DIY Jeep Armor Installation Tips: Best Practices for a Solid Install
Quick Answer
Installing armor at home saves hundreds in shop labor and gives you intimate knowledge of your Jeep's underside. This guide covers the tools, techniques, and common mistakes that separate a solid install from one that rattles loose on the first trail.
Tools and Equipment You Need
A proper armor installation requires more than a basic socket set. Having the right tools prevents stripped bolts, misaligned plates, and frustrating reinstallation attempts.
- •Floor jack and jack stands (minimum 3-ton rated): You will be working under the vehicle for extended periods. Never rely on the factory scissor jack. A 2-post lift is ideal if you have access to one.
- •Socket set with deep sockets (metric and SAE): Most Jeep frame bolts are metric, but some aftermarket armor uses SAE hardware. Deep sockets are essential for reaching bolts through thick mounting plates.
- •Torque wrench (ft-lbs range: 15-150): Under-torqued bolts vibrate loose. Over-torqued bolts strip threads. Always torque to manufacturer specifications.
- •Breaker bar (18" minimum): Factory bolts that have been installed since the vehicle was built are often seized or extremely tight. A breaker bar provides the leverage to break them free without rounding bolt heads.
- •Penetrating oil (PB Blaster or equivalent): Apply to all existing bolts 24 hours before starting the installation. This dramatically reduces the risk of seized or broken bolts.
- •Thread locker (blue Loctite 242): Apply to all armor mounting bolts. Blue thread locker allows bolts to be removed with hand tools but prevents vibration-induced loosening.
- •Anti-seize compound: Apply to bolt threads and mounting surfaces that will need to be removed for future service. This prevents galvanic corrosion and thread seizure between dissimilar metals.
- •Rivet nut tool (if required): Some armor installations require adding rivet nuts to the frame for additional mounting points. A rivet nut tool installs threaded inserts into drilled holes.
- •Painter's tape and a marker: For marking drill locations, transfer case drain positions, and alignment reference points.
Pre-Installation Preparation
The difference between a professional-quality installation and a frustrating weekend is preparation. These steps should be completed before you touch a wrench.
Read the entire installation manual before starting. Identify every mounting point, note required hardware, and understand the installation sequence. If the manufacturer provides a video, watch it completely. Note any steps that require a helper or specific vehicle positioning.
Clean the underside of the vehicle. Trail mud, road grime, and undercoating make it difficult to see factory bolt locations and reference marks. A pressure washer or degreaser and brush session takes 30 minutes and saves hours of searching for hidden bolts.
Inventory all hardware. Lay out every bolt, nut, washer, and bracket from the armor kit and match them against the hardware list in the manual. Discovering a missing bolt mid-installation means stopping work and waiting for a replacement. Contact the manufacturer before starting if anything is missing.
Apply penetrating oil to every factory bolt you will need to remove. Let it soak for a minimum of 4 hours, ideally 24 hours. Reapply once during the soak period. This single step prevents more installation failures than any other preparation.
Installation Best Practices
These practices apply to virtually every bolt-on armor component regardless of manufacturer or placement zone.
Dry fit everything before final installation. Loosely attach all plates with two or three bolts each to verify alignment, clearance, and overlap before committing to final torque. Identify any interference with exhaust components, brake lines, or wiring harnesses during dry fit.
Start with hand-tightened bolts and work in a star pattern to final torque. This distributes clamping force evenly across the mounting surface and prevents warping the plate or frame bracket. Going from fully loose to fully tight on one bolt at a time can pull the plate out of alignment.
Use the manufacturer's torque specifications. If the manual does not provide torque specs (which unfortunately some do not), use the standard torque values for the bolt grade and size. For Grade 8 bolts (the most common in armor installations): 3/8"-16 = 33 ft-lbs, 7/16"-14 = 50 ft-lbs, 1/2"-13 = 75 ft-lbs.
Ensure adequate clearance from moving and hot components. Skid plates near the exhaust should maintain a minimum 1" clearance to prevent heat damage. Plates near the steering linkage or driveshafts should have at least 1/2" clearance at full suspension articulation. Check clearance at both full droop and full compression by cycling the suspension with a jack.
Route all wiring, brake lines, and fuel lines away from plate edges. Sharp plate edges can chafe through wiring insulation and rubber brake lines over time as the body and frame flex on the trail. Add split loom or rubber edging to any plate edge within 1" of a line or wire.
Common Installation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
These are the mistakes that experienced builders see most frequently and that cause the most problems on the trail.
- •Skipping thread locker: Trail vibration will loosen every bolt that does not have thread locker within 500 miles. Blue Loctite on every bolt, every time. Check torque after your first trail run and after every 1,000 miles for the first year.
- •Not checking clearance at full articulation: A skid plate that clears the driveshaft at ride height may contact it at full droop. Cycle the suspension through its full range with a jack and check every clearance point. Mark any contact areas and relieve them with a grinder before hitting the trail.
- •Using the wrong hardware grade: Armor mounting hardware should be Grade 8 (SAE) or Class 10.9 (metric) minimum. Grade 5 bolts stretch and lose clamping force under trail impacts. Hardware store bolts are typically Grade 2 and have no place in armor installations.
- •Over-torquing into thin frame material: Not all frame bolt locations are created equal. Some mounting points use rivet nuts or clip nuts in the frame rail that strip at lower torque values than a through-bolt. If a bolt spins freely before reaching torque spec, the frame-side hardware has failed and needs to be replaced with a larger rivet nut or through-bolt with nut.
- •Ignoring drain access: A skid plate that blocks the oil drain plug turns a 15-minute oil change into a 45-minute ordeal. Verify drain access during dry fit and install an access panel or trap door if needed.
- •Forgetting to reconnect sensors: Some skid plate installations require temporarily disconnecting O2 sensors, knock sensors, or wiring harness clips. Forgetting to reconnect these creates check engine lights and performance issues that may not appear until miles after the installation.
Post-Installation Verification
After completing the installation, a systematic check ensures everything is secure and properly clearanced before you put the armor to work.
Torque check all bolts a second time. The act of tightening adjacent bolts can shift plates slightly, changing the effective torque on previously tightened bolts. A second pass through all hardware at final torque spec catches these shifts.
Drive the vehicle at low speed over speed bumps and listen for rattles, clunks, or scraping noises. Any noise indicates a loose plate, inadequate clearance, or contact with a moving component. Track down and resolve every noise before trail driving.
Turn the steering wheel lock to lock while the vehicle is stationary and have a helper observe the skid plates from underneath. Verify that nothing contacts steering linkage, tie rod ends, or sway bar links at full lock.
Check all ground clearance measurements and note them for reference. Measure from the ground to the lowest point of each skid plate. This gives you baseline numbers to compare against after trail trips -- a plate that has dropped lower may have a loosened mount or a bent bracket.
Take photos of the installed armor from underneath before the first trail run. These reference photos are invaluable when you need to assess damage, check alignment, or answer questions from a manufacturer about warranty claims.