Rancho differential glide plate install

[IronScott]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I can’t find the answer. I ordered the front and rear diff glide plates from Rancho. They attach using 4 of the diff cover bolts. My question is about removing the 4 bolts. I’m assuming just removing those 4 bolts won’t cause fluid to leak but was curious if anyone else has installed these and could provide real life experience.

Also ordered the rear shock/control arm skids. Don’t want to spend to get a full body skid yet but figured these were a good start.

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[TreeHugger]

Put mine on a week ago. No issues with leaks but will keep an eye on it

 

[IronScott]

Put mine on a week ago. No issues with leaks but will keep an eye on it

Great. Thank you very much.

 

[wibornz]

Put mine on last night. A five minute job. No leaks, I found that snugging up the diff cover bolts made the u-bolt a lot easier to get in the right place to tighten down right.

 

[aai]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I can’t find the answer. I ordered the front and rear diff glide plates from Rancho. They attach using 4 of the diff cover bolts. My question is about removing the 4 bolts. I’m assuming just removing those 4 bolts won’t cause fluid to leak but was curious if anyone else has installed these and could provide real life experience.

Also ordered the rear shock/control arm skids. Don’t want to spend to get a full body skid yet but figured these were a good start.

Installed the set recently. The rear shock/control arm skid is a bit tricky. If you look at the shock and control arm bolts, they sit approx on a 45 degree from each other. The left side went on fine, but the right I had to do a lot of coaxing to get it on there. IMHO the shock skids doesn't need all 4 ears. Just the two on the shock and one for the control arm since it completely follows and seats on the contour of the oem brace mount on the bottom. Or slot the holes on the control arm ears so it could swing in place without pulling the bolts completely. Would make installation a lot easier. A pointer just in case.. It is better to put the rear of vehicle up in the air by putting Jack stands on the frame. That way you can raise/lower the rear axle as needed to center the bolt holes. Shocks fully extended I unbolted the left and right slipped in the sliders and bolts. Then raise the diff up so the lower control arms are not under strain to slide those bolts in and out easily. Then swung the front of slider up to slide those bolts in. GL

 

[IronScott]

Put mine on last night. A five minute job. No leaks, I found that snugging up the diff cover bolts made the u-bolt a lot easier to get in the right place to tighten down right.

Good to hear. Thanks!

Installed the set recently. The rear shock/control arm skid is a bit tricky. If you look at the shock and control arm bolts, they sit approx on a 45 degree from each other. The left side went on fine, but the right I had to do a lot of coaxing to get it on there. IMHO the shock skids doesn't need all 4 ears. Just the two on the shock and one for the control arm since it completely follows and seats on the contour of the oem brace mount on the bottom. Or slot the holes on the control arm ears so it could swing in place without pulling the bolts completely. Would make installation a lot easier. A pointer just in case.. It is better to put the rear of vehicle up in the air by putting Jack stands on the frame. That way you can raise/lower the rear axle as needed to center the bolt holes. Shocks fully extended I unbolted the left and right slipped in the sliders and bolts. Then raise the diff up so the lower control arms are not under strain to slide those bolts in and out easily. Then swung the front of slider up to slide those bolts in. GL

Awesome! Thanks for the tips and the pics. I see what you’re saying about the shock skids.

They look great.

 

[aai]

Sure man! Hey Im just an enthusiast like the other guy lol, I don't do this for a living. Those two bolts on one bracket is gonna want the exact opposite things. The shock wants to be at extended length to be in the relaxed position and the control arm is in neutral when full weight of vehicle is on ground. Knowing those two things gave me a plan of attack. Post up when you get it done.

 

[Fastmover]

Sure man! Hey Im just an enthusiast like the other guy lol, I don't do this for a living. Those two bolts on one bracket is gonna want the exact opposite things. The shock wants to be at extended length to be in the relaxed position and the control arm is in neutral when full weight of vehicle is on ground. Knowing those two things gave me a plan of attack. Post up when you get it done.

On the rear shock/control arm skid, which part should we attach first to make the bolt hole alignment easy? The control arm or the shock? Thanks.

 

[aai]

The only way I was able to get them on was to have the rear portion of frame on jack stands first and rear end hanging down to where the shocks were on a relaxed position and mounted the skid and slid bolt in. Then raised up the rear axle to remove the jack stands from the rear frame, to put the jeep back on the ground and where the rear control arms were in the relaxed position, remove those bolts and swung up the skid plate in place. You can tell the components are in a relaxed position when you can move their bolts in and out easily. Iron Scott said he had a relatively easy install, you can ask him also. GL
edit: first time out was last weekend on the trails, took all the hits the oem stuff would've taken. Highly recommend them, lowest points on the vehicle.

 

[Fastmover]

The only way I was able to get them on was to have the rear portion of frame on jack stands first and rear end hanging down to where the shocks were on a relaxed position and mounted the skid and slid bolt in. Then raised up the rear axle to remove the jack stands from the rear frame, to put the jeep back on the ground and where the rear control arms were in the relaxed position, remove those bolts and swung up the skid plate in place. You can tell the components are in a relaxed position when you can move their bolts in and out easily. Iron Scott said he had a relatively easy install, you can ask him also. GL
edit: first time out was last weekend on the trails, took all the hits the oem stuff would've taken. Highly recommend them, lowest points on the vehicle.

Thanks. That's very helpful info. And your pics speak volumes for those hedging their bets on protection for off-roading. Given the design, Jeep should be ashamed for not offering this protection as an option.
My rear glides are on backorder until mid June with Rancho. They have to make another factory run early June.

 

[mgroeger]

The only way I was able to get them on was to have the rear portion of frame on jack stands first and rear end hanging down to where the shocks were on a relaxed position and mounted the skid and slid bolt in. Then raised up the rear axle to remove the jack stands from the rear frame, to put the jeep back on the ground and where the rear control arms were in the relaxed position, remove those bolts and swung up the skid plate in place. You can tell the components are in a relaxed position when you can move their bolts in and out easily. Iron Scott said he had a relatively easy install, you can ask him also. GL
edit: first time out was last weekend on the trails, took all the hits the oem stuff would've taken. Highly recommend them, lowest points on the vehicle.

Dang you got your money's worth! What did these things cost?

 

[aai]

Dang you got your money's worth! What did these things cost?

you can get all the pieces for under $500. No doubt I would rather see these scraped/banged up and rusty than the oem stuff they are protecting, or worse break something.

 

[mgroeger]

you can get all the pieces for under $500. No doubt I would rather see these scraped/banged up and rusty than the oem stuff they are protecting, or worse break something.

Cool. My guess is John Ariolla @OffRoadWarehouse can get you a pretty good deal on these. He hooked me up with JKS discos and Rancho shocks at good prices.

 

[IronScott]

The only way I was able to get them on was to have the rear portion of frame on jack stands first and rear end hanging down to where the shocks were on a relaxed position and mounted the skid and slid bolt in. Then raised up the rear axle to remove the jack stands from the rear frame, to put the jeep back on the ground and where the rear control arms were in the relaxed position, remove those bolts and swung up the skid plate in place. You can tell the components are in a relaxed position when you can move their bolts in and out easily. Iron Scott said he had a relatively easy install, you can ask him also. GL
edit: first time out was last weekend on the trails, took all the hits the oem stuff would've taken. Highly recommend them, lowest points on the vehicle.

Outstanding real life results! Looks like they did their job.

That OEM stuff looks so thin and fragile compared to the Rancho guards (and MC, I'm sure). I'm not ready to spend for a full-body cover so these pieces are a very good option, for me at least.

 

[IronScott]

Stupid question. Why are you not supposed to re-use the diff bolts, but instead use new ones which are supplied by Rancho?

My guess is the length due to the cover thickness. The diff cover is fairly thick and the bolts supplied by Rancho are nearly double the length of the stock ones. I'm not sure the stock bolts would get enough bite, or purchase, if you will.

FWIW, the Rancho bolts seem to be a higher quality.

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