Mine was so badly beaten, that there was no saving it. I ended up getting a Rough Country skid, because it was the only one I could find that had reviews of it being used as a stand alone. It is not a true stand alone though, and is designed to go over the factory, like all the others. This is based on the fact that there is no captured nut available for the T-case skid plate. I fabbed up a plate, welded a nut to it, welded that assembly to the RC skid, and it’s perfect. Got to trash my factory skid to save weight. It’s a damn tough skid plate too.
As others mentioned, I ran my JKUR to empty, and supported the tank with ratchet straps while removing the factory skid.