the rucksack with the other weight. Go climb hills and walk long distances. It is the same effect on your vehicle. More weight, even 5lbs here and 30lbs there adds up.

Over my short life, I have learned to drive better, focus my modifications that really matter and keep my vehicle as light as possible.

But I do have a heavily modified vehicle as well. Again, I don't have the differential skid plate or a heave walled diff cover. I haven't destroyed either.

A bit of a shame. You were actually making a pretty solid point as far as distribution of resources and the best protection being the drivers patience.

Got lost in whatever else is going on here but a solid point.

 

[19Comanche86]

I just installed ARBs over the weekend. Excellent quality. Installing them was extremely easy.

 

[MMMojave]

Are there any front / rear diff protectors that fit factory Mojave setups?

 

[Jaxmax]

I don’t think the Mojave is any different than the Rubicon, or others for that matter. I run Dana Spicer covers I was given here by a nice member had them sand blasted at work and painted with “steel it” stainless paint, and have not hit them since….Jack

 

[carsmarshall1]

i see that your u bolt does not fit either. I am working with Rancho tech support now to figure it out.

I run the Rancho front and rear, if you call customer support they will send you the correct "U" bolt or I should say they did for me.

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