E&E Off-Road 200 Series Skid Plate System

[lembowski]

Cautionary tail from Moab, do recheck the bolts like @turbo8 recommends

I did not. Was missing 5-6 in total. Thankfully the ace hardware here in Moab had metric hardware.

With the amount of loctite I used it should hold the space shuttle down. But will sort them out again here in a few weeks.

 

[turbo8]

Cautionary tail from Moab, do recheck the bolts like @turbo8 recommends

I did not. Was missing 5-6 in total. Thankfully the ace hardware here in Moab had metric hardware.

I probably have about 4x too many of those screws in there..lol

None of the bolts on my LX have really come loose, but on my LC250, with my skids, they tend to back out pretty easily. I might need to switch to red Loctite for that platform. The 250 just isn't as smooth as the 200. On a related note, even my stock GX550 ot+ lost some of its factory skid plate bolts after some mild off-roading.

 

[K9LTW]

PM’d @turbo8 , but just in case anyone else can weight in…I’m in a world of hurt and the swear jar is overflowing…

Pulled off the factory stuff from my ‘16 LC to install E&E’s work of art, and the previous owner snapped the head off the center front bolt on the crossmember under the radiator. I’ve now snapped TWO extractors in there trying to back it out and it’s completely jacked up. Like irreparably jacked up beyond what I could do to it. Despite three days of penetrating oil treatments, it wouldn’t budge.

Is there any way to salvage this only using the two outboard spines for the front skid and skipping the middle one?

 

[lembowski]

Gonna have to weld a nut on or try a heat gun.

 

[K9LTW]

Gonna have to weld a nut on or try a heat gun.

There’s nothing to weld to. It’s recessed up into that frame member. Can’t even get a drill bit to center as it’s so uneven.

 

[tbisaacs]

PM’d @turbo8 , but just in case anyone else can weight in…I’m in a world of hurt and the swear jar is overflowing…

Pulled off the factory stuff from my ‘16 LC to install E&E’s work of art, and the previous owner snapped the head off the center front bolt on the crossmember under the radiator. I’ve now snapped TWO extractors in there trying to back it out and it’s completely jacked up. Like irreparably jacked up beyond what I could do to it. Despite three days of penetrating oil treatments, it wouldn’t budge.

Is there any way to salvage this only using the two outboard spines for the front skid and skipping the middle one?

One of mine broke off and I just drilled straight through the cross member and used a longer nut with a bolt on the top side of the cross member.

You need the center rib because of the oil filter housing.

 

[K9LTW]

One of mine broke off and I just drilled straight through the cross member and used a longer nut with a bolt on the top side of the cross member.

You need the center rib because of the oil filter housing.

Well. Ugh. This is going to suuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Thanks for the info. Was hoping I could skip it and just avoid any dead center hits Guess I know what I’ll be doing today!

 

[turbo8]

One of mine broke off and I just drilled straight through the cross member and used a longer nut with a bolt on the top side of the cross member.

You need the center rib because of the oil filter housing.

I believe that should be worded, a longer bolt with a nut on the top side of the cross member.

What length bolt did you end up using?

M8X1.25 - A2 Stainless DIN 7984 - Allen Socket LOW Head Cap Screw

Bel-Metric sells metric hardware & specialty automotive supplies worldwide. Visit our website to purchase metric fasteners, nuts, bolts, screws, washers & more.

belmetric.com

 

[tbisaacs]

I believe that should be worded, a longer bolt with a nut on the top side of the cross member.

What length bolt did you end up using?

M8X1.25 - A2 Stainless DIN 7984 - Allen Socket LOW Head Cap Screw

Bel-Metric sells metric hardware & specialty automotive supplies worldwide. Visit our website to purchase metric fasteners, nuts, bolts, screws, washers & more.

belmetric.com

Yup sorry about that. Was multitasking.

Ended up with a 50mm

M8X1.25 - A2 Stainless DIN 7984 - Allen Socket LOW Head Cap Screw

Bel-Metric sells metric hardware & specialty automotive supplies worldwide. Visit our website to purchase metric fasteners, nuts, bolts, screws, washers & more.

belmetric.com

 

[K9LTW]

Got it done! Ended up only getting a good 1/4” hole to line up so used a 1/4-20 x 2” bolt with a small washer inside (added the washer after the below pic) the end of the rib and a fender washer and nylock nut on top. The rest was uneventful.

Fantastic piece of kit!

 

[lembowski]

Hindsight, should have put mine on jackstands. I was able to get under and get the job done, but my shoulder blades hated me for laying in the concrete floor for a couple hours.

Looks great @K9LTW

 

[turbo8]

Got it done! Ended up only getting a good 1/4” hole to line up so used a 1/4-20 x 2” bolt with a small washer inside (added the washer after the below pic) the end of the rib and a fender washer and nylock nut on top. The rest was uneventful.

Fantastic piece of kit!View attachment 3913601View attachment 3913602

Glad you got everything sorted!

 

[dudemancool1904]

Scored a brand new in box full set off FB marketplace! Seller bought them last year and decided not to install them. Paid basically what you’re charging now on the site. Gonna pick up some thread locker and anti seize tomorrow and install them Tuesday afternoon!

 

[turbo8]

Scored a brand new in box full set off FB marketplace! Seller bought them last year and decided not to install them. Paid basically what you’re charging now on the site. Gonna pick up some thread locker and anti seize tomorrow and install them Tuesday afternoon!

View attachment 3914910

Great, let me know if you have any questions.

 

[aM200]

For anyone else doing the install, definitely listen to the recommendation to tighten the hardware a little bit after the install. I never bothered and noticed over the weekend I was missing a couple screws with a good amount of the others being loose. Might be good to just re check some of it when you do an oil change. No issues otherwise. Still a badass system.

 

[dudemancool1904]

Slow morning, took care of the dogs, coffee and a breakfast smoothie, headed over to HF to pick up some Loctite and icon hex sockets.
I started around noon, removed all the oem stuff and got the chassis mounted from nose to tail by 2:30pm. Took a break to walk the dogs, gonna finish it up later today or tomorrow.
So far I’ve had no issues with cross threads, had to chase a few threads but everything is clean.
I really see the elegance in the design and totally can picture an engineer behind this whole company. As a non engineer I prefer how Bud combines the bracing and the plate into one piece. But where the E&E setup shines is the light weight and strength combined. Someone said it’s like adult Legos and I totally laughed at that thought today on the garage floor.

Can’t wait to finish it!

 

[dudemancool1904]

Just wrapped up. I made a few changes,I want to keep my stock bumper complete so I made some quick trims to the ps cooler plate. Once I realized how sloppy I was, I shot the piece with some black spray paint and installed it. I was able to keep the plastic rain guards as well. Totally blends in which is what I wanted.

As for the rest, everything went in great.

Question: do you guys Loctite the oil drain/filter doors?

 

[turbo8]

Just wrapped up. I made a few changes,I want to keep my stock bumper complete so I made some quick trims to the ps cooler plate. Once I realized how sloppy I was, I shot the piece with some black spray paint and installed it. I was able to keep the plastic rain guards as well. Totally blends in which is what I wanted.

As for the rest, everything went in great.

Question: do you guys Loctite the oil drain/filter doors?

Yeah, I recommend blue Loctite on the access panel screws.

 

[dudemancool1904]

finished photo. I ended up rattle canning my tow hooks TRD Pro Bro red and took the side plastic under tray pieces off instead of trimming them. I’d prefer to keep them but they look terrible blocking the skid plate.

 

[Valgrind]

Another successful install. Everything lined up perfectly. My dumbass rounded out one of the last hex heads so looking forward to getting that out later. Also not looking forward to retorquing everything back down. Awesome system!

Really recommend the grip edge hex bits.... it makes it both easier to not round a perfectly good bolt, but also you can remove some lightly damaged bolts.
I put anti-seize on all the bolts, without it the little hex bolts are easy to round.

Not cheap but i got the impact rated set and it makes taking it off with my milwalkee ratchet a breeze.

GRIPEDGE Tools

GripEdge Tools have a unique Rounding Prevention Technology (RPT) that delivers superior torque on both new and damaged fasteners. GripEdge Tools can grip and remove stripped Torx/Star tools without additional tools. GripEdge's Socket Extractors can remove stubborn rounded nuts and bolts.

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