- First Name
- Caleb
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2021
- Threads
- 41
- Messages
- 868
- Reaction score
- 2,482
- Location
- Sacramento
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Bronco/1996 Jeep XJ/1957 FC-150
- Your Bronco Model
- Big Bend
- Thread starter
- #1
So after the whole trail event where a Bronco busted a transmission pan I decided I was going to get a transmission skid myself. I appreciate everyone that reached out with ideas. I liked that aftermarket transmission pan made out of aluminum but at $260 it was kinda steep. It also didn't solve the issue of the pan getting hit either... Sure, it was stronger then plastic but a solid hit to the pan doesn't sound good even if its metal. I decided I wanted something to prevent the pan getting hit at all.
Enter Mabett: A small company based out of China that sells their product on Amazon. They sell an aluminum transmission pan skid plate for $130 that bolts right up to the Ford Factory skid plates. Its cheap, it has drain holes, and tucks up nicely. Its also light, rigid enough and comes with bolt head protectors so the heads dont' shear off from hitting rocks.
Is this better than full belly skids? No. Is it insanely cheap and going to protect my pan? Yes. Now I know some people are going to point out that its cheap and will just bend when it hits rocks, thats a possibility but honestly I don't care... Its a skid plate and if it bends a little its under the car and nothing but the skid plate is broken. I'm going to run this for now while I look into more permanent options that will work with my Rough Country Hidden Winch Mount (RCI and ARB and JCR's stuff wont work with it). Eventually I will be replacing the factory skid on the transfer case and front diff as they are getting beat up pretty bad and might be toward the end of their usable life. If I can't find a decent option I may opt to hire my local fab shop to make me custom sids.
I digress: The Mabett skid plate is pretty stout, thick aluminum, very light and comes with all the hardware. The bends have some gaps in them but seem strong enough and the powder coat is honestly top notch. Much better quality then other, way more expensive stuff i've ordered.
The installation of the plate is easy enough though Mabett sends you two sets of instructions with the same idea for installation but different wording and different pics... Pretty weird but it doesnt make it hard at all to understand. Mabett claims it only works for the 2.3 Bronco.
Unfortunately for me, I have absolutely destroyed my factory bolt heads. They were all pancaked and ground down from rocks. I don't have the time or tools so I went to my buddy's shop at JC Performance and he removed the junked Ford skid bolts for me. We discovered that the bolts have tacked on nuts in the frame that had broken free so it was a pain to remove. We replaced the ford hardware with nutserts into the frame and 3/8th bolts.
After all that was done... (why do 20 min jobs always become 2 hr jobs?). The skid plate fit like a glove and the actual installation was a breeze. It doesn't appear to lose more then 1/2'' of clearance below the transmission pan and has enough gap in case the skid gets dinged up, nothing will push into the pan. I love it! Now to hit up Moab again this year and the Rubicon and test it out! https://www.amazon.com/Mabett-Trans...mzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0
Enter Mabett: A small company based out of China that sells their product on Amazon. They sell an aluminum transmission pan skid plate for $130 that bolts right up to the Ford Factory skid plates. Its cheap, it has drain holes, and tucks up nicely. Its also light, rigid enough and comes with bolt head protectors so the heads dont' shear off from hitting rocks.
Is this better than full belly skids? No. Is it insanely cheap and going to protect my pan? Yes. Now I know some people are going to point out that its cheap and will just bend when it hits rocks, thats a possibility but honestly I don't care... Its a skid plate and if it bends a little its under the car and nothing but the skid plate is broken. I'm going to run this for now while I look into more permanent options that will work with my Rough Country Hidden Winch Mount (RCI and ARB and JCR's stuff wont work with it). Eventually I will be replacing the factory skid on the transfer case and front diff as they are getting beat up pretty bad and might be toward the end of their usable life. If I can't find a decent option I may opt to hire my local fab shop to make me custom sids.
I digress: The Mabett skid plate is pretty stout, thick aluminum, very light and comes with all the hardware. The bends have some gaps in them but seem strong enough and the powder coat is honestly top notch. Much better quality then other, way more expensive stuff i've ordered.
The installation of the plate is easy enough though Mabett sends you two sets of instructions with the same idea for installation but different wording and different pics... Pretty weird but it doesnt make it hard at all to understand. Mabett claims it only works for the 2.3 Bronco.
Unfortunately for me, I have absolutely destroyed my factory bolt heads. They were all pancaked and ground down from rocks. I don't have the time or tools so I went to my buddy's shop at JC Performance and he removed the junked Ford skid bolts for me. We discovered that the bolts have tacked on nuts in the frame that had broken free so it was a pain to remove. We replaced the ford hardware with nutserts into the frame and 3/8th bolts.
After all that was done... (why do 20 min jobs always become 2 hr jobs?). The skid plate fit like a glove and the actual installation was a breeze. It doesn't appear to lose more then 1/2'' of clearance below the transmission pan and has enough gap in case the skid gets dinged up, nothing will push into the pan. I love it! Now to hit up Moab again this year and the Rubicon and test it out! https://www.amazon.com/Mabett-Trans...mzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0
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