I'll admit I've been a little easy on my Jeep because my biggest fear is doing damage to a mechanical component under the Jeep by putting too much weight on it or a sharp rock through it.

My point is, I see all kinds of skid plates in the catalogs, but what kind of skid plates are really necessary, if any?

 

Engine, tranny,fuel, evap, T-case


Basically, what Rock Hard or trek sells is what you need.

The wieght of the JK will crush your gas skid, it wont completely fold, but it isnt strong either

 

IMO i would beef up the gas tank skid and get something that covers the oil pan. ive got a nasty dent in my gas tank skid on the front right corner, about the size of a softball. now that i think about it a transfer case skid to replace the factory one may not be a bad idea either. i had pulled it off when i was removing my stock exhaust and one of the bolts had goten so F'ed up from rocks that i had to hammer a socket on to get it off.

$00.02

 

IMO, you can't have to much protection , I would suggest Rock Hard skids they fit well and cover everything for the most part.

 

Get the full package less the evap. canister. Relocate the evap. canister.

 

"really necessary"? in my experience, only one, the oilpan. everything else can take a beating - trust me

but, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have the rest too

 

x2 Im very happy with my rockhards and woods evap kit. Another good area to upgrade, once you start wheeling harder, is the front control arm brackets. I never thought I would mess them up and then one slip off of a rock and I bent one over. I wish I wouldve reinforced them first! Off road evolution makes a nice set of weld on reinforcement skids for them.

 

Love my Skid row Engine/trans plate and the rest takes a hell of a beating.

 

I'll second this recommendation. The oil pan is the one that is totally uncovered from the factory. If you get the Rock Hard oil pan/tranny skid, it also give you the benefit of a a lot of extra room for the driveshaft to drop. (compared to the stock tranny skid that eats front driveshafts)

The next most important is the gas tank. It is covered from the factory, but that skid is really thing and takes a beating frequently. Last, I'd do the transfer case skid. The factory one really isn't that bad, but the Rock Hard does a nice job of filling in the gaps with it.

I'm still undecided on whether to relocate or skid the EVAP cannister... I'm leaning towards relocate.

 

Are these skids compatible with a long arm kit like the Rubicon Express one?