Holy Smokes! You tackled this problem brilliantly. I had just begun to start giving some thought to a skid slider for the front diff but I hadn't even actually started any work on it. You went completely next level man you carried it all the way through you develop the concept perfectly. Game changer. You are the man Josh.
Good job! For some reason I had it in my head to make a skid out of sheet metal but this looks easy to make and replace. Plus plastic often slides better. Making things work on the cheap is super rewarding and you get an idea of whether or not buying a part will be worth it.
Thats fricken sweet how well it crawls, I took off my treal aluminum links and went back to stock because I liked how bouncy it was with stock springs and links haha, recently got proline Hyrax tires, love the way it handles right now