Land Rover Off Road Modifications: Underbody Protection

Underbody protection helps your vehicles important components After looking at roof racks and snorkels, this weeks off road modification is under body protection.

If you go off road regularly you wish to protect your vehicle with what amounts to armour for the underside!

The first priority should be the exposed steering arms, which can be protected with a bolt on steering guard, usually fabricated from steel or alloy.

Differentials and the fuel tank can be protected in the same way and some off road owners like to fit rock sliders which protect the sills.

Here is some of the protection fitted to my Land Rover 110:

As you can see, the sills are solid along their entire length. They fit direct to the chassis and are strong enough to take the full weight of the vehicle. I can rub them across the ground on humps with no damage and they are handy to high lift jack on.

The large Salisbury rear differential guard also acts as a rock slider. The diff will slide over any rocks or tree stumps that it hits, and protects the whole diff/pinion area from damage.

The fuel tank guard protects the fuel tank from being punctured by rocks. This is especially true when starting to ascend a steep hill, when the rear of the vehicle dips as the front wheels begin to move up the slope.

I can testify to the usefulness of underbody protection. It has saved my vehicle from damage on many occasions, from hitting a rock with the steering guard, to smacking a tree stump with the diff guards.

Under body protection isn't expensive (around £50 for a diff guard) and it will repay you many times over when off roading.