What is your thoughts on factory 'Full Vehicle Steel Bash Plates'. Good enough for serious off road ?

[biswamberpal]

Happy Easter all ! What are your thoughts on factory 'Full Vehicle Steel Bash Plates'. Good enough for serious off road, occasional rock climbing, regular dirt, gravel and mud ? I know this is kind of weird query, but still asking, will it any way impact road noise, reducing road noise too or may increase it.

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[Butzy]

How serious is serious off road? I would say the factory setup on the badlands and black diamond is sufficient for 99% of the members on here. As far as road noise, I would expect the engineers to have that figured out but if not, it would be due to poorly placed holes which can be addressed with dare I say duct tape.......

 

[Apples]

I'll be replacing them. However, I'm not in the 99% referenced above and plan to beat on this truck.

 

[toymaster]

I had a chance to inspect the skid plates at KOH. They were more than I thought they would be, but still many will need more protection. They are close to 12 gauge steel sheets.

You really can't blame Ford for going light on them. The added fuel costs from excess weight and manufacturing costs would be a waste for the VAST majority that are going to buy these things.

After giving it some thought for the last few months, my current plan is to install a layer of UHMW onto the factory plates.

 

[PWillette]

The bash plates should be sufficient for light wheeling but not sure they will stand up for serious rock crawling. On the recent 4WP build video the factory front bash plate was an area of concern...apparently the factory plate does not protect the lower control arm tabs and they were taking a beating. The 4WP upgraded plate addresses this situation.

 

[biswamberpal]

thanks all, your feedbacks were helpful

 

[Raskew]

"After giving it some thought for the last few months, my current plan is to install a layer of UHMW onto the factory plates."
[/QUOTE]

Curious why you would add this to your plates? Sound deadening?

 

[jay-rod427]

"After giving it some thought for the last few months, my current plan is to install a layer of UHMW onto the factory plates."

Curious why you would add this to your plates? Sound deadening?
[/QUOTE]

An extra layer of protection, and the UHMW type skids slide on rocks easier when dragging across. All of the UTV's use plastic skid plates. They really are tough.

 

[Low Hammer]

I'd assume they are adequate enough to protect the vehicle, but not adequate enough to absorb the damage without getting banged up themselves. Really you should just look at the after photos from that Bronco Rubicon testing and decide for yourself if that was enough protection.


My guess is that the serious rock-crawlers will use it, abuse it, and then promptly replace it with something thicker.

 

[Mike5681]

I'm bumping this thread since I haven't seen much in the aftermarket for skid plates besides ARB and even those haven't gotten much press here. Any other options out there? I'm in the 99% club that won't be going crazy. With rock crawling but the exposed gas tank on 4dr Base is concerning for any off-roading at all

 

[Happy]

Does the Black Diamond need a transmission bash plate?
Seems to be a big hole to the rear of the 2nd bash plate.

Also, I like the idea of UHMW. How is this formed to the shape of bash plates?

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