Engine Skid Recommendation?

Anyone have any experience with the various engine/tranny skids (Skid Row, Rusty's or Tomken)? I did a search and saw a few overall skid discussions but nothing really specific to the engine/tranny skid. I saw where the Rusty's skid requires removal to get at the fluids while the Skid Row one does not. I have a 95 w/3" lift and already have the Rusty's crossmember and transfer case skid. Why such a big price difference bewteen the different manufacturers? Thanks for the input.

If you run Rusty's or Skid Row's skid you can use the Fram oil change valve to get out of the hole. You don't really have to remove them but it would help. The skid row on my brothers TJ only has a small oil drain hole. At least I don't change that oil. I would go with Rusty's for the price difference. Juice

I'm partial to the Rocky Road skid, knowing three people who swear by them. Having been in one XJ where it was actively in use, it did a pretty good job of preventing what could've been a pierced oil pan. The downside: it ain't cheap.

I bought one of Rusty's 4 years ago and never mounted it. It would have saved me from a transmission disaster once upon a time.

What I will do before I install it is cut a couple access holes for the AW4 & engine drains...

The Rocky Road Skids is the Skid Row skid, minus the stickers. They are a reseller for Skid Row. So it's not a RRO product but a Skid Row Product. check out the dealers under www.skidplates.com

Juice

Tomkin bends in the middle and hit the exhaust pipe, the span is too long.

juicexj24 said:

The Rocky Road Skids is the Skid Row skid, minus the stickers. They are a reseller for Skid Row. So it's not a RRO product but a Skid Row Product. check out the dealers under www.skidplates.com

Juice

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Thanks for the heads-up on that; I hadn't even noticed that the images of the crushed skidplate are the same on both sites. Skid Row it is, then - they are slightly cheaper.

Though I don't know much about this one from Nth Degree, the design certainly caught my eye...



For more info, Click Me! Click Me! Click Me!

Ivan

I have the SkidRow engine/trans skid plate and like it a lot. The only word of warning is that you might want to get some exhaust work done. The skid has two levels it can hang at, I'll call them low and high. The low setting is more than an inch lower than the high setting. The exhaust on my 1999 XJ had a resonator directly under the oil pan that would have forced me to use the lower hanging position. I had the resonator removed.

-Brian

Kevin said:

Anyone have any experience with the various engine/tranny skids (Skid Row, Rusty's or Tomken)? I did a search and saw a few overall skid discussions but nothing really specific to the engine/tranny skid. I saw where the Rusty's skid requires removal to get at the fluids while the Skid Row one does not. I have a 95 w/3" lift and already have the Rusty's crossmember and transfer case skid. Why such a big price difference bewteen the different manufacturers? Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

I run the Rusty's engine/tranny skid and transfer case skid. The only problem I have is at extreme articulation the engine skid comes in contact with my front drive shaft.

Sorry found my answer. they did mean NP249

I liked the look of DPGs skid for the transfercase but they don't have one for the NP242 yet! $179.00

http://dpgoffroad.com/New_Folder2/Rockattackskids.htm

The skid fits NP242's not the ZJ fulltime NP249 case. It's larger/meaning it hangs down more
Juice

juicexj24 said:

The skid fits NP242's not the ZJ fulltime NP249 case. It's larger/meaning it hangs down more
Juice

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Gotcha! thx

Who else makes a decent one for the 242?

Rusty's Offroads T-case skid is the same as the Skid Row one. Just says Rustys on the back of it. Dont remember if the price is less or more. I have one on mine. I had to put some shims between it and the crossmember.

mmarriottxj said:

I run the Rusty's engine/tranny skid and transfer case skid. The only problem I have is at extreme articulation the engine skid comes in contact with my front drive shaft.

Click to expand...

Had the same problem, cut a notch by the pinon yolk, & it worked wonders. The shaft rubs slightly, but not enough to cause a problem, other than I need a flush mount zerk, as the standad got knocked off on the trail from contact w/ the skid.

Rob

My zerk didnt get completely knocked off, but became a guite flush. Dont know if I'll ever get it off. I was thinking it'd be a great excuse for a new Tom Woods...

I've got a Rusty's and it saved my a@s the first time out. Slide off a rock onto a rock and nailed the skid under the tranny pan. Did bend the pan actually, but it's a quick fix. Do it before you install and never worry about it again. I welded a piece of 1"x.125" square tube to each inner side and ran a few evenly spaced beads up and down the tube. This after I re-tweaked the skid. Also, the resonator on my "99 xj hits the mounting crossbar. That down tube should be changed anyway as the top is crimped from the factory. Just haven't done it yet, saving for header to do it all at once. It rattles every once in a while. There are only four bolts so changing tranny fluid isn't that big of a deal, how often do you change the fluid anyway? I use the Fram quick drain as well. My $.02.

and

Oh yea-one other thing. Does anything ever just bolt on? I had to cut the front mount crossmember with my chop saw then weld it back together as it was too wide to fit (comfortably) in between the LCA's which it bolts to!! Sheeesh!

I know this is digging up an old post but I would rather put this here than in a new thread.

I read everything on the board regarding engine / trans skids and heard a lot about how horrible the fit up was on the Rusty's skid from many users. Being cheap and always up the challenge of major PITA I ordered a Rusty's skid.

It went in beautifully. There were a couple of tricks to installing it that I want to share. I chose to use carriage bolts to hold the skid plate to the hanger up front (runs between the rear lower control arm bolts) and to hold it to the transmission cross member. This makes it a bit harder to tighten everyting up but if you are patient (minutes not hours) its worth it prevent bolt heads from hanging up on rocks.

Installation.
The skid cross member just fits over ends of the control arm bolts. I had to start the nut on one side and start the other. When I tightened them it "stretched" the cross member. If you tighten one side it will pull off the bolt on the other side and you wont be able to start the nut on that side.

I also had to straighten the flair at the bottom of passenger side lower control arm mount web so the cross member would pull up tight against the web. I did this by using a crescent wrench to grab the lip and then pried it flat. Easy.

Biggest trick was to set it up loosely, adjust it and the tighten everyting. I installed the skid cross member, just barely snugging the lower control arm nuts and the nuts that hold the plate to skid cross member. Once this was done I use a hammer and a come along (a ratchet strap would also work) to pull the skid plate back to the transmission cross member and "tweak" it (hammer) so I could drill four holes in the thickest part of the transmission crossmember. After drilling each hole I put in a bolt with a nylock nut and snugged it up.

After everything was in place I went back and tightened / torqued all the fasteners. Its takes few minutes to get the passenger side control arm nut torqued but it can be done with out any blood or swearing.

If you just slap it up there and expect it to fit perfectly you will be dissapointed. Each XJ is a bit different in how the frame was jigged and the engine/trans can be shifted pretty far in its mounts. It really helps to set it up loosely and the adjust it all using the come along or a ratchet strap.

John