In the past five years, I haven't really seen the 'perfect' oil pan skidplate for the Wrangler's 4.0L engine. If you think about it, just about any of them out there now have some kind of drawback to them. They are either hard to change the oil after being mounted, they don't work with certain lift heights, they're glued on, or some other drawback.

I was just talking with an unnamed Jeep parts manufacturer about oil pan skidplates and the question came up on if a beefed up oil pan with its own welded-on skidplate is the answer. Yeah you have to drop the old pan and install this one... but other than that, this approach gets rid of the negatives of the other skidplate types.

Is this too much trouble? Would Joe-average do this mod/installation? What do you all think of a replacement pan? A "core-exchange" could be done to lower the price. Order the new pan and get some money refunded back by returning your original oil oil pan to be reused.

Since it is a factory oil pan that has been beefed up with a welded-on skidplate, it'll have the same drain plug location as stock. I would think it would have to come with a gasket as part of the kit but that's way ahead of where this is right now. It would be a one-time mod to just replace the stock oil pan with the beefed up oil pan.

Knowing the guy and the company, it's going to be a beefy and very well designed product if becomes available.

Thoughts?

Hi Jerry,

While I am quite happy with the skid plat I have under my Jeep I would think there would be a market for one your friend is thinking of building.

Here or some are some of my thoughts as I read your post

Skid plate could be offered to ways,

1. As a do-it-yourself weld on kit
2. As a bolt on Oil Pan with skid already welded (with refundable core charge.)

It might be nice if a Skid Extension could be bolted on between the welded on oil pan skid plate and the T/Case skid as well. To give some protection to the bellhousing.

With the need to weld it on, I would think it would need to come unpainted.

Ready to bolt on units should already be painted.

I would think if your friend bought gaskets to go along with his skid he could get them in bulk and be able to offer them with the skids for a very low cost basis.

Just some of my thoughts. I hope your friend finds them useful,

Frank

don't forget the 258 crowd. last I checked the replacement mopar pans were $150 or there abouts (and no aftermarket that I could find). A HD alternative would certainly be the way to go.

I agree that this is the way to go. I had a buddy fab one up for me and welded it on my pan. Works like a charm. Besides, dropping a oilpan on a Jeep doesn't take all that long.

you mean, like this:

http://www.4wd.com/shop4wd/ProductDetail.asp?ProdId=CAPRDAGNRW2NY9FDKT414JAHK RJ0AKDG&FamId=CAPFMACRTUJSCM1PVJDA377WEJ0R77KA&PFamId=UnderHood

matt

What's to stop you from just welding on the turbo city glue on version?

Originally posted by FNG
What's to stop you from just welding on the turbo city glue on version?

Pull pan off weld on skid try to bolt warped pan back on :D

Good luck!

So dont take it off..plus agood welder shouldbe able to some what control the warping.

I,ve been using the Turbo City,s glue on one for over 3 yrs, and it works good ! Lots of scratches and dents on it, and it still stays put !:D


:jeep: __(OIIIIIIIO)__rOkOn:usa:

Originally posted by FNG
What's to stop you from just welding on the turbo city glue on version?

It wouldn't be worth it. Besides the warping problems already touched on above, the TurboCity oil pan skidplate is pretty darned thin. I have one on my TJ and it seems like the bottom of it may be 1/8" steel but I don't think it's any more than that. For things like the gas tank and oil pan, I like at least 3/16".