New ARB Skid Plate

Colo_Ranger

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So me wanting to get an ARB front bumper and skid plates has me rethinking my wants. I may have to look to another company when the time comes to outfitting my Ranger.

I can't speak to the bumper, but I had my ARB skids in a week from Stage 3. I could have had them 4 days earlier, but I chose to pick them up from the delivery hub on my day off instead of having a semi truck come through my neighborhood.
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Yeah my plates came in right when they said they would. From Stage3.
 

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Do these plates protect the fragile alternator from mud better than the factory FX4 plate?

The alternator is my only reservation about off roading this truck. If you off road in GA, you are going to encounter mud, and with the number of dead Ranger alternators I've seen online it gives me pause to even think about crossing that hole.

If I could be reasonably sure that my Ranger alternator would survive water/mud holes, I'd sell my Jeep (its alternator is high and right in the middle of the V8)
 
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Do these plates protect the fragile alternator from mud better than the factory FX4 plate?

The alternator is my only reservation about off roading this truck. If you off road in GA, you are going to encounter mud, and with the number of dead Ranger alternators I've seen online it gives me pause to even think about crossing that hole.

If I could be reasonably sure that my Ranger alternator would survive water/mud holes, I'd sell my Jeep (it's alternator is high and right in the middle of the V8)
Mine is one that died. On the High Watermark Trail last December. I will say the plates SHOULD do a solid job of seriously reducing what is launched up into the alternator, but they obviously will not prevent you from dunking your alternator entirely. I believe these plates make surviving water far more likely, but I am bringing a spare alternator to HWM this year.
 

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Can you post a picture of how the interface to the ARB bumper looks?

Let me specifically which photo location you would like. I am thinking you are asking where the fender and bumper join at the side, below the headlight.

b
 


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Let me specifically which photo location you would like. I am thinking you are asking where the fender and bumper join at the side, below the headlight.

b
I apologize. I mean where the ARB front skid plate mates to the ARB bumper.
 

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@Jms81661, gimme a holler if you need some help. after round 2. The rear most panel on the passenger side uses the thin metal cage nut the instructions call out on step 2 BUT never tell you how to use them. The issue is the rear most panel only has 1 frame threaded mounting spot on the driver side. The passenger side has a circular gap with no threads.
Hi dude - I finished installing by plates but the only part I’m unsure about is this last panel on the passenger side where you’re supposed to use the cage nut. I got the cage nut into the frame and screw takes but it’s not as tight as if you’d screw into the frame. And that cage nut seems pretty flimsy to me. Was this your experience or did your screw in pretty tight to the frame there?
 

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Hi dude - I finished installing by plates but the only part I’m unsure about is this last panel on the passenger side where you’re supposed to use the cage nut. I got the cage nut into the frame and screw takes but it’s not as tight as if you’d screw into the frame. And that cage nut seems pretty flimsy to me. Was this your experience or did your screw in pretty tight to the frame there?
Hey man, I'll take a look when I get back home. But I just torqued it down to the spec called out in the ARB manual and left it at that. Maybe the cage nut got stripped a bit?
 

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Mine is one that died. On the High Watermark Trail last December. I will say the plates SHOULD do a solid job of seriously reducing what is launched up into the alternator, but they obviously will not prevent you from dunking your alternator entirely. I believe these plates make surviving water far more likely, but I am bringing a spare alternator to HWM this year.
“High Water Mark” - the name of that trail says it all - sounds like if anyone can get through without stalling out, they get a gold star.
Hey, edge of the envelope, meet Dustin…now take a deep breath and plug your nose!

?
 

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If anyone needs a video explaining the install I made one to hopefully help anyone in the future to avoid any confusion.
Great work getting a video out! The
If anyone needs a video explaining the install I made one to hopefully help anyone in the future to avoid any confusion.
Great work!

This has certainly been an area of consistent knowledge gap among the US Ranger community. That video will certainly help many people! Now you just need to convince ARB to sponsor your truck for their other products with install videos ;)
 
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It is the ARB plate mated to the ARB bumper.
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