Body Armor?

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pdxguy

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Hey, I've been looking around for body armor/skid plates for my '96. There's lots of brands out there and the thickness seems to range from 1/4" to 3/16".

I'd like to put a full set on in time, a-arms/chasis/swing arm but I prefer to not spend a fortune. Maybe some good middle class stuff? I've seen some people mention Armadillo but haven't really seen any reviews on them. Seem to be on the cheaper side of things though. What about others, DG, Cobra, and so on?

Any suggestions would be great, thanks! I plan on doing lots of trails, so weight isn't of the utmost importance, but then again I don't "need" a tank either!
 
Hey, I've been looking around for body armor/skid plates for my '96. There's lots of brands out there and the thickness seems to range from 1/4" to 3/16".

I'd like to put a full set on in time, a-arms/chasis/swing arm but I prefer to not spend a fortune. Maybe some good middle class stuff? I've seen some people mention Armadillo but haven't really seen any reviews on them. Seem to be on the cheaper side of things though. What about others, DG, Cobra, and so on?

Any suggestions would be great, thanks! I plan on doing lots of trails, so weight isn't of the utmost importance, but then again I don't "need" a tank either!

I have a dillo full body skid it is great.
 
Thanks for the input! Not planning on changing out A-arms yet, but not looking to *have* to replace them either. From what I can tell the swing arm for the dillo is pretty heavy duty. That's a good thing.

Gotta save up some more money now.... damn - what we do for our toys!
 
Posted by pdxguy on Yesterday at 10:14pm
Hey, I've been looking around for body armor/skid plates for my '96. There's lots of brands out there and the thickness seems to range from 1/4" to 3/16".

I'd like to put a full set on in time, a-arms/chasis/swing arm but I prefer to not spend a fortune. Maybe some good middle class stuff? I've seen some people mention Armadillo but haven't really seen any reviews on them. Seem to be on the cheaper side of things though. What about others, DG, Cobra, and so on?

Any suggestions would be great, thanks! I plan on doing lots of trails, so weight isn't of the utmost importance, but then again I don't "need" a tank either!

I work in a shop where we do alot of steel and aluminum fabrication, I'm gonna make my own skid plate set, just trace out what i need on 3/16 aluminum sheet and cut it out with a plasma cutter :p Might be something you could look into if you know someone who works in a machine/fab shop
 
Ebay is a good suggestion and I do watch on there as well. Seen a few good deals, but nothing that I couldn't wait on.

As for making your own, there are a few good things to that. A neighbor of mine has a machine shop in his garage, but I don't know how willing he'd be to help with something like this, let alone how great of a job I could do! Might be better of just buying some pre-fabbed ones.

Although this might be a great idea of making some fins to redirect the air flow to the motor for better cooling! I've seen a few people do this, does it really make *that* much of a difference?
 
Although this might be a great idea of making some fins to redirect the air flow to the motor for better cooling! I've seen a few people do this, does it really make *that* much of a difference?

An oil cooler would make the bigger difference, but will cost more.
 
Yeah I was looking at the oil cooler info on some of that pages here. That's some pretty crazy stuff, don't think I'm ready to be drilling holes in my motor!
 
My recommendation is to stay away from pretty much all DG stuff. I have quite a bit of it, and for the most part I am disappointed with it. 2 of the 4 welds on the swingarm skid already broke off completely, and the other 2 welds are cracked. It fit the quad nicely though, unlike my DG bumper and nerf bars, which I had to bend to get the holes lined up. I've seen AC skids a lot and they look a lot thicker and better made than my DG skids.
 
My recommendation is to stay away from pretty much all DG stuff. I have quite a bit of it, and for the most part I am disappointed with it. 2 of the 4 welds on the swingarm skid already broke off completely, and the other 2 welds are cracked. It fit the quad nicely though, unlike my DG bumper and nerf bars, which I had to bend to get the holes lined up. I've seen AC skids a lot and they look a lot thicker and better made than my DG skids.


Great info! Thanks! That's really crappy regarding the welds... definitely will keep that in mind.
 
My recommendation is to stay away from pretty much all DG stuff. I have quite a bit of it, and for the most part I am disappointed with it. 2 of the 4 welds on the swingarm skid already broke off completely, and the other 2 welds are cracked. It fit the quad nicely though, unlike my DG bumper and nerf bars, which I had to bend to get the holes lined up. I've seen AC skids a lot and they look a lot thicker and better made than my DG skids.

I've got DG fat nerfs and had no problem at all with installing them. They have taken quite a beating and are still in great shape so I can't complain about them except for the bolts they sent with them. I broke one while installing them! So, I carried them to the hardware store and bought case hardened ones. Then threw away the weak ones. I don't know if any nerfs come with hardened bolts but for $2 or $3, I'd recommend getting them when you first install the nerfs.
 
As for swingarm skids go with the .25" ricochet bullet series, absolute toughest s.o.b. out there. As for AC my buddy destroyed his in no time, go with ricochet for skids. You'll hit boulders doing top speed without **** happening to it but a scratch. Look in the product reviews for pics. The a arm skids are worth the money when you get aftermarket arms, and you'll definately want the ones that curve up around the bars. The armadillo skids are made like that for one.
 
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