Went to a technical trail. Did I do damage to my underside?

[jaeggernaut]

Hi all. Was on a more difficult trail led by a local off-road club. Hit hard a few times then got high centered on a pretty big rock.

I bent the arms attached to the frame rail. They don’t look structural or important and I dented a skidplate.

wondering if anyone knew what was above that skidplate and if it actually matters that I bent those arms.

I didn’t really think much of it but started bearding mechanical scratching noises coming from the passenger side exterior as I was driving today.

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[BigBend530]

Skid plate is protecting the gas tank. Those two arms you say are bent are the transmission crossmember braces.

Based on the looks of the underside, is it possible you have dirt/rocks in your brakes (rotors/calipers) causing the scratching sound?

 

[Combustion_King]

well the skid plate did it's job, that's for sure.

 

[telenerd]

Looks okay to me. Maybe run a pressure washer underneath and then check for other damage and possible leaks.

 

[SS Bronco]

Your not wheeling a G6 hard enough, if your not scraping the belly. Nice job!

 

[Dantastic]

Looks okay to me. Maybe run a pressure washer underneath and then check for other damage and possible leaks.

nice thing about these tall monsters is it’s real easy to get under them to spray ‘em down. Cleaned up some mud off mine yesterday.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Doesn't appear to be serious damage. Just normal wear and tear from rock crawling.

 

[23_Badlands]

Are the two cross-members labeled "bent" by the OP included with the auto, 4dr and/or 2.7 Broncos? Our 2dr manual Badlands doesn't have those two cross-members.

 

[BAUS67]

Go back and watch Brad Lovell test the pre-production Broncs. Screeching is just part of the Bronc.

As far as it still screeching could have bent a brake backing plate or as mentioned earlier a stone stuck in the brakes.

Those “arms” you are talking about are only on a 2.7 model. Some rocket scientist at Ford thought it was a good idea to hang those from the bottom of the frame instead of the inside. Guess they thought the 2.7 made some ridiculous amount of torque and was going to bend a 4” thick crossmember. Not like the Bronc comes with a 7.3 Godzilla motor or something.

 

[BroncoTrail]

That's why I bought these!

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/broncotrails-build.63423/#post-1913565

 

[87-Z28]

I like to give the ford engineers the benefit of doubt. They do have some sharp guys, but yeah. Wow. Must have been a management decision.

 

[Keerplunk]

Are the two cross-members labeled "bent" by the OP included with the auto, 4dr and/or 2.7 Broncos? Our 2dr manual Badlands doesn't have those two cross-members.

My 4 door Auto 2.3 does not have them either

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

Are the two cross-members labeled "bent" by the OP included with the auto, 4dr and/or 2.7 Broncos? Our 2dr manual Badlands doesn't have those two cross-members.

Yes - you lose about 1-1/4” of belly clearance with a 2.7.

 

[Johnny Mo]

nice thing about these tall monsters is it’s real easy to get under them to spray ‘em down. Cleaned up some mud off mine yesterday.

Gotta get one of these beauties to help with that also...

 

[RHeinz]

Yeah, and the way they are fabricated (unsupported edges down) doesn’t help either. It’s almost as though the design somehow got flip-flopped.

Definitely appears to be an add-on, after prototype road trials(?).

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