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Rock Slide Skid Plate or No for a Mall Rated New Rubicon Owner

swordsmn

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New Member, Bought a 2019 JLU Rubicon last Saturday! Excited to be back in the 4WD Fraternity as I long ago drove a '72 Intl Scout that was bought AT a carshow... ( For you IH oldtimers, it was an 800B,Prototype 4 Comanche. Infotainment was a genuine AM radio!!
but it was snazzy especially in the day & for street. Drove it a bit offroad up at a lake cabin my family had at the time. Alas long gone. Loved that Scout ( and the cabin).
But I digress...

Flash Fwd, I'm 63 very Mall Rated, with a 5'3" wife and I have a left side dexterity handicap that makes entering the Rubicon entertaining to observers...

So since I bit the bullet & bought a Rubicon, why not make my life easier & get some steps...and of course why not expensive steps since I am now poor lol... So I am havin the rock slide steps put in next week

While I KNOW I will rarely exercise her abilities severely offroad, I may do "a little" some day In N. GA, would YOU go ahead & spring for their addn'l skid plate knowing I will likely never need it... With Rhe Rock slide unit will I be severley diluting Rubiconesque abilities?
(I will keep the Stock Rubicon rails in case of sale or ??? but owing to my usage even Rock Slide said save the dough. I just don't want to materially compromise the base Rubicon's abilities ya know?

Please be kind :) I know it's mostly psychological & I really don't want to WASTE money...
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AgentTML

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Please be kind :) I know it's mostly psychological & I really don't want to WASTE money...
I think you answered your own question, sir! Since you mentioned you have a "left side dexterity handicap", then the rock slide steps makes sense. As for the skid plates, save your money. My wife and I just took a basic 4x4 off-roading course and the instructor was telling us the Rubicon JL can handle trails with ratings as high as 6-8 with no problems (i.e. you won't risk damaging your Jeep). I think you would be fine. Besides, if you decide later on you want to do more hardcore off-roading, then you can add the skid plates at that time! Just my 2 cents :). Congrats with the new Jeep!
 

cOtter

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I agree with AgentTML.

And welcome back in the 4x4 family
 

Uhdinator

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skid plate questions and why they did not design it with them @ 2:30 of this vid.
Mostly due to added weight and cooling.
 

D60

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skid plate questions and why they did not design it with them @ 2:30 of this vid.
Mostly due to added weight and cooling.
I *think* the OP was just asking about skids for the fancy aftermarket steps, but I watched the whole video and found it amusing: the head engineer's answer to every criticism: WE DESIGNED IT THAT WAY

Glad we cleared that up
 

DaK

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RSE would be your best bet but the 2k price tag may hurt your already "poor" pocketbook a little hard. Since you stated you will be mostly mall crawling you may want to consider something with and integrated step, can't offer you a brand but more than sure if you surf the WWW you will find plenty of examples. Of course you can look at RockHards patriot series sliders and have them angled down. This way the slider could work as a step as well as protecting your precious for door dings in that mall parking lot. Another solution I've seen used is getting a plastic stool and tying a string to it so the user can retrieve it when they get in. YES that is the truth. OR, if you go with ACE engineering or smittybuilt you could then use one of these: https://www.extremeterrain.com/garv...VrSCtBh1DuQkeEAQYBSABEgKzd_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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