greythunder3

Yesterday I had to change my lower radiator hose and removed from the bottom front undercarriage what i thought was a skid plate. It was some sort of asphaltic blanket that was stapled together in places and held in place with the push fasteners.

Is this standard equipment on our jeeps? I have a sport package and i see through searches that the upcountry package included a decent front skid. Is the front factory skid a hard to find item?

Andrew0257

Yes hard to find. Good luck finding one!

Iant333

I guess it depends on what you do but i'd say get rid of the mat and unless you want it for looks, dont bother with a front skid either. I tossed my blanket a while ago after it started to sag, and I had one of the front skids and it was nothing but a boat anchor and it made it hard to work on anything up front.

It doesn't even really protect anything because nothing in that part of the front end is likely to ever hit anything. I'd say save your money for something worthwhile.

Andrew0257

Came with tow packages and some other "off-road" packages. They are nice to have but not really strong make more of a splash guard and will keep sticks and branches out.

Iant333

Unless you plan on doing some pretty hardcore bushwacking, like driving over fallen trees and through shrubs, you arent going to get any sticks up in there.

96_xj

x2

the factory skid is actually alot stronger than you might think, but not necessary. They help if you are bouldering tho. and like mentioned serious bushwacking

neither is the undercarriage mat. It just kinda gets in the way... it was to keep road debris out of the engine

btw if you spot one in the JY they look like this:

greythunder3

thanks for all the replies guys. mine is a total mall crawler. its been in 4 wheel drive 3 times since i have owned it since january. My concern is keeping road stuff out of the engine/belt and also cooling. Ive read elsewhere that the splash guards and skid plates channel the air through the radiator making it more efficient at cooling. what do you guys think?

anyone that has removed the blanket notice any difference in engine temps or have any damage from road stuff?

96_xj

you wont get anything up into the engine bay just take it out and leave it out.

and you will not notice a rise or fall in engine temp (well noticeable on the gauge anyways).


like mentioned it makes working on the underside of the engine harder. i tooke mine at stock height and never had any issues