I'm looking to prioritize which pieces of armor/protection I add onto the old 2000 here and I'm mostly just curious to get some folks' thoughts on the best additions to make and in what order of priority for those of us on a budget?

Here's how I understand it for the first few:

1. Front diff cover. Direct hit on that baby would be lights out.
2. Gas tank skid. It's a hard plastic tank rubbing against rocks, roots and ****.
3. Rock rails. If you're like me and have running boards those suckers have to come off due to hang-up tendency.
4. Front bumper. For obvious reasons.
5. Transfer case skid and/or rear diffs.

 

I would change your order to

1. Sliders ( Keep the rockers strait )
2. Bumper ( Stock bumper is Tin first rock it see's it'll get crushed )
3. Gas tank skid ( Im Glad I have a JCR skid I've slammed in on rocks a few times)
4. Diff covers ( Tire placement and a Spotter will keep you from smashing them 9/10 times )
5. T case skid ( I've never hit mine but a good spotter helps I've come close on some rock waterfalls like my Avatar)

 

While we're rearranging the order I'd put tc skid first and the sliders second It's quite easy to put a wheel up on an obstacle to get an axle over. You can see where your bumper is. But sometimes you just can't easily avoid scraping the belly

1: tc/engine skid
2: sliders
3:gas tank
4:control arm mounts
5:front diff
6:front bumper
7:rear bumper
8:rear diff
9:roof rack

 

x2

 

Moved to chat