Happy day

[Gretchen]

Finally got my full aluminum belly pan skid installed. It was a bit to much for me to install myself so I asked if I could help and the mechanic was absolutely ok with me being there. I didn't get to do much aside from holding the light, but it was still fun. I'm often times envious of those of you who have the skills of wrenching. I can do simple bolt on stuff but for the complicated or big heavy stuff I need professional help. I Learned an unfortunate lesson with the JL Rubicon package concerning the gas tank. It turns out that the early model JL's had a different shape tank than current models. Artec the company I bought the skid from does not have a disclaimer for this on the website and so when the mechanic tried to install the skid it didn't fit. As you could imagine I was not happy with Artec and voiced my displeasure. Artec jumped into action and resolved the issue immediately. Not only that they sent me the front axle truss kit and rear truss for free to cover the extra labor cost and my drive time cost. Yeah Artec, I love this company.

[Tom]

I love it when a company really stands behind their products.

[Gretchen]

Me too, and Artec really does.

[Java]

Nice! They look so new and clean, I guess those will be the official "before" pics. :thumb:

[Gretchen]

Absolutely the official "before" pics. Pretty excited for the Hole in the Rock trail in May since most of our rocks here in Colorado are deeply covered in snow.

[RockyMtRebel]

I want this at some point! Can I ask who you use to install stuff like this? I turn the wrench on occasion but if I had a trustworthy shop I would utilize them! I have an aluminum winch bumper and a warn evo 8S winch in my garage waiting for me to install…… I keep putting it off because I have to do it by myself 🤣

I will install it before Hole in the Rock trail 🤙🏽

[Gretchen]

For the skid plate I have a friend who has a shop who helped me with it. When it comes to more technical stuff I like to use hillside 4 x 4 off of I 25 and 119.. Bryan the owner is a pretty cool guy and extremely knowledgeable.

[RockyMtRebel]

Were the skid plates pretty straight forward to install or was there any modifications needed to install? I feel like adding these aluminum skids is something I’d like to add sooner than later, especially if I’m going to rock crawl (and there’s a ton of awesome rock crawling around here in SoCal).

[Gretchen]

No mods, you have to drill one hole. Very easy to install except for the cumbersome gas tank. When you take off the OEM gas tank skid you have to strap the gas tank in place with ratchet straps and it is a pain in the ass. This is where a car lift comes in handy. I can't imagine struggling with it on the ground but I'm sure plenty of people do. Next mods for me is truss's and Cro-Mo axeles hopefully within the next month.