Is an engine skid really necessary?

[rhanna]

If I completely wrote off every company that made something I thought was stupid then I'd be down to one company that doesn't provide instructions, doesn't work during KOH and has lead times that might be 1 week or 8.

Amazon?

 

[Wildman]

How'd you bend it? Come down on a rock?

I have the barnes belly skid so I'll probably go with their engine skid. What's another $375....

I honestly don't know how or where I bent it. It was either in Moab or on a local trail.
I had some really good rock rash on my driveshaft also so I'm guessing it was rocks just don't know where.

I was on a forest road last summer with a friend, my wife's subaru could drive this road but he managed to punch a hole in his oil pan with a 3" thick tree limb...

Oil/trans skid was the first thing I added to my Jeep.... bought the savvy and drilled holes to mount it to the still OEM skid at the time. I think of it as insurance, you may never need it, but when you do, you'll be very sad if you don't have it.. and they are cheap/easy as Jeep mods go.

Yep, I was with a buddy who punched a hole in his oil pan. We whittled a stick to fit the hole to get him off the trail.

 

[pagrey]

I also am not a big fan of the way Skid Row uses the body mount.

Thought you were talking about the engine skid at first, didn't know the radiator guard uses the body mount? Good info.

 

[pagrey]

Just to add here is how much I'd bent my Skid Row engine/transmission skid.

That is a very early long arm skid and not their standard deal. The normal skid has a folded edge on one side and the angle on the other side that is folded and tucked under the main plate and not just welded on top like yours. Not that it matters too much but anybody ordering one today wouldn't get that plate at all.

 

[pagrey]

Skid Row realized the old design bent under heavy use and instead of telling people they were wheeling where they shouldn't be they changed the design to this so it wouldn't bend. You can see the main skid is folded over the angle section and welded to keep it rigid unlike the original design.

 

[Wildman]

That is a very early long arm skid and not their standard deal. The normal skid has a folded edge on one side and the angle on the other side that is folded and tucked under the main plate and not just welded on top like yours. Not that it matters too much but anybody ordering one today wouldn't get that plate at all.

Yes mine is from 2005 so it's a EARLY design. And of course nothing fits as it should due to my V-8 swap and the Ford HP44 front axle. But I like it and it's done the job it was designed to do. I'm going to email them and ask if I can get a new sticker for the front since I'm repainting the whole thing. If it bends again I'll be really surprised with the added bracing of the new angle iron.

Skid Row realized the old design bent under heavy use and instead of telling people they were wheeling where they shouldn't be they changed the design to this so it wouldn't bend. You can see the main skid is folded over the angle section and welded to keep it rigid unlike the original design.

View attachment 302368

I do like that. I wish mine was this later design but not enough for me to buy a new one.
The one thing for me when everyone is talking about going to aluminum instead of steel is that ones that are designed like UCF's won't work on my rig. I need the flat skid under the engine and transmission. I bought a UCF skid and it hits my transmission & engine oil pan. Does anyone offer a flat skid like the Skid Row in aluminum?


Here you can see some of the gouges from rubbing on the rocks.

If I didn't have this skid my oil pan would have been toast.

Cleaned up and ready for me to spray some primer so it doesn't rust.

This will keep it until I am ready to start painting parts.

 

[SvtLdr]

There’s nothing that gets up that high, until it does.

And at that point it's too late.

 

[JMT]

And at that point it's too late.

My point.

 

[Wildman]

My point.

What was your point ?

 

[JMT]

What was your point ?

You don’t need an engine skid until you do!

 

[AMS417]

I put aluminum footwells in my Yamaha Wolverine just for branches through legs. Had some close calls myself and some nasty stuff online that happened on the trail. I'm not concerned about physical injury in the LJ but a damaged radiator or such can end a trip or at least ruin a full day for the whole gang.

I put bark busters on my quad after getting impaled by a tree branch in my left hand. 20 years ago and I still have the scar.

I had a Warrior, basically a 2wd Wolverine "sport".