Next Venture diff skid?

[Sportacus]

ive been going down the rabbit hole of looking at diff covers and then skids. i have a metal cloak rear diff skid that i have been happy with but then saw the Next Venture skid that covers the pinion. it looks great but boy is it expensive! front and rear skids, plus covers, well over $1k! yikes!

ive never even thought about protecting the pinion before. im pretty careful about slamming down on stuff. ive dragged my driveshaft plenty on rocks which is why ill be getting an aftermarket rear driveshaft soon. with that being said, do people really ever cause damage to the pinion? if so, i would think more vendors would make skid plates for them.

im pretty careful and tend to go slowly when crawling over rocks. so more of just dragging over them and some times getting stuck on them. if i ever hit hard on anything its usually my side steps, which hang low, and im looking at replacing as well.

i know its insurance, but its expensive insurance lol. im just curious how often damage to that part really happens in the real world. of all the peole i wheel with here in so cal, i dont think ive ever seen anyone running that skid (as nice and beefy as it looks).

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[Ratbert]

@NextDan just posted about their Black Friday sale: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...e-jl-armor-7075-skid-systems-live-now.160367/

 

[Terrymo]

Some people have unusual talents. Mine is picking bad lines. I got my OEM rear driveshaft hung up on a rock and managed to back up and pull forward perfectly so the gouges in the drive shaft looked like a curly fry.

I have the next venture diff skids with Motobilt covers and because of my lack of experience they get used. I don’t know if I would ditch what I already had to get them though. I think @roaniecowpony also has them

 

[SadRobot]

I have the rear one because I hit my pinion and the seal started leaking. I ditched the Rancho and replaced with NV. I couldn't get one for the front because they don't make one for the D30.

 

[Rangemaster]

I am running NV front and rear, I bought them like 4 years ago. I believe the price was a lot cheaper back then.

 

[LKG]

Some people have unusual talents. Mine is picking bad lines. I got my OEM rear driveshaft hung up on a rock and managed to back up and pull forward perfectly so the gouges in the drive shaft looked like a curly fry.

I have the next venture diff skids with Motobilt covers and because of my lack of experience they get used. I don’t know if I would ditch what I already had to get them though. I think @roaniecowpony also has them

Same! Funny story, my buddy and I went on a little ride in his RZR, he just wanted to relax and have a beer or 3, and had me drive. I swear to gawd I couldn't pick a line to save my life, every couple minutes I bonked a skid plate on another rock. To his credit, he just sat there, hollered "Skid Plate" and giggled everytime I hit another rock.

 

[c20040215]

I did this. Is it as good/strong as NVM? Probably not. Is it strong enough? Definitely yes. The rear covers the pinion well, which saved me a couple of times looking at the witness marks.
Might need slight modification if you have aftermarket diff covers.

https://www.roughcountry.com/product/jeep-jl-m220-diff-skid-plate-10628

 

[Sportacus]

I did this. Is it as good/strong as NVM? Probably not. Is it strong enough? Definitely yes. The rear covers the pinion well, which saved me a couple of times looking at the witness marks.
Might need slight modification if you have aftermarket diff covers.

https://www.roughcountry.com/product/jeep-jl-m220-diff-skid-plate-10628

Interesting. Can you post some pics of yours? Especially where it covers the pinion. This is a FAR cheaper option than the NV. Isee they have a front one as well.

*i see ExtremeTerrain has lots of customer pics. This looks pretty good. For $100 ill grab one and see how it is. Hopefully it will save me $$$. Thanks for posting

 

[Sportacus]

The front one comes up short of the pinion but i dont think its as much of an issue as the rear.

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