Jeep Wrangler JK EVO Manufacturing EVAP Skidplate [Review]

• August 14, 2015
• / Story By
  Ali Mansour

The old saying of “seeing isn’t looking” is one that rings very true in the off-road hobby. Sometimes, the vantage point behind the wheel obscures potential hazards, which can leave your rig dead in the water. While the right line can help you avoid trouble on the trail, there are still plenty of venerable areas under your rig. One spot that is particularly venerable on the '07-current Jeep Wrangler JK is the EVAP canister. EVAP is simply short for evaporative emissions. The seemingly insignificant looking plastic canister is filled with charcoal and designed to catch and filter excess particle fumes. On the Jeep Wrangler JK, it's located under the rig between the rear driveshaft and framerail. At first glance, it seems fairly out of the way, but experience has taught us that it is a commonly damaged component. This is especially true for those who enjoy wheeling in rocky terrain. Ultimately, you have two options when it comes to addressing the EVAP canister. One, you could relocate the canister, which would require extending the hoses and wires. Depending on what state you live in, moving the emissions equipment could be illegal or may cause you to fail your annual state vehicle inspection. Another option is to install an EVAP skidplate, and we chose an EVO Manufacturing EVAP skidplate for its overall simplicity to install and use. EVO’s bolt-on skidplate is comprised of beefy 3/16-inch steel, which receives a four-sided box welded for strength. The kit includes the main skidplate, bracket and grade 8 hardware. It also comes with a black powdercoated finish, so it’s ready to install out of the box. The EVAP canister on our '07 Wrangler Unlimited had nothing to protect it from the factory. Depending on the age of the Jeep, you may find that the hoses connected to the canister are brittle. Thankfully, EVO designed the bracket so you can keep the hoses attached. To secure the rear skidplate bracket, EVO sandwiches the mount between the stock EVAP mount and factory crossmember. The front portion of the skid uses the stock hardware to lock it in place. The final portion of the install will be to tighten the provided hardware to the rear portion of the bracket. So, how does it work? An EVAP skidplate isn’t something that you’ll likely be showing off to your friends, but you’ll be glad to have it when you need it (for example: we blew apart our rear driveshaft on the East Coast JK Experience trip earlier in the year. When the 1310 double-cardan joint let go, it sent the driveshaft smacking into everything in its path. This included the EVO skidplate. The impact did take a little powdercoat off, but the Evo Manufacturing EVAP skidplate did its job and kept the canister intact.