Rear Shock Skid Plates

[Deano Bronc]

Thanks for sharing the videos. This guy spent more time unwrapping the products than installing them, but it was good to see what was involved. He didn't have a sway bar on his Bronco, so it probably would have taken him as long as the directions said it would.

DV8 didn't include any instructions with any of the skid plates I got, but they are available as a PDF download that you can print out. The instructions are pretty cut and dry. I'm going to jack my Bronco up and do the differential cover before attempting the rear shock skid plates. I thought the differential might be more challenging because it's a bigger part, but it may be simpler than the shock skid plates. It depends on how much my sway bar complicates things.

I may try to put mine on this afternoon and I've been wondering about the swaybar also. I'm putting on a new cover so it might complicate things a little too. I'm afraid the extra thickness of the cover might misalign things at the axle. Never a dull moment!
Good luck!

[BroncOitis]

I may try to put mine on this afternoon and I've been wondering about the swaybar also. I'm putting on a new cover so it might complicate things a little too. I'm afraid the extra thickness of the cover might misalign things at the axle. Never a dull moment!
Good luck!

The sway bar never was a hinder in me getting the screws loose or putting the plate on, I did this all from the backside of the Bronco, and never had the sway bar an issue…👍

Sorry!
I think you two are talking about the differential plate!!!
My Bad……

[BuckYeah]

I may try to put mine on this afternoon and I've been wondering about the swaybar also. I'm putting on a new cover so it might complicate things a little too. I'm afraid the extra thickness of the cover might misalign things at the axle. Never a dull moment!
Good luck!

I discovered I don’t have a rear sway bar. LOL my installation should be a cinch. 🤓

And I’m going to do it without jacking up the Bronco.

[BuckYeah]

Oh, and I got the cross member skid plates installed yesterday. Ridiculously simple. Four bolts and you’re done. The diff plate will go on today, and I ordered a 27mm socket so I could do the shock skid plates. Thought I had a rubber mallet but can’t find it. I’ll get one of those and a c-clamp, too. People in the video comments said it made things simpler.

[BuckYeah]

Well I’m pissed. Tried unsuccessfully to install the rear diff skid plate. Wondering if I got a defective part. It won’t sit flush against the housing cover. Honestly, this was what I least expected to be an issue. The video made it look as simple as the cross member installation. You guys please let me know if you have similar difficulty. It about wore me out trying to get this plate to fit. I’m too old for this. LOL

[BuckYeah]

The photo was my “before” pic. Unfortunately, it’s also my “after” pic. LOL The only silver lining is I got to try out my new torque wrench when reinstalling the two lower differential cover bolts.

[Deano Bronc]

Well I’m pissed. Tried unsuccessfully to install the rear diff skid plate. Wondering if I got a defective part. It won’t sit flush against the housing cover. Honestly, this was what I least expected to be an issue. The video made it look as simple as the cross member installation. You guys please let me know if you have similar difficulty. It about wore me out trying to get this plate to fit. I’m too old for this. LOL

Well, I got the skid installed. I initially thought that the Ford Diff cover might cause a problem with everything lining up but it may have actually helped. The Ford diff cover had extra thickness so the diff skid lined up pretty well. With that being said, without the extra thickness, I could see how getting the skid to sit flat against the stock diff cover.

Initially, I didn't think the diff skid was going to get close enough to the cover even with the extra thickness. I put a jack under the skid plate and used it to raise it into place. The higher I jacked it up, the closer it got to the diff cover. There is no way I could have just lifted it into place. I also had some longer diff cover bolts that I used to draw the skid to the diff cover. I just did it slowly and a little at a time on each bolt. That's the only advice I can give you.

As far as the sway bar, it added to the difficulty a little but really wasn't that big of a deal. The tough part was trying the get the bolts started while putting pressure on the sway bar so you were close enough to start the bolts. I know you said you didn't have the skids which I believer were only on the 4 doors.

As you can see, I had to modify the diff skid plate so it would fit around the new diff cover.

[BroncOitis]

“I Like It…..I Like It A Lot”

[BuckYeah]

I'm glad you got it to cooperate. I'm going to try again with the jack. It's frustrating. And yeah, you're right about the (sway bar), it was never on my 2-door. I like the looks of that FP cover. Did you have to notch it? If so, it looks like a stock piece. Well done!

[Deano Bronc]

I'm glad you got it to cooperate. I'm going to try again with the jack. It's frustrating. And yeah, you're right about the (sway bar), it was never on my 2-door. I like the looks of that FP cover. Did you have to notch it? If so, it looks like a stock piece. Well done!

Yeah, give it a try. I would also send an email to DV8 and see if they have any tips.

Thank you. Yes, I notched it using a drill, jigsaw and dremel. Up close it really doesn't look all that good but it works. I like to say "It looks good from afar but far from good".

[BuckYeah]

Bravo, Deano Bronc! Necessity is the mother of invention. I’ve already sent an email to DV8. Hopefully they can outline my options if subsequent attempts are unsuccessful. The funny thing is that I expected sinking those two bolts to be the easiest part (before I tried); I was more concerned about keeping those captive but plates in place as I anchored the plate in place. Needless to say, it was an unpleasant surprise.

[BuckYeah]

NUT plates. Not “but” plates.

[SlashRacer]

I had to join the skid plate club. Had to straighten both rear shock mounts to get them to fit in the DV8 skid plates. I may or may not have crawled over lots of rocks before I got them. I don’t think my transmission plate will arrive before Moab.

[BuckYeah]

Me, too, SlashRacer! Only I chickened out and had my people install the skid plates on my Bronco. By "my people," I mean the folks at Total Offroad & More, a place devoted to off-road enthusiasts. Great shop. It's a very dangerous place. Especially the showroom. It featured wheels, lighting, lift kits, recovery gear, and rooftop tents. I could easily go broke in a place like this. LOL

They installed the skid plates over my trailing arms, rear shocks, and differential. It wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny to me. Peace of mind is priceless!

I did manage to install the front cross-member skid plates. Four bolts and done. Easy peasy. Knowing I lacked the tools and expertise for the other skid plates led me to seek help. I strongly encourage anyone in the same position to enlist those with the tools and expertise to get the job done.

Check them out: https://www.totaloffroad.com

[Deano Bronc]

Me, too, SlashRacer! Only I chickened out and had my people install the skid plates on my Bronco. By "my people," I mean the folks at Total Offroad & More, a place devoted to off-road enthusiasts. Great shop. It's a very dangerous place. Especially the showroom. It featured wheels, lighting, lift kits, recovery gear, and rooftop tents. I could easily go broke in a place like this. LOL

They installed the skid plates over my trailing arms, rear shocks, and differential. It wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny to me. Peace of mind is priceless!

I did manage to install the front cross-member skid plates. Four bolts and done. Easy peasy. Knowing I lacked the tools and expertise for the other skid plates led me to seek help. I strongly encourage anyone in the same position to enlist those with the tools and expertise to get the job done.

Check them out: https://www.totaloffroad.com

Great to know they got your rear diff skids on.

[BuckYeah]

I'm an amateur. These guys had me ship-shape in less than two and a half hours. The devil is in the details. They applied paint dabs to all of the bolts that were installed. I crawled underneath and thought I was looking at factory markings. Nice work. The shop staff is VERY familiar with Broncos. Several local dealerships enlisted their help in getting rigs ready for their customers, before and after sales.

The guy who worked on my Bronco was well-versed in Ford products and it showed. He went about installing these bits with ease and appeared very confident and comfortable with the task at hand.

I will say this, having a lift makes all the difference! For the trailing arm skid plate, they had to drop and move the gas tank to access the hardware. A transmission jack was put to use for this. You can't beat having the right tools for the job.