spurly
Well-Known Member
I've been eyeing this skid for a while because I was wondering how they would hold up. The cross member should be easy to repair and the aluminum doesn't look to bad all things considered. It's hard go tell in the pictures but how much has the skid bent up? Any concerns of it getting into the transmission with another good hit?I have the Quadratec Engine/tranny and transfer case aluminum skids on mine. 2019 JLUR stock, other than 35s. I have the 3.6 and 8 speed, and wheel it a few times a year, so pretty similar to your situation.
The skids hang lower than stock. It's hard to hang something from the bottom of your Jeep and NOT lose clearance. But these will cost a small amount of clearance. I'll take that loss and scrape vs. punching a hole in my oil pan if a loose rock flips up, or pretzeling the exhaust crossover on pretty much anything more than 1" thick branch. I'm at stock height... a simple 1" spacer lift would give you all that clearance back if it was that big a deal.
The steel crossmembers are stouter than the stock ones. The crossmembers weigh as much if not more than the plates themselves. The ends of the crossmembers have gotten bent from being knocked into rocks, but they are strong enough to easily hold the weight of the Jeep dropping onto them. Anything will bend if you hit it hard enough. I haven't.
The aluminum plates... the engine/tranny skid's been on over a year, and has been repeatedly abused. And it shows it. The plate is bowed up where the crossmember isn't under it. it's not a crazy amount, but you can tell it's bent. It's gouged and scratched, but otherwise has held up very well.
The transfer case skid is fairly recent, and has only been up for a few trips. I'd need to climb under there and check it out for recent dings and damages. but I expect about the same as the oil/tranny skid.
You know what hasn't shown any damage since I put it on? The exhaust that I already dinged once before it was on and the engine and transmission oil pans. The plates do their job just fine, and at a good price point, too. Fitment was a no problem when installing them originally, I needed to put a jack under the engine/oil pan to move it around when I installed the t-case skid a few weeks ago.
If you live on rocks and regularly drag your Jeep across them, I'd recommend Metal Cloak's skid system over this. It overs good coverage, fits great, and is a bit more durable than these aluminum skids are. But, you will pay more and it will weigh more. And, you'll need to maintain them to make sure they don't rust since they are steel. For occasional use and abuse, the Quadratec ones have worked out well for me.
Pics attached of the dinged up exhaust crossover that got me looking for skids in the first place. The engine skid when new... and used. And the damaged steel crossmember. Don't have any handy of the t-case skid.
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