cab76

If I'm reading this correctly it is glued directly onto the pan - so there is no clearance. I was planning on getting one of these but now I'm not so sure - seems like a pretty poor design. Thanks for the info and write up!

Omega Man

That design is crap.

tkob1060

oh man what a dop I am ....I was thinking as a skid plate it SHOULD have clearance forgetting the crazyglue to the oilpan part I'll blame that one one being sick lol

IGOFSHN

[QUOTE][only issue is after a hard hit to the pan, it was loose and silicone needed to be re-applied/QUOTE]

What will happen is when you take a big hit it will come loose and you won't know it, prettysoon it will be laying on the highway and you won't have it anymore. That was very common on the TJ's.

WRAITHYJEEP

solution to have it stay on. grind the inside or the skid grind the out side of the oil pan (i believe it is double walled) so that they both have no paint and rough surfaces then us a lot of jb weld or u can get panel cement for autobody work and it will bond the two pieces become one.

armycop

I am thinking of the JB weld idea in the holes

tkob1060

what if you just actually welded it to the pan?

yellowjeeper85

My initial thought to this was, well, as long as you don't burn through the pan, then i thought about it more and realized that the issue would be, wherever you welded it would make an in-flexable connection that under a hard hit would like tear the weld off the pan possilbly leaving a hole behind. the silicone or otherwise works well because the more you apply the more surface area you cover both for adhesion but also for impact dispursal. Its kinda like those guys that lay on a bed of nail. If you lay on a bed of well one nail, all the force is focused on that one nail and i will hurt like hell, if you lay on a bed of a million nails, the force will be so greatly spread out, you don't realize you're laying on nails. If you throw a few welds on it, they will take all the force of impact, if you could weld every square inch of the skid to the pan, then you'd be dispersing the impact evenly throughout the pan. lastly, if you use silicone, it will help absorb some impact, or put a cushion between the two while still dispersing the impact. if you're really worried about it falling off on the freeway, i would drill a few holes in the skid, and attach braided steel cable from the holes to a few spot on the jeep, like a leash to hang on to it if it comes loose. You wont lose it and will likely hear it bouncing around so you'll know it needs some attention.

armycop

For a little more strength, I applied a dab of JB Weld on the spots highlighted in the pic. I put two spots on each side, I am thinking it will give a bit more support, but still break away without damaging the oil pan on a hard hit. The 1/4" layer of silicone on the bottom is a tiny bit of cushion.

BaltChief

Thats what I was kinda thinking, the silicone would be kinda a shock to help absorb the hit.