Rusty's oile pane-trans skid.

[BlueRubicon]

Hi folks, I imagine many of you are going apeshit not being able to wheel. Fortunately I am privileged to have a place I can wheel through all this non sense. I was able to hang with a group of 5 purpose built crawlers through a sick black trail last weekend. These guys don't care if they roll, or hit trees or break shit. (which they did all three). One guy broke a tie rod end twice(both sides) which prompted me to order spare tie rods from Synergy as soon as I got home.
Also decided to finally get some type of skid to protect oil and trans pan. After thorough research, I decided to go with Rusty's oil and trans pan skid. I have seen some of their other products and they build stuff pretty tough.
The packaging was ridiculous when I received it this past Wednesday. And I mean in a Good way! You could probably deliver it by dropping out of plane and it wouldn't have a scratch:thumb:
Made of 3/16 steel and support trusses on top side of pan. Front part, has L and R brackets that bolt to existing studs of engine mounts. (2.0L) Very beefy! I am anxious to see how it holds up. I have been leery about a large skid which covers pans, in the event I have a small leak and do not notice until pan filled.
I think that worry is less a problem than puncturing a oil pan, considering my under carriage is lit up and I regularly am under Jeep checking for damage.
Sorry for the long winded post...I'll report back after putting Jeep through some hell on the big rocks. Probably next weekend.

 

[BlueRubicon]

364 views and no comments...interesting. Anyway, pan holds up very well. Takes a beating. Only problem is the two bolts that bolt to the crossmember. They do come with aluminum counter sunk washers so that bolt heads are flush. However as predicted those washers cannot protect from rock rub at all.
It would be better to have a counter sink in the pan itself and use beveled allen bolts.

 

[benatc1]

364 views and no comments...interesting. Anyway, pan holds up very well. Takes a beating. Only problem is the two bolts that bolt to the crossmember. They do come with aluminum counter sunk washers so that bolt heads are flush. However as predicted those washers cannot protect from rock rub at all.
It would be better to have a counter sink in the pan itself and use beveled allen bolts.
View attachment 350146

Interesting design there, looks like the plate held up great though, which is good cause removing those has ass ache written all over it.

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[jdofmemi]

364 views and no comments...interesting. Anyway, pan holds up very well. Takes a beating. Only problem is the two bolts that bolt to the crossmember. They do come with aluminum counter sunk washers so that bolt heads are flush. However as predicted those washers cannot protect from rock rub at all.
It would be better to have a counter sink in the pan itself and use beveled allen bolts.
View attachment 350146

My Rock Hard skid has those same style washers, in steel, and they do the same thing. My three bolts looked far worse than your worst one, and in less than five minutes they were all off.

A small chisel gets it open enough to hammer a socket on. It's not too hard.

Sunk into the pan and everything flush sounds good, but the pan is not thick enough for decent sized hardware, and it may not last.

 

[fiend]

My Rock Hard skid has those same style washers, in steel, and they do the same thing. My three bolts looked far worse than your worst one, and in less than five minutes they were all off.

A small chisel gets it open enough to hammer a socket on. It's not too hard.

Sunk into the pan and everything flush sounds good, but the pan is not thick enough for decent sized hardware, and it may not last.

I have the rock hard plate and the bolts do get chewed up even with those recessed conical washers. Comes with the territory.


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[BlueRubicon]

My Rock Hard skid has those same style washers, in steel, and they do the same thing. My three bolts looked far worse than your worst one, and in less than five minutes they were all off.

A small chisel gets it open enough to hammer a socket on. It's not too hard.

Sunk into the pan and everything flush sounds good, but the pan is not thick enough for decent sized hardware, and it may not last.

My suggestion to Rusty's would be to make the back end either thicker, or weld on collars or large nuts so you can counter sink.