Tim
Life is good Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Kalamazoo

This is my first of many upgrades to my XJ. I started with a transfer case skid mainly because I was hard pressed to find any cheap mods. I searched around online for many different parts and many different skids. My other choice was going to be a gas tank skid bucause from the hills I've done so far this seems to be a pretty easily damaged part. Plus if you thrash your gastank how are you going to get home. Though from what I understand it you come down on a rock or a well placed mound of dirt your tcase is a gonner. Thou if your missing a link in your drive train, your dead in the watter.

While this is not a Warn, Skid Row, or Rustys Offroad, for $80 out the door with shipping I think I'll do. How ever it's no DPG Belly Pan. This skid came plain, no pain, no primer, no powder coat, just bare steel. But who wants just bare steel on there rig right, not me thats who. This is it frest out of the box:

It came with a pack of self tapping bolts to mount it. Thou they were taped down to the skip with packing tape and was a bitch to cleanup.

So first step clean it up. The primer directions said to use a 400 grit sand paper to clean it up. For lack of this I used a left over sanding block from a mysterious hole in the garage drywall, it was 60 grit but I figured it would get to the point faster.

All cleaned up and ready for it's first on 3 coats of primer.

I used some self pitting primer to make sure it had a nice quality layer before it was painted. However I did not end up using paint I instead used spray on bed liner just it give it a little more lasting power for any rocks, dirt and anything else I kick up at it. It's still a little wet in the picture but looks pretty good after 4 coats. I wish I would have gotten a little more on the leading edge but it still got a good coat.

 I let it site for a week (maily because I didnt have any more time to work on it and it started to rain) to dry and just make sure it was good to go. So I held it up and used a jack to fit is snugly into place.

From here I drew in the bolt holes with a sharpie. If I would have known better I would have left it like this and drilled the holes with it in place. But in one way it was good i didn't because the only 5/16 ths drill bit I had was a dull as my garage floor. So I went a picked up another. This thing tore thru the metal like butter, should have gotten a new one right from the start.

Three holes in the unibody, three in the cross member. After about ten or twelve times of getting it back up to match the holes I just drilled I finally got it and bolted it down.

It was an easy install and well worth it as I move forward with my upgrades. My next step, mounting a hitch I got from a fellow jeeper that was upgrading to a custom bumper.