All pro skids

I don't know much about steel, but I was talking to All Pro this morning and they mentioned that they're using thicker steel on their skids now - 7 gauge as opposed to 10 gauge (1/8"). Bud's skids are 3/16", so how does this compare to 7 gauge?

The reason I'm asking is that All Pro is offering me a discount on skids (and anyone for that matter) to anyone that orders a bumper. Shipped to me, they are about $50 cheaper than Bud's without shipping (no clue what his shipping would be on his).

So, I'm wondering how much better they are now that they're thicker...

Oh, they also told me that they have higher ground clearance than Bud's. No idea if that's true, but it's what he told me....

Thoughts?

 

i have both front and full t case skid. the front has served me well, although i have already bent it slightly. it is plenty think. the tacase skid is also well made and plenty thick in my opinion. the major advantage to buds is that they cover so much more area than allpro's. his front skid is wider along with the fact that his carry that width all the way past the tcase, whereas allpros dosnt. i never bothered ordering allpro transmission skid as it didnt look like much to me.

 

Are yours the new, thicker skids?

 

i dunno. had em for awhile now.

 

I have the allpro IFS skid its heavy at shit not sure how thick the steel is tho, I like them I still need to order the other two.

 

How is it changing oil? Do you have to drop the skid to do it?

 

No you just need a long socket or small extension theres a hole in the skid under the bolt.

 

its possible with out taking it off. however be prepared for a mess. last time i couldnt get the socket out of the way quick enough so oil spill on the skid plate. ohh well.

 

I kinda figured that would be the case...

 

thats how it is with any of them. dont want to big of a hole for the oil or you'll start wedging rocks in it, would kinda defeat the purpose. idea i had for next time i have the skid plate off, i'm gonna weld a bead about 1" back from the opening all the way around to act as a "dam" to stop spilled oil from running all over the top of the plate.

 

I just wonder how much the dealership will bitch about it, seeing as how my oil changes there are free...

 

Yea my dealer bitched about mud so I stoped goin to them.

 

ah just letem bitch! i got the free oil change thing as well but dont even use it.. rather do it myself and know its right.

 

thanks! hopefully i can get it. then maybe hook someone around here up with a nice mid travel setup!!!

 

who knows! would be really nice but they may be looking for something different than my setup. may want it on a desert truck to prove it works out there, just hard to say what their looking for.

 

yea i've beat on the front skid pretty hard but never did come down on the tcase skid, just scraped it a little. ofcourse now its not on the truck anymore.