JL Skid plate systems long term review

[Cypher]

I just returned from a multi state off-road adventure where I spent a few days at Sand Hollow state park in St. George Utah in the sand and slick rock, then a few days in Vegas and on the Rocky Gap trail outside Red Rocks Canyon and wanted to Post a review / damage report on my parts after the trip and my use here in AZ over the last few months.

Here is what I have installed for protection:
Rock Hard Lower Control Arm Skids
Rancho Front differential skid
Metalcloak rear differential skid
Motobilt Full underbelly skid system
Roam frame mounted rock sliders / side steps.

I always pick my lines knowing where my skids are, and where the vulnerable spots remain such as my exposed steering stabilizer. I have a 2020 JLUR with no lift currently and I am back on the factory Falcon M/T 33" tires.

The Metalcloak rear differential skid took some hits, but did not move. With the coating they use, while there are some scratches from the rocks, overall it is still in great shape. @Metalcloak

All 4 of the Rock hard LCA skids did their job. After multiple hits (they are the low hanging fruit lol) they held up amazing. No bends, and the finish held up well. I will touch them up a bit, but overall they are in good shape. @ROCK HARD 4X4

The Rancho front differential skid also has a decent amount of scrapes, but no big gouges or dents etc. the finish on the Rancho is not as durable As the Metalcloak, or even the Rock Hard LCA skids but it is still acceptable. Some red touch up and it will be good as new. @RanchoShocks

The ROAM frame mounted sliders / Side steps also took some scrapes, but held up amazing. These were used as true "rock sliders" and they did not budge. Not only did they protect my Jeep, they made getting in and out easy the entire trip. With my Artificial knee This is a must for me. I was a little worried that they were not a dedicated rock slider, but you would never know. A little touch up and these will be good as new. I found that black epoxy paint matches the powder very well. In the snow and mud, these also did an amazing job keeping things from hitting the side of the jeep. I am very impressed with how well they performed. @ROAM

Lastly is the Motobilt full underbelly skid system. I saved this for last as this is the only thing I had issues with. A month or so ago on a dirt hill climb with deep rugs I bottomed out. This caused the passenger side of the engine skid to warp, pushing into the passenger side exhaust tube. I needed to have something for this trip, so I used a grinder to clearance out about 3/4" where the exhaust tube is so I could keep using it until I can get a replacement. I was told the skids should not bend, and should not have any more issues with them so I decided to give it a shot. Fast forward to this trip. After the second day, I was hearing the tell tail sound of the skid rubbing on the exhaust tubes again. However this time it was much louder. After stopping and looking, it was now majorly bent and hitting both sides of the exhaust tube. The engine skid bent so bad it almost put holes into both the driver and passenger side of the exhaust tubes. So on the trail, in 35 degree weather I had to remove the engine skid so I could keep driving the trails as we had a few more trails and climbs to hit. I with all of the skids I have installed, only the Motobilt has taken so much damage it can no longer be used, and in fact damaged my JLUR. To be fair, Motobilt has sent a replacement engine skid out to my local shop who installed it. It has not arrived yet, so I can't say if it is any different, or will end up having the same issues. I thought the local shop mentioned that it may have been redesigned to keep it from bending like it did, or contacting the exhaust if it does. I will update this post when I find out fore sure. Other than the engine skid, there are also lot of deep gouges and dents throughout the rest of the skid system. I am a little surprised at how soft they seem being steel. They are almost acting like Aluminum with how easily and deep they scratch. @Motobilt

On my prior JLUR I ran the full Metalcloak Undercloak skid system, I had a lot harder hits on it, and it never dented, or warped etc. I liked the look of the Motobilt with the way the sides angle up as my plan was to also run the Roam MK3 boat sides in the future so I would have no hang up points and closed off from the underbelly up to the sliders. I will give the updated / new engine skid a chance to see if it is any better, but long term I may be swapping back to the Metalcloak Undercloak skid system as it just held up better for me. I am big on trying out new products, so I do not regret my purchase, but for those who plan to push your jeeps my experience is that the Motobilt does not hold up as well as the Metalcloak and the design can actually damage the exhaust if it does bend.

I just got home and only have a few pictures of the bent skids and a side view of the roam sliders. I will take some pictures after I finish cleaning everything up in the next day or so.

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[RubiJR]

Thank you for the real world write up review. Very much appreciated. I'm looking at Metal Cloak protection and LOD sliders and this helps

 

[Cypher]

Thank you for the real world write up review. Very much appreciated. I'm looking at Metal Cloak protection and LOD sliders and this helps

I put a very hard 5 months on my Metalcloak undercloak skid system and outside of a few scratches they were good as new. 3 months and my Motobilt ended up smashing my exhaust from bending and I had to remove on the trail. While I will never say Motobilt is not a good product, my experience between the two has shown that one works much better for me. The fact that my rear diff guard looks brand new still while my Motobilt rode home in the back of the jeep also says a lot to me. I hope that my issues are due to being an early adopter, and maybe the design has changed. Ill know when the replacement gets here.

The other issue I had was after multiple emails, posts on forums, direct messages and attempts to call Motobilt they never responded. Luckily I have an awesome local shop that was able to get in touch with them to get me a replacement, otherwise I would be out of luck. Even messages on here went unanswered. The lack of customer service was a big red flag for me, but since they did respond to the shop ill give it one more chance. I do understand they probably get a lot of people reaching out, so I definitely will cut them some slack in that area.

If the new one gets here and the design has not changed at all though I may just pull the whole skid system off and go back to stock until I decide to order another Metalcloak undercloak setup. I would rather run stock than risk another set bending like this one did. Others running the stock setup on the same trails as me had no issues, so i may shed the weight and try that for some time.

Good luck with whatever you end up with. who knows if you would have the same issues as me or not. I will say I know a lot of people running other Motobilt products and they have been flawless. Since mine is just one example it very well could be a bad section of steel etc. I would never assume a single failure like mine would be an indication that all would have similar issues from a company.

 

[ChattVol]

I put a very hard 5 months on my Metalcloak undercloak skid system and outside of a few scratches they were good as new. 3 months and my Motobilt ended up smashing my exhaust from bending and I had to remove on the trail. While I will never say Motobilt is not a good product, my experience between the two has shown that one works much better for me. The fact that my rear diff guard looks brand new still while my Motobilt rode home in the back of the jeep also says a lot to me. I hope that my issues are due to being an early adopter, and maybe the design has changed. Ill know when the replacement gets here.

The other issue I had was after multiple emails, posts on forums, direct messages and attempts to call Motobilt they never responded. Luckily I have an awesome local shop that was able to get in touch with them to get me a replacement, otherwise I would be out of luck. Even messages on here went unanswered. The lack of customer service was a big red flag for me, but since they did respond to the shop ill give it one more chance. I do understand they probably get a lot of people reaching out, so I definitely will cut them some slack in that area.

If the new one gets here and the design has not changed at all though I may just pull the whole skid system off and go back to stock until I decide to order another Metalcloak undercloak setup. I would rather run stock than risk another set bending like this one did. Others running the stock setup on the same trails as me had no issues, so i may shed the weight and try that for some time.

Good luck with whatever you end up with. who knows if you would have the same issues as me or not. I will say I know a lot of people running other Motobilt products and they have been flawless. Since mine is just one example it very well could be a bad section of steel etc. I would never assume a single failure like mine would be an indication that all would have similar issues from a company.

Great feedback...if you're doing that much wheelin, have you considered a 2.5" lift and 35s or 37s? Or will your knee not like the extra height? A few inches of additional clearance helps alot in my experience

 

[Toycrusher]

Just for fun... how much clearance did you lose running the skids? The majority of the scrapes don't seem terrible, would you have hit at all in many of those spots if you only had factory skids in place?

Serious question. I've dragged myself over some tough obstacles (to me anyway) with only stock protection and scraped up the frame and factory skids. I've thought of additional protection but a small nagging voice tells me I might have got hung up instead of making it over if I had added aftermarket skids.

 

[Cypher]

Just for fun... how much clearance did you lose running the skids? The majority of the scrapes don't seem terrible, would you have hit at all in many of those spots if you only had factory skids in place?

Serious question. I've dragged myself over some tough obstacles (to me anyway) with only stock protection and scraped up the frame and factory skids. I've thought of additional protection but a small nagging voice tells me I might have got hung up instead of making it over if I had added aftermarket skids.

I lost about 3/4" to an inch with the skids, steel bumper and winch. That is the other reason I am considering going back to stock if the design on the replacement is the same. The scrapes were not too bad at all, that's why I am so frustrated that the engine skid bent like it did. When it bent the first time on a dirt hill bottom out ( moving slowly) I had a feeling there was something wrong.

 

[Cypher]

Great feedback...if you're doing that much wheelin, have you considered a 2.5" lift and 35s or 37s? Or will your knee not like the extra height? A few inches of additional clearance helps alot in my experience

My original plans were a 2" lift and 35" tires, however the information about my knee implant failing is recent and is now factoring in.

I did install 35" tires already, but pulled them back off when no matter what I did I could not get the backup sensors to work correctly. I was running them in the stock wheels, so did not want to move the studs in my Teraflex alpha he carrier up. I'll put the 35" tires back in when I get new wheels. There are a few I'm waiting to see released to make up my mind.

I may go to a 1" spacer lift when I do the 35" tires, or may end up up back with 2". After Sand Hollow even my wife said we need a lift. The other JL I went with was stock height on 35" tires and could do much more. He hit a lot of the harder climbs like the chute and even the extra credit hits on Plan B. It was awesome seeing what a non lifted JLUR was capable of. Once I had to remove the engine skid I took it easy (ish) the rest of the trip.

 

[Cypher]

Here are a few of the engine skid I had to remove. There is almost a 2" bend on the one side, and the whole thing is twisted. It seems like the issue is where the skid bends and is welded is a weak spot. A hit in that area seems like it easily bends the skid. There are no deep scrapes on the engine skid itself, just surface scratches you would expect on a skid that scrapes on slick-rock, or a dirt hill etc. under the other parts like the gas tank skid etc. there are some deep scrapes, but the bends there did not contact anything.

 

[ArielPR]

Tk’s

 

[D60]

Straighten it out, reinforce, done.

 

[RubiJR]

I have heard and seen, youtube stuff, where the factory skids work well. The only caveat is damaging the bolt heads to the point they have to be drilled out and the cross members flattening like pancakes. Also, though I have not heard of any problems the transmission line are not protected. I would think personal preference. Weight, clearance, etc. Personally it is more piece of mind on my investment. I do dislike taking the protection off to work on stuff though. They get heavier every year

 

[Cypher]

I have heard and seen, youtube stuff, where the factory skids work well. The only caveat is damaging the bolt heads to the point they have to be drilled out and the cross members flattening like pancakes. Also, though I have not heard of any problems the transmission line are not protected. I would think personal preference. Weight, clearance, etc. Personally it is more piece of mind on my investment. I do dislike taking the protection off to work on stuff though. They get heavier every year

If I swap back to factory skids my plan is to find some button head bolts to replace the factory ones with to hopefully help with damaging the bolt heads. These are just to secure the skids, so should be no issues with swapping them out in the vulnerable areas.

 

[Cypher]

@Motobilt looking at a few other skid designs and the factory skid I think I see why this may have bent like it did. On others as well as with the factory skids there is a crossmember that goes from frame rail to frame rail under the crossover tube. It looks like that would hold up to the force of a hit there without deforming. Without that, there is a long run of steel that would leave the weak point directly under that area right where mine bent. The Quadratec skid for the engine clearly shows the crossmember in that area where this bent.

 

[four low]

This thread is what I like, and expect from the JL Forum. The rising Tide of Mass Market poseurs and clueless Wannabes is inevitable with any " iconic" brand, I just have to use the Ignore button, problem solved , for them,and me.

 

[RubiJR]

HUH????

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