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This was another one of my earlier accessories.  I realized early on that I needed all the protection I could get!  Not that I was a bad trail driver, but I was new at this Jeepin' thing and . . . well, you know.  Anyway, the oil pan looked awfully vulnerable hanging under there.  At the time, this was the only oil pan skid plate I could find.  Now, there are several on the market.  Some require a minimum amount of lift to fit properly, whereas the Mopar unit is intended for stock (unlifted) vehicles.  Anyway, the price of the Mopar plate was not unreasonable and it was easy to install (no drilling).  The front of the unit shares the lower control arm bolts (you can see the passenger side bolt in the left side of the picture).  The driver's side bracket hangs down and underneath the front drive shaft and attaches via the opposite lower control arm bolt.  The rear of the plate bolts to existing holes in the front of the transfer case skid plate.   There's a hole in the center of the oil pan skid plate to access the oil drain bolt and to drain the oil, but the last ½ quart or so of oil still dribbles onto the inside of the plate and makes a HUGE mess.  I tried to fashion a funnel-like thingy which I can shove in between the oil pan and the skid plate, but it didn't work much better!  However, check out my Tech Tips Page for a permanent and relatively inexpensive fix to this problem!

It didn't take long for me to discover that I had a significant problem with this skid plate.  Notwithstanding the fact that the driver's side bracket interferes with the front drive shaft if your vehicle is lifted by as little as 2 inches, the bracket also hangs pretty low and gets hung up on all sorts of stuff.  You can't use this skidplate at all if you are lifted more than about 2 inches, without risking serious damage to your front drive shaft.   Its already torn off the rubber boot that covers my slip yoke, and is now starting to score the metal on my drive shaft.  So instead of trying to find another one that would work with my setup, I just modified the one I already had!  First I cut off the driver's side bracket altogether and threw it away (it was all twisted and mangled, anyway).  Then I got a new piece of 2" x 15" x ¼" piece of steel and made a new bracket, which bolts to the bottom of the driver's side motor mount.   To the left below is the skid plate just after I cut off the old bracket.  To the right is the modified plate.  The new bracket goes up at a slightly forward angle, between the exhaust pipe and the drive shaft.  It works great!  And I now have a that extra couple of inches of clearance back where the old bracket use to hang.

      

For more information on Mopar products, visit their web site at www.mopar.com

While cleaning up after a trail ride one day, I noticed that the stock stamped sheet metal gas tank skid plate was all bashed in.   I must have lost at least a couple of gallons of fuel capacity as a result.   Time for more protection.  The Tomken skid plate was quite a bit thicker than the stock plate, and was another quick, drill-free installation.  The Tomken unit supplements the stock plate (i.e., you don't remove the stock plate, you just install the Tomken plate over it).  I ended up removing the stock plate anyway in order to pound it back into shape, to get my full fuel capacity back.  Then I reinstalled it.   A friend recommended that I drill larger holes in the new skid plate to facilitate drainage.  I enlarged the holes to one inch, but they still get clogged up with mud.  Another disadvantage of the new skid plate is that I lose a little ground clearance in the rear.  But I think the benefits outweigh the small loss of ground clearance.  As you can see, I've bashed it numerous times on the trail.  Since this picture was taken, I've put a pretty good size dent in the skid plate, but then, that's what it's there for!

For more information about the Tomken gas tank skid plate and other related products, visit their web site at www.tomken.com

Another anti-damage device I added to my Jeep was a set of rocker panel protectors.  I chose the Off Your Rocker units, in "black wrinkle", because they looked good, fit well,  and were reasonably priced (some of the other brands were more than $200!).  The Off Your Rocker units are custom made for each vehicle and come with all stainless steel hardware; however, they are not pre-drilled (I think the company should pre-drill the holes).   They extend all the way from fender well to fender well.  To install, you clamp the units to your rocker panels with a few C-clamps and drill approximately 12 mounting holes per side, through the units and the Jeep body.  The installations instructions recommended dabbing some silicone sealer in each mounting hole.   Taking the advise of a friend, however, I went a step further and smeared a generous amount of black silicone on the entire mounting surface.  Upon tightening the mounting hardware, some of the silicone squirted out.  I trimmed it off with a utility knife after it dried.  Another extra step I took was to carefully trim the bottoms of my fender flares to fit over the rocker panel protectors.  If you just bolt the flares over the rocker panel protectors, it leaves a small, but unsightly,  gap between the flares and the body just above the rocker protectors. 

For more information about the Off Your Rocker rocker panel protectors and other related products, visit their web site at offyourrockers.com

This is another one of my welding projects.  I've seen advertisements for Tomken's Steering Box Skid Plate for $50, and I'm sure it's a fine product.  But I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money for something so simple to make.  My steering box skid plate is made out of 3/16" steel and is finished with POR-15 and a satin black top coat.  The steel cost me about three bucks and the finish another four. The no-drill installation uses the existing torx bolt under the front bumper and the bottom-center bolt that secures the steering box to the frame.

Here's a picture.  As you can see, its already seen some trail use!

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It's been more than 3 years since I installed my Tomken gas tank skid plate, and it has served me extremely well!  If you read the write-up above on the Tomken skid plate, you already know that 1) it installs underneath the factory skid plate, and 2) you loose about an inch of ground clearance in the rear.  I also noticed that my new, larger Currie Ford 9-inch high pinion rear axle was rubbing against the front of the skid plate.   So I removed the skid plate and cut a "U" in the front so the axle would clear it.   Then I built my new rear bumper system, which is tucked up nice and high.  Boy, that Tomken skid plate really hung low after that.  Time for a new gas tank skid plate!  I contemplated making my own, like many of the other parts I've made.  But there was already a product available that would perfectly fit my needs.  

As a happy owner of one of his York On-Board Air Bracket Kits, I was already familiar with the high quality of Brad Kilby's products.  I also learned that Brad's gas tank skid plate installed in lieu of the factory skid plate, which afforded me an additional inch of clearance over the factory configuration, and nearly 2 inches over the Tomken plate!  In addition, it is a full 1.5 inches shorter (front to back), so there's plenty of room now between the gas tank skid plate and my rear axle.  At 60 pounds, I was originally concerned about the additional weight on my rear springs.  But after weighing the factory skid at 25 pounds, plus the Tomken unit at a little over 30 pounds, the Kilby item is only about 5 pounds heavier!  Therefore, my decision to purchase Brad's skid plate was a "no brainer".

The skid plates comes unfinished.  I used POR-15 (of course) and a top coat of Rust-Oleum Hammered Metal Finish, to match my rear bumper system.  Since I knew I'd have to completely remove the factory gas tank in order to install the new skid plate, I waited till I was running on "fumes" before starting this project.  Using the comprehensive installation instructions provided with the Kilby skid plate, I removed the gas tank from the Jeep, and then from the factory skid plate.  After cleaning the gas tank of approximately 1/2" think of caked-on mud, I secured it to the Kilby skid plate (it's a very secure fit), and reinstalled the assembly back into the Jeep.  It took less than an hour working by myself.  Below, to the left, is a picture of the factory gas tank secured to the new skid plate, and ready for reinstallation on the Jeep.  On the right; the finished product.  Awesome!

For more information about the Kilby gas tank skid plate and other related products, visit Brad's  web site at www.onboardair.com.   

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