Rear diff skid plate for '21 Willys?

[omnitonic]

Most of the stuff on the market is for Rubicons, but Rough Country makes a set of differential skids for the M189 and M200. The fitment notes section did say "Does NOT fit the Willys Wheeler," but I couldn't see why it wouldn't fit, so I bought it anyway. After struggling endlessly with the thing, I actually took a cutoff wheel, some cold chisels, and some hammers and extracted the part that mates to the differential housing. My thinking was that this part needed tweaking, and the only way I was going to see what it needed was to cut it off, doctor it, and weld it back together.

Yeah, well, shockingly enough, the fitment notes were correct. It does NOT fit my Willys. It's not remotely close. It's just as well I discovered that I apparently don't have a normal M200 axle before I ordered new gears!

So I'm wondering... What on earth axle do I actually have? I don't think it's an M220, but it's obviously larger than the axle for which this skid plate was intended. The RC skid for the Rubicon says it won't fit anything but the Rubicon, so it would seem I have a none of the above third option axle.

Does anybody happen to make a skid that will fit this pumpkin? I'm thinking this is unlikely, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

All my sticker says is something about a rear "limited slip" or words to that effect.

Learn something new every day, I guess.

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[Robnfl]

My '20 Willys JLU had the M220 rear. It's easy to verify by the dif cover bolt pattern.

 

[iboostgti335]

If should state which front and rear axels you have on your window sticker. If you dont have it, you can look it up online by your vin.

 

[omnitonic]

If should state which front and rear axels you have on your window sticker. If you dont have it, you can look it up online by your vin.

I dug out the sticker. It says, "Anti-spin differential rear axle." I'm kind of surprised there isn't more info on here.

Anyway, in finding the sticker, I found my VIN, and according to the lookup, it turns out I do have a M220 rear axle! I guess I missed the memo on that being one of the Willys upgrades. I knew about the shocks, brakes, and rock sliders, but I always just assumed it had a standard Sport rear axle.

So I guess now the question is whether this differs from a Rubicon axle, and how. Obviously, I don't have lockers.

I might just cut that skid plate into four sections, add material, and make it work anyway. I've done enough of throwing money around, and now it's time to be cheap.

 

[limeade]

I dug out the sticker. It says, "Anti-spin differential rear axle." I'm kind of surprised there isn't more info on here.

Anyway, in finding the sticker, I found my VIN, and according to the lookup, it turns out I do have a M220 rear axle! I guess I missed the memo on that being one of the Willys upgrades. I knew about the shocks, brakes, and rock sliders, but I always just assumed it had a standard Sport rear axle.

So I guess now the question is whether this differs from a Rubicon axle, and how. Obviously, I don't have lockers.

I might just cut that skid plate into four sections, add material, and make it work anyway. I've done enough of throwing money around, and now it's time to be cheap.

There are 2 variants of the M220 rear axle: wide for Rubicons (which are only model with electronic locker) and narrow for all other models.

The ring and pinion, diff housing, bearings, etc. should all be the same. Theonly differences will be the length of the axle shafts and of course, the length of the axle tubes.

So a rear diff skid plate for a "Rubicon" model should work on your Willys model M220.

 

[omnitonic]

There are 2 variants of the M220 rear axle: wide for Rubicons (which are only model with electronic locker) and narrow for all other models.

The ring and pinion, diff housing, bearings, etc. should all be the same. Theonly differences will be the length of the axle shafts and of course, the length of the axle tubes.

So a rear diff skid plate for a "Rubicon" model should work on your Willys model M220.

That's what I'm thinking too, but the last time I ignored the fitment guidelines, I ended up cutting apart the wrong skid plate like a dumbass. Good to know it is the standard width. I just made purchase decisions based on that assumption.

I'm still trying to figure out what I've got inside that pumpkin. Out of curiosity, and also, because I'm planning to regear. I'm glad I got a clue before I ordered the wrong gear set!

It's pretty cool that I have a Dana 44 though. I love this Jeep!

 

[AZ Hella]

The one for the m220 will fit any variant of the axle. I ran it on my sport and now it’s on my rubicon.

 

[omnitonic]

I read the rest of that VIN build spec, and noticed it says the Jeep shipped with Bridgestone tires and aluminum wheels. I knocked some chunks out of the rim right at the bead in a mud hole, and unless this is some new rusting version of aluminum, these ain't aluminum. Hmmm.

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