skid row skid plates these things are tough

barry1me · 07-03-2007, 08:08 AM

I finatlly got around to installing these things. I had a problem with a leak, and wanted to get it straightened out before I installed the skids. Skid row is making some great products for jeeps. You can tell when they designed there skids that a lot of thought was put into what the jeep community wanted. Best of all there skids are priced lower then most of the competition. I installed the steering box skid, radiator skid, engine skid, and fuel tank skid. The radiator skid and steering box skid are fairly simple. They both installed in under 20 minutes each. The only thing that took any time was drilling the 5/16" hole for the self tapping bolts. All of the skids have nice coat of black powdercoat. First part I installed was the engine skid. To say this is an impressive skid doesnt give it justice. installation was very easy. The directions are very clear....but me being a bone head I decided not to read the directions and did a few stupid things that now I regret....read the directions and they will tell you exactly how to install. The only thing that took a little bit of guess work was where to drill the hole in the RE skid plate. I forgot to mention this skid is specifically made for the rubicon express long arm kit. They make the same skid but for the factory skid and other skids too

Here is the skid we had on it before very small barely protects the oil pan....also has no support on the front of the skid plate to protect it from rocks pushing the skid into the oil pan

This also leaves your trans pan open to damage

notice the difference in size

here is the hardware that you bolt to your engine mounts that hold the support that connects to the front of the skid.

barry1me · 07-03-2007, 08:31 AM

now that the front braces were attached I kept all of the bolts loose so I could adjust the position of the skid so that it wouldnt inerfeer with the lower control on the RE skid, and that it wouldnt make contact with the Driveshaft. The next part was the hardest part of the install....not that it was hard, but that holding it secure to the RE skid so that I could place it in the right spot without it moving around. Since I was installing this alone, and didnt have a big C clamp I improvised.

I used a rachet strap and connected on both sides of my upper frame to hold the skid tight to the RE skid so that I could drill the holes. This made life a lot easier.

Once I drilled the first hole I put the bolt in the hole and drilled the next hole. Once both holes were drilled I installed both bolts tightened them down, went back to the front brace bolts and tightened them all down. Im planning on putting this skid through its paces soon so I will keep everyone informed on how well they perform

**Kiwi** · 07-03-2007, 08:41 AM

post removed (not sure why I can't delete it)

barry1me · 07-03-2007, 08:48 AM

The next install was the rear gas tank skid. Somewhere along reading the instructions prior to install and moving parts around I lost the instructions. I had a decent grasp on the installation but there were still a few things I didnt get a chance to look at. The best part about this skid besides the great price was the ease of the install. This took all of about 45 minutes for me to do at a leisure pace and not having instructions. The reason why its so quick to install is you dont have to drop the tank like all other gas tank skid manufacturers. This skid is designed to fit right over your existing skid plate. This was the feature that sold me on wanting to get it. All of the bracketry and hardware are heavy duty, you shouldnt have a problem dropping the skid on some large rocks.

first thing to do is install the brackets loosely on the back of the sid, and on both sides. Notice the longer bracket on the passenger side that connects to the frame rail. The brackets have to levels you have the skid attached too. For our jeep the upper level was used

I forgot to take a picture of how I installed this skid by my self, but I used the rachet strap again. This time I put the one of rachet strap on top of the middle of my rear bumper. I then put the skid on top of my chest while I was under the gas tank and ran the strap underneath the skid and attached it to the the parking brake brace on the tub floor. This once again made holding the skid to the mounting points a breeze. Next I made sure all of the braces lined up and drilled the two 1/2" holes on the lower frame rail. Then I installed the bolts,nuts, and lock washers on the brackets. You use the the through hole from the factory to use an open end wrench to tighten down the bolts or in my case I held it with my fingers and it never moved.

Driver side

Passenger side

Isnt she pretty

barry1me · 07-03-2007, 08:57 AM

last but not least were the steering box skid and the radiatior skid. These are very straight forward

first thing to do is to remove the factory bolts from the steering box and the lower bolt on the bumper, next obviously install the new skid and rebolt. You do have to drill one hole in the round crossmember 5/16" and then the Self tapping bolt will do the rest of the work

The radiator skid was very easy. Unbolt the front body mount slip the skid over the hole and retighten the body mount bolt. Next drill the hole in the lower frame rail for the self tapping bolt. Once again a 5/16" drill bit was used and then install the self tapping bolt.

Im glad to know now that the jeep is armored up and ready to play

jzmtl · 07-03-2007, 09:01 AM

The gas tank skid dosen't seem to be compatible with rear bumper tie in since, does it?

barry1me · 07-03-2007, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzmtl

The gas tank skid dosen't seem to be compatible with rear bumper tie in since, does it?

I thought that when I originally looked at how this is installed, but the bumper brace tie in has zero effect on installation or ease of installation. You only use the factory through hole on the bottom of the frame rail to install the lock nut, washer and nut.

**mferrari** · 07-03-2007, 09:23 AM

Engine skid looks great but not sure about the gas tank... Seems like it hangs very low! I spent this weekend installed the same skids you did but different manufactors...

Engine: Rusty's... Easy install, seemed to cut back GC alot, going to fab custom brackets for it shortly...

Gas Tank: EMP... Love it! Install was a pain (remove the tank, and I still had alot of gas left) but it moved the tank up high enough the my hitch became the lowest point in the rear (needless to say it is going bye bye and getting a new bumper...

Steering Box: No name, easy install... Not much to steerin box skids

barry1me · 07-05-2007, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mferrari

Engine skid looks great but not sure about the gas tank... Seems like it hangs very low! I spent this weekend installed the same skids you did but different manufactors...

Engine: Rusty's... Easy install, seemed to cut back GC alot, going to fab custom brackets for it shortly...

Gas Tank: EMP... Love it! Install was a pain (remove the tank, and I still had alot of gas left) but it moved the tank up high enough the my hitch became the lowest point in the rear (needless to say it is going bye bye and getting a new bumper...

Steering Box: No name, easy install... Not much to steerin box skids

The gas tank skid sat within 3/4" from where the factory tank is. Very happy with design looks. I need to try it out to see how well it holds up. The EMP is similar looking to the skid row products, but once again the nice thing about the skid row is you dont have to drop the tank. The rusty engine skid is similiar to the Skid row, except the skid row has bracing on the bottom versus on the top. I like this cuz it acts as a rail to glide over obsticals(spelling).

**Grewe02** · 07-05-2007, 10:01 AM

Barry, I've seen a few rainbow'd SkidRow engine skids. Be careful what you land on with that thing.

GroundAssault · 07-05-2007, 10:05 AM

Great write up

Dogman · 07-05-2007, 10:11 AM

Did you notch that mounting arm out, or was it like that? Just curious...I'll probably be modifying my short arm SR skid to mount like that when I do a belly up.

KennyTJ · 07-05-2007, 10:26 AM

Not to get off topic, the skids look great!

but I noticed you mounted your shocks tube up, shaft down. What type shocks are those and have you had any issues running "up-side down" with them?

barry1me · 07-05-2007, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KennyTJ

Not to get off topic, the skids look great!

but I noticed you mounted your shocks tube up, shaft down. What type shocks are those and have you had any issues running "up-side down" with them?

rubicon express mono tube. That is how they sent the shocks to me, I havent had any ride quality problems, seem to work great

Nick B · 07-05-2007, 11:29 AM

Good write up. The only thing I did different when I installed the engine skid was to use all stainless nuts and bolts.