Do I need a skid plate

[wolfattak]

the axles for the wk seem pretty strong and ive noticed no1, from what ive seen, uses skidplates or any sort of axle guard. I noticed my axles pretty scratched up and i was planning on steel plating the axles but do I even need to????

[themerc64]

The plastic housing of the axle will slide over stuff better than if covered with a alloy skid plate. Most anything you hang under the axle will cause you more hang-ups than if you left them alone. Unless you are really good at fabrication... here are some examples of skids on TLT axles.

[joemomma95]

I put a small aluminum skid on the bottom of the front diff, it's squared off on the edges but it has been beat on enough where it kind of formed itself into a decent skid. In the beginning it did hang up on stuff regularly but now it's not as bad.

My main concern was wearing through the plastic axle housing, it seemed like it was wearing out very fast sliding over rocks....I'm sure new axle housing aren't that exspensive but why keep buying something when you can prevent the wear a little.

[wolfattak]

Originally Posted by joemomma95

My main concern was wearing through the plastic axle housing, it seemed like it was wearing out very fast sliding over rocks....I'm sure new axle housing aren't that exspensive but why keep buying something when you can prevent the wear a little.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. My front axle's pretty scratched and i just want to protect it.

[SeanD]

I added a piece of 1/8 aluminum as a bumper/skid plate after I bend the cr#p out of my steering links. I noticed too that the diff case was getting gouged pretty good too. I'll take the trade-off of less ground clearance for protection.