Iron Pig Off Road (IPOR) Skid Install - New Design (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 13, 2007
Threads
65
Messages
575
Location
Seacoast NH
Firstly, compliments to IPOR for a great product. I had been thinking about ordering one for about a year, but was hesitant to shell out all the cash as I was thinking about making my own. However, when it arrived, I quickly recognized that I wouldn't be able to fabricate a skid of such quality for the money spent; well worth the investment as far as I'm concerned. Good stuff, IPOR :cheers:

Here are two pictures of the installed skid......and one of the bolt that I broke off in the frame during the removal of the crossmember :bang: (luckily, after heating the broken shank to cherry-red, I was able to grab it with Vise Grips and twist it out).

I wrote "New Design" in the thread title as this is the first IPOR skid that I've seen with the protective border around the transmission mount nuts.

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I did run into a hiccup during install, though. The arm that extends from the skid to the frame interfered with the dyamic damper on the transfer case. I had to drill another hole in the arm on the frame end in order to clear it. I called IPOR to let them know and pointed them to this thread for the illustration.

From looking at other threads, I think that my arm may be assembled opposite to others. The flat stock that is welded to the side of the bent section of the arm is on dynamic damper side in my case. In other cases, I see the flat stock welded on the opposite side.

The first picture shows the interference.

The second picture shows the new hole.

The third picture shows the clearance between the damper and the arm.

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I have the same one installed on my 91. The transmission plate makes contact with the OEM skid plate on the bottom of the tranny pan. It causes some vibration to be transmitted through the frame. Not a big deal as I can't see it moving much. Also there is too much relief between the bottom of the transfer case and the skid plate. I'm not sure if that is to accomodate different models, but it can be raised by a good 2" on mine.

I should have trimmed off the trans mount bolts on mine the way you did. I will have to do that before my next trip out.
 
THe rubber mount you are pointing at also touches my IPOR skid arm. I haven't even thought about it really. Been like that for a few years.
 
I have the same one installed on my 91. The transmission plate makes contact with the OEM skid plate on the bottom of the tranny pan. It causes some vibration to be transmitted through the frame. Not a big deal as I can't see it moving much. Also there is too much relief between the bottom of the transfer case and the skid plate. I'm not sure if that is to accomodate different models, but it can be raised by a good 2" on mine.

I should have trimmed off the trans mount bolts on mine the way you did. I will have to do that before my next trip out.

Yeah I just removed the stock tranny skid plate when I installed mine.
 
Other than the hole you drilled was it all bolt on and did it come with hardware? The IPOR site didn't go into details.
 
Other than the hole you drilled was it all bolt on and did it come with hardware? The IPOR site didn't go into details.

Yep it comes with all the hardware. You do have to re-use the washers/nuts for the two bolts of the t-case.
 
THe rubber mount you are pointing at also touches my IPOR skid arm. I haven't even thought about it really. Been like that for a few years.


Mine too - Talked to Cam at IPOR and he said it was fine to remove the rubber dampner...so I did.
 
Wow guys, great feedback. I never got the message about this thread, just found it while checking SEO on the new IPOR website. Let me see if I can address some questions here:

The tcase support leg should not contact the damper - if you have this problem then you have a leg with support brace on the wrong side. We thought we caught all of them, guess a few got out that we were not aware of. It's okay to remove the damper, most of us running off road tires would never notice any additional vibration - HOWEVER, if you would like I am perfectly happy to replace any incorrectly assembled legs for free. Just send us an email.

Crossmember support bolt protection - in our experience this hasn't been a problem. If anyone shears one please let me know, we can certainly look into adding that feature.

Trans Maintenance - there really isn't much of a need for this except maybe filter and shift cable change, both of which are extremely rare. In this rare case we recommend using appropriate jack stands. There are fluid drain holes for routine maintenance. We could have made the skid two piece but that adds unnecessary cost, weight, and complexity. It also takes precious ground clearance from an already long wheelbase vehicle. That the IPOR 80 skid plate yields better ground clearance than the factory crossmember is no mistake - it's done to help with the breakover angle on the long 80 wheelbase. The skid is made this way intentionally.

Jon - your skid is lower than everyone else. This is also intentional. :D Seriously, we have made minor modifications to the skid several times over the years to acheive the optimal balance between ground clearance and protection. The one I put on my FZJ40 recently has about 3/4" between skid and tcase - this may vary slightly depending on trans/tcase model.

Hardware - great suggestion, duly noted!

Thanks!
 
Quick question Lance. Are all of the units now shipping with the trans bolt-protection shown in the first post? Asking since the pics and description on the IPOR website don't mention this great design change...hint, hint.
 
All those exposed bolt heads would worry me. Any chance you could use a flush mount bolt design rather than surrender more ground clearance by building donuts around the bolts? Most of the jeep skids I am familiar with use a flush mount design.
 
Quick question Lance. Are all of the units now shipping with the trans bolt-protection shown in the first post? Asking since the pics and description on the IPOR website don't mention this great design change...hint, hint.

Yes, and thanks for the not so subtle hint! LOL! I haven't taken any new pics since we made the change.

In fact, they're currently on special - free shipping to continental USA! (sorry AK and HI - you can have $65 off instead, just call to work it out)

Seriously, these kinds of comments are how we manage product improvements, like our new FJ80 tire carrier, so this is very helpful. We used to have all countersunk hardware in this skid but people found it extremely difficult to install in their driveway, thus the large slots and bolt protection.
 
"Seriously, these kinds of comments are how we manage product improvements, like our new FJ80 tire carrier, so this is very helpful. We used to have all countersunk hardware in this skid but people found it extremely difficult to install in their driveway, thus the large slots and bolt protection. "

Glad to see you guys have already visited that issue. Skids are not easy to install in the driveway. Just one view, but I would rather wrestle the thing for an afternoon in my driveway and have flush mount hw when I'm done I guess.
 
I have had a pig skid on for a while now and love it! My support leg touches the damper but that's OK with me. I can try more aggressive lines knowing i have that extra protection under there.
 
....... Just one view, but I would rather wrestle the thing for an afternoon in my driveway and have flush mount hw when I'm done I guess.
The IPOR skidplate is simplicity in action, but I agree on your concept for the hardware protection idea, luk4mud, - I mean we're talking skidplates here. They're gonna get hammered - no 2 ways about it. I'm sorry Lance, but those 8 exposed bolt heads would worry me. One of the reasons I chose another skidplate. As you can see in the pic, a little ground clearance was sacrificed, but IMHO the protection for all the hardware is superior.
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I have one of the IPOR skids from a year or so ago (prior to the transmission mount stud protector), and my support leg also touched the transfer case dampener. I ended up taking it to a local welding shop and having them cut off and remount the side piece on the other side to correct the problem. I figured the IPOR guys would have taken care of it (they were a great help in getting my Metaltech sliders) but shipping/customs baloney would have been too much work/extra cost for one little piece I could deal with locally.

As for the skidplate itself, it has taken a number of decent hits and bumps (do you ever get used to the feeling of smacking your truck into a rock?) with no damage. I have done a couple transmission drain/fills as well as changing out the transfer case oil and the skid has never hindered me. It actually gives you a nice place to rest the drain/fill plugs :D I see no reason to drop the transmission pan (it is a Toyota trans after all, with a screen and not a filter) so that is not a concern to me. If you wanted to drop the pan, just do it before you install the skid.
 
Here's an example of an 80 that probably sees more action than most running the IPOR skid. Rich likes to run the red trails with the buggys, and sometimes as you all know the 80 just doesn't fit. In this case the wet PA mud and rocks got the better of him and put this pointy rock between the transfer case and gas tank. Of course, forward progress at this point would have led to disasterous consequences for the fuel tank. The transfer case was well protected by the IPOR skid plate, but getting out was another thing entirely.

The obvious solution is to go straight up, so we stacked rocks but the big truck just spit them out any time the wheels turned. The only remaining option was to winch the 80 backwards. This meant putting the 8 bolts in question in full shear with the full weight of the 80 (approx 6500 lbs) on them and draging the truck up onto the IPOR skid. It's important to look closely at the pictures below - this meant pulling against the crossmember portion, not the ramped portion of the tcase skid.

The recovery was successful and we were back on the move.
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