The Factory Skid Plate Is A Joke

[bfastr]

I am showing my age here, but I was a kid in the 70's and had a Pinto, when they recalled them for the exploding gas tank issue the plate or shield they installed was made of plastic. and I think the gas tank was steel.
really has no relevance to the skid plate topic I suppose, but I just remember that dumb fact. dont ask me what I did two days ago however...

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[IdahoRanger]

Hanes or BVD's, which is the better skid plate?

 

[the5Gmartian]

I can literally go smack my skid plate with a hammer right now over and over and over again and it would be perfectly fine. Not sure what you’re considering thin. What are you comparing it to? Is it thin compared to a TRD Pro or thin compared to a fully built Jeep Rubicon with aftermarkets skids? The Tremor is just an FX4 with Fox shocks and different leafs essentially. Its really not hard to look up. What is the point of this thread? We get it, the Tremor is garbage and “not well built enough” to handle going over the extreme difficulties of a rock about the size of a small dog bowl. Used car prices are crazy right now, maybe go trade it in for a Rav4 Adventure. I hear their terrain mode knob has “indents.”

 

[TremorOwner]

I can literally go smack my skid plate with a hammer right now over and over and over again and it would be perfectly fine. Not sure what you’re considering thin. What are you comparing it to? Is it thin compared to a TRD Pro or thin compared to a fully built Jeep Rubicon with aftermarkets skids? The Tremor is just an FX4 with Fox shocks and different leafs essentially. Its really not hard to look up. What is the point of this thread? We get it, the Tremor is garbage and “not well built enough” to handle going over the extreme difficulties of a rock about the size of a small dog bowl. Used car prices are crazy right now, maybe go trade it in for a Rav4 Adventure. I hear their terrain mode knob has “indents.”

Yet another useless comment. Go do that... hit your skid plate with a hammer. Report back.

 

[Synyster06Gates]

Can't order the black Tremor one... which would blows chunks (if I wanted to replace it).


Hopefully whilst not smoking a cig... and exploding the truck.

The black skid plate is not unique to Tremors. I had a new take off from an FX4 on my last truck.

 

[JesseS]

While installing my tow base plate I did notice that the front bash plate was pretty thin, as I could hold it up with one hand while removing the last bolt. The lack of any real weight got me looking closer at it, and I will be upgrading it from Rocky Ridge soon. My truck will see a lot of off road time so need a bit more protection, that includes sliders. Not to worried about the fuel tank, anything that gets that far will have to pass the bash plate test.

 

[soupcook]

Especially with 19mpg. That's Wrangler Rubicon MPG.

I get 22mpg.

 

[Calmdown]

I went offroading today on a, at worst, mild-medium level forest road here in Georgia. The truck did amazing on the more technical parts that were only technical because of a Memorial Day weekend of Jeeps destroying any area of the trail that was wet from the water flow coming down from the "mountain" above. Electric line workers that were around the area on 4-wheelers were impressed how I got through some places. The downhill assist (whatever it's called) is great to have because the brake actuation on these trucks is so bloody horrible I was getting really aggrevated having to hold it so far down all the time. Works really well and, oddly, the brake pedal feel while using it was firm... like it should be. Weird... but anyway, onto the topic of this post:

I hit the skid plate with a rock pretty lightly. I mean... I knew the rock was there, I did misjudge it some because the ground dropped right after it more than I expected, but I just tapped it at like .000005 MPH. A brief millisecond of scrape sound. That's it and the skid plate completely bent down the middle.

What a piece of junk!

Today is the first time I actually looked closely at it. It's about as thin as a piece of sheet metal you can get from Home Depot. It needs to be at least twice as thick to be actually durable and ideally ribbed (not for her pleasure, but for strength). The skid plates that came with my old Tahoe were far thicker than this crap.

Mine is black - I don't know if that's because I have a Tremor or what. I go to see how much a new one is... lord save me, Ford. Are you serious? Wow... and only in silver.

Look, I'm glad it was there. If it wasn't, things could have been worse I suppose, but a skid plate needs to be able to hold up to a bloody half a human head size stone that's not even embedded into the ground. What you get with an expensive Tremor package is a "for show skid plate" not a real skid plate. Sad.

The skid plate in my fx4 took the entire weight of the front half of my truck while it was being lifted by a rising barrier cable.

Results...

The tiny red mark you see is transfer from the cable coating.

That's tough enough for me. If I need more than that, I'll get something aftermarket.

 

[TremorOwner]

Mine bent to the right of those three rubs -- in that right divit/vent section, toward the back. It deformed the entire skid plate in that area, bending upward toward the engine.

Glad yours held up!

 

[peterson1604]

I went offroading today on a, at worst, mild-medium level forest road here in Georgia. The truck did amazing on the more technical parts that were only technical because of a Memorial Day weekend of Jeeps destroying any area of the trail that was wet from the water flow coming down from the "mountain" above. Electric line workers that were around the area on 4-wheelers were impressed how I got through some places. The downhill assist (whatever it's called) is great to have because the brake actuation on these trucks is so bloody horrible I was getting really aggrevated having to hold it so far down all the time. Works really well and, oddly, the brake pedal feel while using it was firm... like it should be. Weird... but anyway, onto the topic of this post:

I hit the skid plate with a rock pretty lightly. I mean... I knew the rock was there, I did misjudge it some because the ground dropped right after it more than I expected, but I just tapped it at like .000005 MPH. A brief millisecond of scrape sound. That's it and the skid plate completely bent down the middle.

What a piece of junk!

Today is the first time I actually looked closely at it. It's about as thin as a piece of sheet metal you can get from Home Depot. It needs to be at least twice as thick to be actually durable and ideally ribbed (not for her pleasure, but for strength). The skid plates that came with my old Tahoe were far thicker than this crap.

Mine is black - I don't know if that's because I have a Tremor or what. I go to see how much a new one is... lord save me, Ford. Are you serious? Wow... and only in silver.

Look, I'm glad it was there. If it wasn't, things could have been worse I suppose, but a skid plate needs to be able to hold up to a bloody half a human head size stone that's not even embedded into the ground. What you get with an expensive Tremor package is a "for show skid plate" not a real skid plate. Sad.

I'm not sure what you expect but the one on my FX4 is pretty heavy gauge. To me it sounds more like driver error and you're trying to blame it on the truck. I've seen many videos on YouTube where people have taken these over some super gnarly rocky terrain with zero issues. You want a little cheese to go with your whine?

 

[AzScorpion]

Hanes or BVD's, which is the better skid plate?

I'll steal your line....Depends. ?

 

[FoD]

I'll steal your line....Depends. ?

From personal experience I take it...

 

[VoodooRanger]

Having removed the skid plate a few times and feeling it’s weight, I never would’ve guessed for it being that simple to damage. Then again dropping the weight of the truck on a rock versus scrapping it is two different scenarios.

 

[Big Blue]

I'll steal your line....Depends. ?

I use to work on the machines that make them!

 

[HenryMac]

Hanes or BVD's, which is the better skid plate?

Let's ask ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick ...

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