I removed my skid plate so as to not be a problem a big RV trip where I might have to have someone change the oil for me. Is there any downsides, other then hitting something hard with my oil pan? I don't paln on any off road excursions during my trip. Any upsides? Like better cooling or gas mileage?

In my opinion, rather than removing the skid plate and losing the protection that it provides, I would have installed a Fumoto Oil Drain Valve (http://lubricationspecialist.com/front/shop.aspx?catid=3,8,10&parentid=0&productid=13) ($20.95 + shipping) and never have to worry about it again.

Good question. I had a skid plate on my 04 gasser and always remembered what a pain in the ass it was to hit all the Zerks. I just greased my 06 which doen't have a plate on it and was surprised at how easy it was to hit all 11 with that plate out of the way.

As far as the Fumoto, I was all set to put one on until I noticed that without the plate, it may get hung up on something. I'm still up in the air over that one.

With the OEM skid plate in place you can get to all the zerks (though the plastic splash guard should come off). As far as cooling goes, I saw no difference. I beat the hell out of my OEM and the extension I built to cover the Allison pan (long story as to why I built that, but it was needed) on a pig hunt in AZ this spring. I took them off when I made better a cross member. Then I moved from AZ to WY 3 round trips hauling heavy crap (12k-17K) of 1100 miles each way. Temp guage never any different than when the plates were on.

My advice....leave the plate on and get the Fumoto. BTW, if you get the Fumoto, take the aluminum skid plate off and cut a bigger notch in the plate so the damn thing don't catch drips and drops and make a mess. Easily done with a jig saw.

Thanks for the replies. Since its been HOT here in the west I was hoping that someone found a cooling improvement w/o the plate but looks like nothing significant. I do have the Fumoto valve in my tool box... I keep wondering if the OEM plugs' magnet is doing something good that the Fumoto can't since it doesn't have a magnet.