the rro http://www.rocky-road.com/kicktruss.html
the rro http://www.rocky-road.com/kickdiffguard.html
 the crabs http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/kickarmor.htm  look at bottome of page
the trial tough http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/kickarmor.htm
the calimini http://www.puresuzuki.com/rear_skid.htm

To me the trial tough seems the best for the price then the calimini.  and all the olthers seem to fall short after that.

What are you guys running and how do you like them

Do you think have axle protection is that important?

I run the pipe caps. Most vendors sell. Petroworks, Trail Tough, Low Range etc. I also run of the catckers mask from Rocky Road. Which I like it dosen't catch mud and crap in it. Crabs from ZOR I've never seen installed. Put all the caps are a 8" pipe cap. You cut in 1/2 and some grinding and your set up. I think the last one I bought was like $24.00 alillte time and you got 2 of them. I don't know how they sleep at night (vendor's) charging that much??? Of course this is just my .02 worth !!!!!

I use half of a pipe-cap end, as 1madzuk mentoined, on my front diff on the SJ and made a custom one for the hybrid rear based on some metal that was laying around in the shop.  You can make one up pretty easily if you have access to some metal, a way to cut it, and a welder.

As for if you should run one or not, I would say it is important to have one.  I put a new axle in place for Johnson Valley a summer ago, when I came back the front of the diff cover was almost smashed back into my ARB.  While you can run for a while without one they aren't hard to put in place and are a nice extra piece of insurance.

so the basic have cap is the best way to go and I swear by diff gaurds(don't have one yet will soon) and thanks for your input on which one to get   it looks like the trail tough one is the way to go.

what do you guys think about axle gaurds that important or should i just buy some square tubing and cut it in half and weld it on to me axles.

The calimini one where it is bolt on looks like it might be cool and it protects it all:)

I love my Calmini rear skid/truss, however, just a warning.  It gets snagged on rocks.  
Yeah, I'm just a rookie driver and it was my first trip in the Tracker with the suspension, so I wasn't familiar with it...but still, it did get stuck a few times where I have to loosen the u-bolts and re-install the skid.  
It started to pivot on the u-bolts that hold it, and it swing downward and got even closer to the ground, and started pushing against my brake lines on the rear side of the axle.  To keep the front of it tucked away, I did this mod...I'd recommend it.  Basic u-bolt, or I bent some all-thread.  Yes, the two nuts hang down, but I think they are less of a hazard than without it.
Surprised they didn't do it from the factory...
And, it looks cool.  I get a lot of people driving that compliment me on the truck or ask me "what the hell is that thing???" and a lot of people ask me also "what kinda rear axle you got under that thing???"

Thanks for the input and just to make sure i under stand.  You love it but the U blots holding it on get caught on rocks alot?

Haven't had it out since I did that.  Plus, better planning and more experience would have helped a lot, I'm sure, because I scraped a lot of stuff that first trip.  Sure glad I had the skids and especially the nerf bars...otherwise I would have destroyed my driver's fender and door at one point

Iv'e run several diff guards. The weak part of the rear diff. is the back of it. Yes you can mash it all but rev. the veh. into a rock is popular. Check out the Z.O.R. "crab. Here a pic. of one of the many Iv'e installed for friends.

The back is the week part?  I though your were trying to protect the front bottom area since that is what get hit when driving.  And you really like the crabs? and they have done a good job protecting your car/cars.

Here a pic. of one of the many Iv'e installed for friends.

Where in the world did you get that truss?

 As for the (rear) axle. The suspension has a tendoncy  to push up on hits. Like I said before, yes the under side is all "mashable"! And yes the axle is asking for it as it's lowest. But in rev. picture what happens when the rear diff. takes full impact. Bad news for the ring gear or poking a hole in it & loss of gear oil. Hard to always see those's hidden bolders in rev. Armor it all as you see fit, but I will tell you cover the back of the diff. min. Alum. housing front diff. a place you may want to look into if you haven't already.

Marlin Crawler, All Pro or Truck Shop. All are Toyota off road shops located in California. Cost $25-$35 per side. Made to fit the front of a Toyota 80-85 axle. Just trim the ends to fit your rear axle. 

Dang, I run the Calmini unit, and I had some problems with it, early on, dropping the "leading edge", until I got it installed properly, and really tightened down.  It hasn't moved in years, and I flog it mercilessly, like a red-haired step-child.  I've punished the rocks until they shattered with this beast.

Marlin Crawler, All Pro or Truck Shop. All are Toyota off road shops located in California. Cost $25-$35 per side. Made to fit the front of a Toyota 80-85 axle. Just trim the ends to fit your rear axle. 

Sweet.  And Marlin Crawler is just a few miles from where I live.  They're based in my city...pretty sweet and I didn't know that until a few years ago.  Kinda nice having a worldwide-known company just in your own backyard...

Dang, I run the Calmini unit, and I had some problems with it, early on, dropping the "leading edge", until I got it installed properly, and really tightened down.  It hasn't moved in years, and I flog it mercilessly, like a red-haired step-child.  I've punished the rocks until they shattered with this beast.

Yeah, maybe I never tightened it enough.  I have bad luck with overtightening bolts, I have a tendency to shear stuff off all the time...so I didn't want to go too tight and have another problem for myself.  As I mentioned before, it was also my first trip with it.  More experience would help a lot with keeping the axle out of the rocks.  And I won't be doing it again until the rig is better equipped (t-case and lockers).

8" pipe caps work amazing
Easy to make, little tools needed. Cost me about $45 to make 2.

I plated off the top of mine to make it water tight.


Amilla