List of Differential Skids (front and rear)

[blink9cd]

Are there any front diff skids that work since the '21 redesign to not have the drain plug at the bottom? I have a late '21 Willys with the M186. I saw in some forum post about how the Rancho skid no longer fits, and I had bought the Rough Country skid because every site showed it to be compatible through '22, but I tried to set it up as a test fit and it doesn't seem to (thought I might've seen that reported here on the forums too). I thought maybe the Maximus-3 mini one could be a good idea for smoothing out the bottom, but says only designed for Rubicons with the D44.

I suppose a follow-up question is that if one was even available, is a front diff skid needed anymore? I had some scratches/rust on the bottom of my diff from the trips I've done, so I like the idea of more easily gliding over and not hitting my diff, but maybe it's pretty tough and the drain plug was the only big deal?

 

[Organic Gasoline]

Here's a list of all the known front and rear differential skids. If you find more, let me know and I'll add them to the list!

Front:

DV8 - $150
Maximus-3 (drain plug skid) - $50
Metal Cloak (includes MC front diff cover) - $130
Next Venture - $280/$300 $320/$370
Rancho - $160
Rancho (M186) - $160
Rough Country (M186) - $75
Rough Country (M210) - $90


Rear:

DV8 - $210
Metal Cloak - $177
Next Venture - $260/$280 $290/$340
Rancho - $160
Rough Country (M200) - $80
Rough Country (M220) - $90


*Note these may interfere with other aftermarket products
-The MetalCloak rear diff skid is known to interfere with some rear track bar relocation brackets, the Metalcloak rear diff skid doesn't interfere with the Synergy rear track bar relocation bracket (ref).

This is a badass skid, love it. It helps prevent hang ups with the solid guide plate. Super solid, from a custom shop

https://nextventuremotorsports.com/...gler-jl-armor/products/jl-front-diff-skid-fds

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

This is a badass skid, love it. It helps prevent hang ups with the solid guide plate. Super solid, from a custom shop

https://nextventuremotorsports.com/...gler-jl-armor/products/jl-front-diff-skid-fds

That’s why they’re already in the list (#4 in front and #3 in rear).

 

[Remorseless]

Are there any front diff skids that work since the '21 redesign to not have the drain plug at the bottom? I have a late '21 Willys with the M186. I saw in some forum post about how the Rancho skid no longer fits, and I had bought the Rough Country skid because every site showed it to be compatible through '22, but I tried to set it up as a test fit and it doesn't seem to (thought I might've seen that reported here on the forums too). I thought maybe the Maximus-3 mini one could be a good idea for smoothing out the bottom, but says only designed for Rubicons with the D44.

I suppose a follow-up question is that if one was even available, is a front diff skid needed anymore? I had some scratches/rust on the bottom of my diff from the trips I've done, so I like the idea of more easily gliding over and not hitting my diff, but maybe it's pretty tough and the drain plug was the only big deal?

@RanchoShocks has a front diff skid that fits the late '21s and up. IMO, it's not a bad idea to toss a skid on - rather beat up on a skid than on my axle housing. If you look at my build thread, before the front skid was available I poked a rock into a bolt on the diff housing - makes it hard to get bolts off if they're screwed up. So yeah, I think it's worthwhile to protect the bolts somehow. Either a diff cover that recesses the bolt or something like the Rancho diff skid.

 

[c20040215]

Just a quick update on the Rough Country diff skids. Got back from a trip to Hollerwood KY. They definitely took some beating but hold up really well.
Did some house keeping and touch up. Ready for more wheeling.

 

[RanchoShocks]

As been mentioned ours work on the non-drain plug front axle
We offer a drain plug and non-drain plug glide plate.


https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...gler-jl-and-gladiator-jt-dana-44-rs62148.html

Are there any front diff skids that work since the '21 redesign to not have the drain plug at the bottom? I have a late '21 Willys with the M186. I saw in some forum post about how the Rancho skid no longer fits, and I had bought the Rough Country skid because every site showed it to be compatible through '22, but I tried to set it up as a test fit and it doesn't seem to (thought I might've seen that reported here on the forums too). I thought maybe the Maximus-3 mini one could be a good idea for smoothing out the bottom, but says only designed for Rubicons with the D44.

I suppose a follow-up question is that if one was even available, is a front diff skid needed anymore? I had some scratches/rust on the bottom of my diff from the trips I've done, so I like the idea of more easily gliding over and not hitting my diff, but maybe it's pretty tough and the drain plug was the only big deal?

 

[CarbonSteel]

Just a plug for @NextVenture skids (which are on the list). They are tanks--no other way to describe them. I did opt to use Motobilt covers which are (more or less) the same as NV, but half the cost.

 

[blink9cd]

As been mentioned ours work on the non-drain plug front axle
We offer a drain plug and non-drain plug glide plate.


https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...gler-jl-and-gladiator-jt-dana-44-rs62148.html

Thanks for responding! Going to your site now, I see on RS62148 where it specifies compatibility with the M210/D44 front axles with no drain plug. However, I don't see a corresponding version for the M186/D30 axles, which is what I have on my late '21 Willys. The move to no drain plug is not only for Rubicon models, unless I have a funny one...

The only M186 front diff skid I can find is RS62124, but that has pictures with a drain plug hole and seems analogous to RS62116, the D44 with drain plug skid. The new one you posted RS62148 has no drain plug hole in the picture, but I can't find an analogous part number for an M186 version. Do you have a part number for that? Or is the D44 compatible with the D30 and not listed as such?

References:

w/drain plug hole:
* https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...ential-glide-plate-dana-30-front-rs62124.html
* https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...ential-glide-plate-dana-44-front-rs62116.html

w/no hole:
* ??
* https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...gler-jl-and-gladiator-jt-dana-44-rs62148.html

 

[blink9cd]

@RanchoShocks has a front diff skid that fits the late '21s and up. IMO, it's not a bad idea to toss a skid on - rather beat up on a skid than on my axle housing. If you look at my build thread, before the front skid was available I poked a rock into a bolt on the diff housing - makes it hard to get bolts off if they're screwed up. So yeah, I think it's worthwhile to protect the bolts somehow. Either a diff cover that recesses the bolt or something like the Rancho diff skid.

Thanks for the insight. It's been a couple months since I did my hardest trail so far, so I've started to take assessment of my undercarriage to see where scratches/rusting were to help me understand what's being hit, what I could potentially protect (spoiler, in lots of places lol).

In particular for this thread, I noticed the bottom of both of my diffs had been hit. I installed the Metalcloak rear diff skid two days ago, but would prefer something on the front that doesn't require changing the OEM cover for now. It's just hard to navigate with what's listed as compatible, what's actually compatible, etc.

 

[RanchoShocks]

Dana 30 front not an option from us
(nor the few with the "Dana 35" out back)

Thanks for responding! Going to your site now, I see on RS62148 where it specifies compatibility with the M210/D44 front axles with no drain plug. However, I don't see a corresponding version for the M186/D30 axles, which is what I have on my late '21 Willys. The move to no drain plug is not only for Rubicon models, unless I have a funny one...

The only M186 front diff skid I can find is RS62124, but that has pictures with a drain plug hole and seems analogous to RS62116, the D44 with drain plug skid. The new one you posted RS62148 has no drain plug hole in the picture, but I can't find an analogous part number for an M186 version. Do you have a part number for that? Or is the D44 compatible with the D30 and not listed as such?

References:

w/drain plug hole:
* https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...ential-glide-plate-dana-30-front-rs62124.html
* https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...ential-glide-plate-dana-44-front-rs62116.html

w/no hole:
* ??
* https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...gler-jl-and-gladiator-jt-dana-44-rs62148.html

 

[AnnDee4444]

Haven't quite worked it out yet. It's very minor rubbing, and likely wouldn't ever cause any issues since. I have thought about doing a little clearancing on the skid, but don't really want to deal with the hassle of removing/reinstalling. Another option I was considering was seeing if there is any play in the battery or battery skid... maybe it could be shifted enough to avoid contact.

Following up on this for anyone in the future: some realatively minor non-structural grinding on the diff skid has eliminated 99% of the contact (this is for the Next Venture rear diff skid vs. 2-door eTorque battery skid). Should be possible to completely eliminate all contact with some more grinding.

 

[ChuckQue]

Anyone here try the ASFIR diff skids? I have their underbody 3 piece skid kit for the diesel, along with Rock Krawler’s 2.5” Ultimate Adventure Stage 1, so I’m hoping they all play nice together. Wondering if the RK lift had any clearance issues with diff skids in general.

 

[blink9cd]

Anyone here try the ASFIR diff skids? I have their underbody 3 piece skid kit for the diesel, along with Rock Krawler’s 2.5” Ultimate Adventure Stage 1, so I’m hoping they all play nice together. Wondering if the RK lift had any clearance issues with diff skids in general.

I'm also curious about that style of Skid, kind of a "Cover Guard" type. Purple Cranium makes one called the Spider too

 

[blink9cd]

I found this thread pretty helpful, but wanted to update it and make it easier to understand as I've been doing research lately. I already bought the MetalCloak rear so I'm only doing the fronts. Even though I personally just have a M186 front on my Willys, I decided to do the M210 one also so I could keep track of everything:

The yellow color means I'm waiting for a response from the vendor to see if they would be compatible. Some of the labeling on these products is...not great. Any vendor not on the list means I couldn't find one (e.g. Rusty's, Rock Hard) or I don't know about it.

As we can see, really slim pickings for M186, especially those us of with a late '21 redesign. A couple open questions I had:

1) For the late '21 redesign, did that just remove the drain plug and move the fins farther back? That is, didn't change the cover bolt design at all? (and thus all styles that just bolt to the cover will still work). My guess is they didn't change the bolt pattern at all, because when I tried to install the Rough Country skid, the cover bolt part of the install went smoothly.

2) I know you need a specific diff cover to your model, BUT are the cover bolt designs on the lower half the same between M186/M210? From pictures they look visually the same to me, so it looks like stuff labeled M210/D44 could work on the M186. My guess (hope) is they're the same (based on Purple Cranium's listing), but I have no experience and maybe they're subtly different.

EDIT: table above should say Purple Cranium, not Poison Spyder

 

[blink9cd]

I found this thread pretty helpful, but wanted to update it and make it easier to understand as I've been doing research lately. I already bought the MetalCloak rear so I'm only doing the fronts. Even though I personally just have a M186 front on my Willys, I decided to do the M210 one also so I could keep track of everything:

The yellow color means I'm waiting for a response from the vendor to see if they would be compatible. Some of the labeling on these products is...not great. Any vendor not on the list means I couldn't find one (e.g. Rusty's, Rock Hard) or I don't know about it.

As we can see, really slim pickings for M186, especially those us of with a late '21 redesign. A couple open questions I had:

1) For the late '21 redesign, did that just remove the drain plug and move the fins farther back? That is, didn't change the cover bolt design at all? (and thus all styles that just bolt to the cover will still work). My guess is they didn't change the bolt pattern at all, because when I tried to install the Rough Country skid, the cover bolt part of the install went smoothly.

2) I know you need a specific diff cover to your model, BUT are the cover bolt designs on the lower half the same between M186/M210? From pictures they look visually the same to me, so it looks like stuff labeled M210/D44 could work on the M186. My guess (hope) is they're the same (based on Purple Cranium's listing), but I have no experience and maybe they're subtly different.

Well I got a couple responses and potential answers to the questions. I found out Asfir had a D30 version of the diff skid (the cover guard type), and asked if that worked with the redesign. They asked for pictures of my diff, so I sent them and they confirmed the cover didn't change so it should still work. That makes for the first (and only?) I've found skid for the redesigned M186.

I'm still not sure on 2 yet. Maxiumus-3 told me their tiny skid doesn't work with the D30. It looked like it just uses 2 bolt holes, so not sure if that was because their positions, or the drain plug, or something else (they didn't elaborate). I had a pleasant conversation with Purple Cranium today about their offering -- since it's listed as both, he initially thought it would probably work with the D30 but told me he'd do a bit more research to confirm. However, the fact that Asfir has an almost similar product and two versions make me think maybe not (though it could be how much the diff cover curves out or something and not the bolt pattern? From browsing diff covers it looks like they stick out different amounts).

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