Off Road Package Question

LibertyGuy · **Posted:** Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:18 pm

I was thinking of removing all the off road plates from under the vehicle. I'm trying to save some weight and possibly try to get some better MPG. I don't do any off roading so I don't care for them. Anyone know what the total weight of all the plates are?

KJ Willy · **Posted:** Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:24 pm

If you got the whole package of 4 plates then you may save 40-50 lbs, but where you could score is selling them and making some money off them.

sevenhelmet · **Posted:** Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:09 pm

I'm looking for reasonably priced skids if you're willing to ship (and assuming shipping won't cost the Earth.) I'd have to drill a couple of holes to make them fit on my '03, but I don't mind if the price is right.

gottorque · **Joined:** Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:03 am **Posts:** 100

if you do decide to take them off, leave your gas tank skid on. I've heard stories of unprotected gas tanks getting punctured on the highway and besides, gas is to expensive to just leave unprotected

audiboy86 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:32 am

Before I lost my skids I would go back to stock rolling tire size if not a size smaller. Because those big heavy generals are killing your mileage right now.

kjon · **Posted:** Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:20 pm

audiboy86 wrote:

Before I lost my skids I would go back to stock rolling tire size if not a size smaller. Because those big heavy generals are killing your mileage right now.

X2 especially if you have em mounted on steel rims. I'd think the 1/10 mpg you might save by removing skids wouldn't be worth it. Engines/tranny's/transfer cases are expensive.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:38 pm

Not saving that much, plus look at the protection from crap that is laying on the highways !
heck, 50 lb I carry way more tools than that along with a ton of other stuff/parts/pieces of ??? :roll:

LibertyGuy · **Posted:** Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:07 pm

kjon wrote:

audiboy86 wrote:

Before I lost my skids I would go back to stock rolling tire size if not a size smaller. Because those big heavy generals are killing your mileage right now.

X2 especially if you have em mounted on steel rims. I'd think the 1/10 mpg you might save by removing skids wouldn't be worth it. Engines/tranny's/transfer cases are expensive.

Yes, I think going back to a stock size and all season tire would be better. I have the stock Renegade rims on now.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:12 am

If you do not off-road and you're feeling the need to remove the skids, then you might want to consider trading in your KJ for something more fuel efficent.

Black_Dog · **Posted:** Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:51 pm

Last year I removed my skid plates and my fuel economy improved 0.6 MPG. That's about $2.00 per tank of gas. Not much, but in this economy I guess every little bit helps.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:06 pm

Sorry for for a .6 more MPGs I'll keep mine on for the protection they give
Guess I'm not a Hypermiler :ROTFL:

Ted15 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:07 pm

Black_Dog wrote:

Last year I removed my skid plates and my fuel economy improved 0.6 MPG. That's about $2.00 per tank of gas. Not much, but in this economy I guess every little bit helps.

Why bother. I hear Hondas get forty mpg

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:20 pm

Everytime I hear about someone removing skids for a very small amount of gas mileage
I stop and think of all the junk I've seen on the roads and had to drive over / straddle etc .
Last thing was a 6 foot aluminum step ladder, sure it banged a little as I went over it, but it didn't hurt a thing.
Without skids :shock:

MoD · **Joined:** Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:53 am **Posts:** 1343

I will buy anyone's skids who dont want them. I would LOVE to weigh my hog down with some armour. Just pm me

i have paypal

Black_Dog · **Posted:** Wed Jan 16, 2013 7:08 pm

tommudd wrote:

Sorry for for a .6 more MPGs I'll keep mine on for the protection they give
Guess I'm not a Hypermiler :ROTFL:

I didn't remove them to get better MPG. I removed them when I was replacing the CV joint on my front drive shaft and some other maintenance and just didn't have a reason put them back on. I have an off-road trip planned next month so they'll be back on soon.

HoosierJeeper · **Joined:** Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:23 am **Posts:** 1218

tommudd wrote:

Everytime I hear about someone removing skids for a very small amount of gas mileage
I stop and think of all the junk I've seen on the roads and had to drive over / straddle etc .
Last thing was a 6 foot aluminum step ladder, sure it banged a little as I went over it, but it didn't hurt a thing.
Without skids :shock:

I could use a new ladder.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:21 pm

I have some data for you regarding mileage and the effects of adding armor and roof racks. I've been keeping track of my mpg's using Fuelly for 120 tanks of gas. You can click on my sig for all the info. But I analyzed it tonight and here's the summary of the data:

Completely Stock 2008 KK (purchased 8/2011)
Tracked 85 Tanks.
Average overall MPG = 18.8 (59% City Driving, 41% Highway)
Average all highway tank = 22.5 MPG
Average all city tank = 14.0 MPG
Best all highway tank = 25.5 MPG

Added Full Skids (8/2012) and Rock Sliders (10/2012)
Tracked 24 Tanks.
Average overall MPG = 18.0 (55% City Driving, 45% Highway)
MPG's only declined by 0.8 with the skids and sliders. Black_Dog was right on with his estimate of 0.6. City and highway %'s are comparable to before.
Average all highway tank = 23.6 MPG
Average all city tank = 14.4 MPG
Best all highway tank = 24.4 MPG

Added Roof Rack along with the Skids & Sliders (12/2012)
Tracked 8 Tanks with an empty basket on the roof.
Average overall MPG = 19.2 (21% City Driving, 79% Highway)
The MPGs obviously went up because it was mostly highway miles. And this is a small sample size.
Average all highway tank = 20.9 MPG (2.7 MPG lower than before)
Average all city tank = n/a. One tank with 85% city miles got me 15.4 MPG.
Best all highway tank = 21.1 (~3 MPG lower than before)
The roof rack and basket is definitely more of a MPG drain than the skids.

Just for fun, here are two tanks with 4 large Rubbermaid tubs on the roof, and the KK packed full of gear to the ceiling. This is from my last trip from NH to PA (1/2013).
Tank 1: 16.3 MPG, 100% highway.
Tank 2: 16.6 MPG, 80% highway, 20% city.

Take-home messages:
Skids & sliders don't kill your mpg's. They reduce it by less than 1 MPG on average.
Roof baskets do make a difference. They reduce it by 2-3 MPG. (down to around 89% of stock on the highway)
Putting a load on the roof will kill your MPG's! Expect to lose 4-5 more MPG beyond the empty basket. (down to 69% of stock on the highway)

I will be adding a JBA lift soon, so eventually I'll have data on how the lift impacts the MPG's. When my current A/T tires wear out I'll go to larger tires with the lift, so the effect of that will be interesting as well.

I don't remember who had this in their signature, but it's true: "Without data all you have is an opinion!" I also like this one: "I didn't build it for the gas mileage."
Cheers, everyone.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 12:11 am

Interesting data lfhoward, thanks for posting........ I don't have the data that you have, but I'm fairly confident I lost a solid 1-5 - 2.5 mpg (highway) when I lifted mine. I was getting 21 - 23 mpg before the lift and 18 - 20 mpg after the lift. I was running stock tires before and after. I did, however, add a ARB bumper/winch at the time we installed the lift.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 12:33 am

and I average 21 on the highway with my setup
so while it does make some difference, with other changes you can still get decent mileage
I'm thinking of adding more weight to mine cause I still have way too much power :ROTFL:

Plus I wouldn't change a thing even if I got 15

lfhoward · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:48 am

Thanks for the info on how lifts affect mileage, Diesel and Tom. The way you still get 21 MPG on the highway after all the mods is to regear to 4.10's, right Tom?

Off Road Package Question

Who is online