I just bought an XJ and probably will get a lift for it soon. After the lift/new tires are purchased it leaves the budget a little thin but I would like to get some armor piece by piece.

So.....What do you all think is the level of importance of skidplates??

Sliders, gas tank, diffs, transfer case, engine, bumpers etc??

 

Well it all depends on what your gonna ride. I do mostly mud, with a few rocks and trees in the way. I use a front diff guard, t-case skid, and a gas tank skid. Now almost every mag editor will say that rock sliders are one of the best things to do to protect your rig. and they are most likely right, I haven't done that yet because i can't kind any cheap enough. although you can prolly make some of your own if you have the resources.

 

My priorities are to protect the things on the undersurface that will hang me up on a trail and to protect the more vulnerable underside parts, fueltank, transfercase and sliders for the rocker protection they afford.

 

Honestly, armor and recovery points should be the first priority of all jeepers. Then lift and tires. But, since you're doing the lift first, like others have said, look into protecting your most vulnerable points.
Now to answer your question.

This is just my opinion, so it's open to debate.
1.t-case
2.rockers
3.diffs
4.gas tank
5.oil pan

 

Before any of the armor, make sure you have good front and rear recovery points

 

I agree. With my Tj, i lifted first and never did armor. Boy, you should've seen the underside of that rig and i didn't even do rock climbing often, only once. Now with the xj it's a different story. I have the front, oil, and transfer case skids on and waiting on a gas tank skid. Doing it right this time

I would say the most important skids to get first are oil, tcase, and gas. Those are crucial components that you don't want failing out on the trail. Next would be differentials and maybe control arm skids.

 

t-case/ belly skid.: most vunerable part of your underside, a good belly skid will pay itself off and last you forever, many t-case skids get the job done, but over time will bend and often don't protect the front crossmember which will leave you stuck if you bang it up too much.

rocker protection: trust me when i say this is high onyour priototy list. i didn't care about my rockers so for quite some time i just slid on sheet metal, well one day i banged my entire rocker panel in a good 6". to make my door shut i had to modify the hinge and hammer the rocker panel down as far as i could, and then i had a good 3" gap between the door and rocker. it literally pulled my a pillar closer to my b pillar.

fuel tank: having a tank that holds 8 gallons is no fun and having a fuel gauge at stops at 1/2 tank is no fun either.

rear diff protection: most stock covers dent very easily, this is low on the prioroty list because usually you can muster up a way to plug the hole and if you bend/break it its easily replaced. a good trick to do is to grind the lower lip of the cover up to above the bottom of the diff, this prevents peeling your cover open when dragging it over rocks and obstacles.

front diff protection: stock front covers are usually thicker than their rear counterparts, but still have their weaknesses and are in a very vunerable area

lca axle skids, i have seen these get torn off on dana 30's too often, plate them or get some bolt on skids and keep yourself from having to drive home using ratchet straps as a control arm.

front skids: no need for them in my opinion, once you lift your jeep about 3" they arent protecting much of anything.

oil pan skids: again, in my opinion not much need for them. the front axle does a pretty good job protecting it, and good spotting will easily keep tall narrow rocks away from this area, if you are stock it is more vunarable though. i have hit it stock a couple times on 2 trips, but not nearly enough to damage it, when lifted i have never hit it on many trips.

as for other forms of protection, beefed up steering and bumpers should also be considered.

 

Well said. I have to disagree, and i know it's your opinion, with the oil pan skid. It's one of the most crucial parts of the drivetrain that I would not want to be harmed when on the trail. You never know when it could get punctured, even with good spotting. Rigs slide off rocks and land on it sometimes. My first time out in my TJ (3" lift), i dented the oil pan skid on a tree trunk that was not visible. It happens and i'd rather have it skidded than risk losing fun and having to go home.

 

Agreed that first before anything on an XJ, get some strong recovery points installed, there's nothing stock and wrapping a strap around the diff. usually doesn't work very well!

In all my Colorado wheeling I have yet to see an oil pan damaged, I did read a trip report of a guy tearing a hole in one once

But on XJ's what I've seen the most is rockers getting damaged, probably followed next by tie rods bent on the weak stock steering, then quarter panel damage, muffler damage, fuel tank damage, transfer case damage, diff. cover damage. Of course breaking a transfer case is the one most likely to leave you stranded, so maybe it's the most important!

 

Very good advice 87xjco. Experience in the woods of the East have shown me that the transfercase and fuel tank are the most vulnerable in that region. Rockers and steering are next and I also have never seen or even heard of a damaged oilpan. Diffs are the last thing on the list to be damaged as we don't have the rocks that you do just hidden tree stumps.

 

Hey these things are easier to make then you think.
Not much welding, mostly driling plate and putting some bends in plate.
Plate bends easy with a little heat, just get a tourch, warm up the are and smack it with a big hammer.
You can save a few bucks doing some minor fab work in the garage.
Good luck.

I had a procomp 3 inch lift and hated it, your best ride and flex comes from the long arm kit. Save up for one of those, you will be happy. Plus no wobble of death issues.

 

I have been reading up on steering but can some of you veterans chime in on the best way to protect steering or beef it up with out spending a ton of cash.

 

Currie HD Steering system. Best bang for your buck and very strong.

 

X2. Went wheelin this weekend and got into a situation where had I had a rear recovery point (well I have it...just haven't installed it yet), it would have been a lot easier getting my friend up the ledge he was stuck on.

If you do a lot of mud, I highly recommend a OEM Front Skid....doesn't really do much against rocks from what I hear, but it make an excellent splash guard for keeping mud and crap out of the motor. Normally I would be outside right now degreasing the engine and spraying clumps of mud off of it.....not this time thanks to the front skid

If you do a lot of rocks and less mud, invest in some good rock sliders (they're easy enough to make, or if you're not comfortable with doing so, they're relatively cheap), as well as tcase skid and differential skids.

All 3 of the above would have come in very handy for me this weekend.