Which transmission and lower control arm skid plates?

[GroovyGeek]

Looking to add a skid plate to cover the plastic transmission pan, as well as protection for those exposed rear lower control arms. Will be going on a Black Diamond with the 2.7.L engine.

Will not be doing rock crawling so I don't expect to drag the underbody too much. Just looking to protect myself from myself when I go o the logging roads in the High Sierras which have a good deal rocks pointing in random ways. Will be paying for someone else to install for me, so interested in options that are an easy-ish addon to the OEM Black Diamond skids.

So far leaning to JCR for the lower control arms and Talon Garage for the transfer plate. Any other options I should consider given my intended use and constraints? Will putting a skid plate on the transmission pan limit access for periodic service?

TIA

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[Bronc6g22]

RCI steel trans plate and DV8 shock/control combo skids are what I use. Hard to say what is "best" other than these are great quality.
-RCI is easy install and works with stock plates. Designed for 2.7. I'd throw in the cross member skids if you haven't taken care of those already.
- The DV8 are a bit more difficult (have to loosen and retorque bolts to 350 ft-lbs). Do-able by hand or with a large impact. No jack or wheel removal needed. Recommend marking fasteners with paint pen for periodic loosening checks.

 

[GroovyGeek]

RCI steel trans plate and DV8 shock/control combo skids are what I use. Hard to say what is "best" other than these are great quality.
-RCI is easy install and works with stock plates. Designed for 2.7. I'd throw in the cross member skids if you haven't taken care of those already.
- The DV8 are a bit more difficult (have to loosen and retorque bolts to 350 ft-lbs). Do-able by hand or with a large impact. No jack or wheel removal needed. Recommend marking fasteners with paint pen for periodic loosening checks.

Thanks for the DV8 suggestion. It's a twofer at a very attractive price. Will go with this instead of the JCR. Will look into the RCI skid plate. Thinking of going aluminum since I will not be bashing it regularly.

 

[dgorsett]

I like the ASFIR transmission skid, minimal clearance loss, minimal coverage to allow cooling and fewer targets for rocks to hit. Great quality, easy install and recessed mounting hardware.

 

[GroovyGeek]

Looked this morning and the rear control arms on the BD have the welded skid plates on them. Probably good enough for my use case. Will get the DV8 combo shock covers and the ASFIR tranny cover and call it a day. Upside is that I can probably install these myself and save a few hundred bucks in labor.

 

[Bronc6g22]

Looked this morning and the rear control arms on the BD have the welded skid plates on them. Probably good enough for my use case. Will get the DV8 combo shock covers and the ASFIR tranny cover and call it a day. Upside is that I can probably install these myself and save a few hundred bucks in labor.

The front of the control arm has the welded plate. The rear around the shock mount is exposed (unless they changed something since '22.

 

[PWillette]

Check out @Metal-tech 4x4

 

[GroovyGeek]

The front of the control arm has the welded plate. The rear around the shock mount is exposed (unless they changed something since '22.

Yes the rear and the shock is exposed. I will get the DV8 combo covers for that.

 

[Canyon Coolers]

I wanted Alum for skids and steel for the sliders. Went with Foutz for most of it, then RCi for the gas tank. Leaving the lower front arms stock for now, but would like all new lower front control arms from Foutz eventually.

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