The Mod:

Addition of Rancho oil pan armor.

What it does:

Our stock 2008 Wrangler Rubicon did not come with any armor for the oil pan. I have see some damage to some oil pans on-line and decided it was best to protect ours before I damaged it.

The benefit of the Rancho armor is that it simply protects the oil pan and does not require the extra space and clearance issues of a full skid plate. It's also a lot cheaper than a full skid plate.

The perceived drawback is that it is glued in place. As an experiment I glued two nuts together with a dab of left-over silicone and after it was dry I tried to pull them apart. I was surprised how strong the silicone was. Just in case I added some J-B Weld for extra support. After the install and driving with it for a while there has been absolutely no movement in the armor. I'll report back if/when I hit it with a rock.

Photos:

The kit is made by Rancho. The instructions were pretty short but there isn't much to the install either. Here’s the kit (notice the armor is 1/8" thick:

Here’s a shot of the oil pan from the front before I started:

Here’s another shot of it from the passenger side:

To install, first the oil pan must be clean and dry:

Next, cut the applicator of the supplied silicone to create a 1/4" bead:

Apply all of the silicone liberally and allow it to set for 15 minutes:

Next, set the pan in place:

And press it in place with a jack and wooden panel. I knocked it on the sides until I was sure it was seated in place:

After 24 hours the silicone should be dry and the jack and wood can be removed:

I wasn't sure the silicone would support the pan, so I decided to fill the cracks in the pan with J-B Weld. First I mixed some up and let it sit until it was fairly thick (if it's too thin it will just run down the pan and sit in the bottom):

Next, I used the putty knife to spread it into the cracks where they touched the pan making sure I didn't get any glue on any of the bolts:

All dry and ready to go:

Finished view from the front:

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Last modified: December 21, 2009 06:54:33 PM