School me on skidplates

[Pilsner]

Most of the aluminum skids are from 5052, and because aluminum weighs so much less than steel it is possible to go to 1/4" plate for skids. Its not all about tensile strength when it comes to skids.

It depends on how you wheel. Uncoated Alu is not great for rock crawling as it tends to "grab" rocks, but people into rocks probably already know that. It is great for incidental contact. I don't like Alu for the front engine "bash" plate or sliders. I plan on keeping those steel, but the rest will eventually get Alu. Also lower control arms will have steel. Those tend to get slammed too.

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[Snacktime]

Depending on your engine configuration, Talons garage makes a very good transmission pan that mates up to your stuff. RCI makes one as well but it’s not as strong as far as ribbing. Talons garage has several more iterations coming to market soon to account for the cross members on the 2.7 and sway bar disconnect on the badlands. Until then, RCI works as does a Amazon company called Mabett. The Mabett May require some cutting to fit.

Here are some videos to enjoy on why a transmission skid is needed



And he is the Talons garage for the 2.3

I have a Talon Transmission skid and the skid @popo_patty installed is a response to the changes I made to mine to better work with a 2.3 Engine Bronco. Talon Garage transmission skid for the 2.3 is the best clearance, the most support and best coverage. This is an evolved product, how many other skid plate manufactures have revised their design?

I am also looking at Metalcloak. That gold is bada$$!!!!!

They need to redesign the whole setup from the ground up. Mine didn't survive the Rubicon, I have since bought different skids (Talon, RCI and stock is better lol).

I have a skids from mountain offroad. I went with steel. No more factory skid screeching. Not worried about damaging anything underneath. I installed a oil drain kit to change the oil without pulling the a skid. I installed Asfir skids on the transmission brackets with a little modification. https://mountainoffroad.com/collections/ford

Those look promising, one piece fuel tank skid, overlapping joints and good coverage.

 

[telenerd]

I wanted a smooth surface skid that covered the control arms and gas tank. The area that seems to catch the most. I went with steel belly pan skids from Rock Hard since I like to go on rocky trails in the Rockies.

 

[Roofus]

I'll update a Pic with the asfir addition this afternoon

Are those steel or aluminum?

 

[Squashed]

3/16 powered coated steel

 

[Squashed]

Asfir transmission bracket guards are steel also

 

[Roofus]

I started pricing some of this out and realized along the way that this is going to be a hurdle. I’ll try to snap a pic of the underside of my hidden winch mount for you guys, but any recs here would be helpful.
I’ve got some time. We’ve pretty much mapped out our big trips this year, and the only one that I’ve been told absolutely needs skids will be The Pilgrimage in VT in October. So plenty of time to try to figure out what works, but trying to plan ahead a bit.

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