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Best FAD skid for Rubicon OEM axle?

Yellow Cake Kid

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Hi,
What is the best FAD skid plate on the market for a JLUR?

Thank you?
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Yellow Cake Kid

Yellow Cake Kid

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Thanks for the info.

I found this thread:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/which-fad-skid-plate-are-you-running.57737/

which had a list of FAD skids.

After looking at the skids mentioned there the Clayton seems really beefy and well designed with flush mount bolts, but the heads on the bolts use a hex key which could easily get clogged with deformed metal. The Metal Cloak is made of thinner steel but has some design features such as tapered shaping and recessed bolt head. The Rock Hard doesn't seem very fancy but seems to minimize the volume of space that is occupied. The exposed bolt heads seem less than ideal but they could be easier to extract if it comes to that. Rusty's seems beefy and utilitarian, in a good way, but it also has exposed bolt heads. The EVO seems so different from all the rest, but I can't get past a "I don't get it" reaction. The Artec seems like a well thought out design that minimizes the volume the space it occupies, but has more welded seams than simpler designs have. JCR seems to take up a lot of space, and the 3/16" steel is thinner than the 1/4" thick products.

Metal Cloak has a note that I need to learn more about; they state that their plate requires a steering stabilizer relocation mount.

I guess my short list would be Metal Cloak, Clayton and maybe the Artec.

Any thoughts on which one is best?
 

MarkY3130

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I haven’t looked at all of those options so can’t say which is the absolute best.

For what it’s worth, I used to have the MC FAD skid and now have the Rock Hard.

The MC worked great, but when I went to install the RH lower control arm skids, I found that the MC FAD skid would not work with them. That was the reason for the change.
The RH one seems to work fine. Haven’t had any issues with it and I see it has some impact marks on it.

Personally I would prioritize the lower control arm skids over the FAD. The control arms mounts are a lot lower.

Relocating the steering stabilizer wasn’t an issue to me as I had already relocated it when I installed all the Steersmarts components. (Drag link, tie rod, trackbar)
 
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Yellow Cake Kid

Yellow Cake Kid

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Hi @MarkY3130,
Thanks for the info.

I had a conversation with a fellow here in town who owns several JLUs which he maintains and upgrades as required. He suggested that an upgraded FAD skid not only functions as a skid, but also helps strengthen the axle at the FAD housing connections.

I have been motivated by the idea of reinforcing the axle more then I have been concerned about a specific need to minimize damage due to skidding. I guess that's why I had not gotten to the point of thinking about control arm skids.

Thank you.
 
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limeade

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I have the Artec. Can be installed without removing the passenger side lower control arm bolt. It fits tight, smooth on bottom, seems to be very strong and well made. I'm very happy with it, but also like Metalcloak and Rock Hard products, they both make extremely strong and well engineered Jeep parts.

I don't know anything about the Evo skid. IMHO, Evo quality control has seemed to slip a little over the last few years (based upon what I've seen on this forum).
 

SlickRickMotoADV

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Does the RockHard option require stabilizer relocation? I don't see a mention of it on their site.
 
 



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