The Factory Skid Plate Is A Joke

[Dr. Zaius]

Which trail were you on?

I'm curious because I'm in N GA so wondering if I might be familiar with it.

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[HenryMac]

That's why I bought a TREMOR, not an FX4.

You should have done your research before buying. Ford clearly states what added features the Tremor has.

 

[TremorOwner]

Ug... Ford states "underbody bash plate" and didn't state anywhere that the skid plates are the same as the FX4, only painted black. In fact it's kind of shady to paint them instead of provide a proper plate. A bash plate is not thin gauge steel. Thin gauge steel cannot be "bashed" and sustain its shape. Don't condescendingly tell me to "do research"... common.

 

[Leftcoast]

You should have done your research before buying. Ford clearly states what added features the Tremor has.

Deflecting personal responsibility is easier.

 

[HenryMac]

Ug... Ford states "underbody bash plate" and didn't state anywhere that the skid plates are the same as the FX4, only painted black. In fact it's kind of shady to paint them instead of provide a proper plate. A bash plate is not thin gauge steel. Thin gauge steel cannot be "bashed" and sustain its shape. Don't condescendingly tell me to "do research"... common.

Sometimes you need to get off your ass and go actually look at a product before you buy it.

All you do is bitch, constantly, ad nauseum, thread after thread.

Ford builds vehicles for the masses and the masses don't drag their vehicles over rocks. So if that's your thing, buy the aftermarket parts needed to do your thing and stop whining.


Or even better yet, build it yourself.

 

[TremorOwner]

Sometimes you need to get off your ass and go actually look at a product before you buy it.

All you do is bitch, constantly, ad nauseum, thread after thread.

Ford builds vehicles for the masses and the masses don't drag their vehicles over rocks. So if that's your thing, buy the aftermarket parts needed to do your thing and stop whining.


Or even better yet, build it yourself.

The. Tremor. Is. The. Highest. Off-road. Package! It. Should. Not. Have. For show. Skid. Plates. Lord... you people have low expectations.

 

[Ranger8729]

An "underbody bash plate" is just another name for a skid plate. I had a similar gauge skid on my TJ for several years, and it did very well. Until I did exactly what you did - drop the vehicle on it. The primary use for these low gauge plates is to help push up and over an obstacle or embankment. You start dropping a 2 ton weight on them over rocks, and you need to look aftermarket. Yeah, you got the Tremor, nice truck and its set up very well. But your expectations are pretty high. Even the Rubicon plates are upgraded to 1/4" steel for that kind of work. Maybe step back and look at it as "this is a very capable off road truck, and that means trail damage and breakage" bc that is what happens when you go off pavement.

I remember my first trail scar. Had a MINT '00 XJ that i set up really nice. Square steel rock rails under the doors, thought i was invincible with 2x3 tubing. Landed just right pretty hard on the drivers rear area, and bent the tubing enough to bent the unibody into the door; couldn't open it. Was absolutely pissed off and disappointed in the "quality" of the part i bought. I thought is was just a little bounce, nothing major. Until the watchers said i pivoted off that point when I came down. Sucks, but that is life.

 

[HenryMac]

The. Tremor. Is. The. Highest. Off-road. Package! It. Should. Not. Have. For show. Skid. Plates. Lord... you people have low expectations.

Realistic expectations. You go and look at the vehicle, you test drive it, you know what you are getting.

But based on the above post... It appears you are on your period. Enough said.

 

[THLONE]

The eng pan on the truck hurt? Then it did its job. With a hammer straighten it. Reinforce it a little if you are to continue to hit rocks. Real four wheelers always have to fix stuff.

 

[TremorOwner]

Which trail were you on?

I'm curious because I'm in N GA so wondering if I might be familiar with it.

The one everyone in Georgia has gone on... Charlie's Creek, haha. There's a rocky lumpy part toward the end (if you go in the creek crossing side first) that caused this.

It's a lesson learned. Hindsight is 20/20, perhaps I could have taken a different path... sure... if I had been able to see what came after this rock, I would have. I was taking the easiest path according to my POV. The rock was about the size of a small dog bowl and, prior to me hitting it, was loose.

The only other thing I scraped the whole time was the Tremor's steps. They're still flawless, though.

Things happen on the trail, got it. When off-roading, I can't expect any skid plate to stay flawless. But I do expect a skid plate on a top trim off-road package to be truly durable, not just a show piece. I think that's fair. A real skid plate should be able to be jack point, if you needed it to be.

 

[D Fresh]

I'm finding a lot of "cheaping out" on the Ranger and it's aggravating the ish out of me.

The fact the 4WD selector continues to turn even though there's only three options.
The fact there isn't a dash mark to align to your selection on that same selector.
List goes on. I'd say every car has these kinds of things but this one has a lot of OBVIOUS ones.

I think the only thing that's OBVIOUS is that you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

The knob spins freely and does not have a hash mark because it's not the only way to select 4wd. For it to operate the way you'd like it to, there would need to be a motor and associated logic to turn the knob. There's no need for that, in fact it would be a rather inelegant solution.

All you do is bitch, constantly, ad nauseum, thread after thread.

Out of the 7 threads he's started 3 of them are bitching.

I don't use the ignore function. But this dude would be near the top of the list if I did.

 

[StezenW]

Here's some pics from the trail. My camera will not take focused pictures consistently anymore so I did my best. Figures, since I have an iPhone 11 and Apple wants me to buy the iPhone 12... timing is always "spot on" with their products, eh?

Ranger went through some pretty interesting stuff. I didn't take too many pix at the hardest parts because I was concentrating on getting through, which every time didn't end up that hard. I'm just not a picture taker, I guess.

Very familiar with that trail (Charlie's) and wheeled it many times with other Rangers from stock to lifted - never hit my skid plate or done any other damages.. so it must be a "user error" issue. ?‍

 

[TremorOwner]

I think the only thing that's OBVIOUS is that you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

The knob spins freely and does not have a hash mark because it's not the only way to select 4wd. For it to operate the way you'd like it to, there would need to be a motor and associated logic to turn the knob. There's no need for that, in fact it would be a rather inelegant solution.

The knob does one thing. Selects between 4LO, 4HI, and 2HI. That's it. Only needs 3 detents. I cannot see the light that lights the selection well during the day. It needs a indicator line.

Out of the 7 threads he's started 3 of them are bitching.

I don't use the ignore function. But this dude would be near the top of the list if I did.

Please do use the ignore function. You don't have to like my posts. Don't participate in them if you don't. I will never understand people on internet forums that feel the need to lecture others if they express a criticism of the topic du jour. Nobody is paying you to defend Ford and if you're happy with your truck as is, be happy with it. Glad you are. Criticism of the Ranger shouldn't cause you to stand up with your chest out trying to belittle me. This is a forum about the truck - it'll have its compliments and its criticisms. Ignore the areas you don't want to see. It's that easy.

 

[TremorOwner]

I've been on that trail (Charlie's) many times - never hit my skid plate. ?‍

Haha, well I did. I was there over the weekend as a passenger in Jeeps. It got torn torn torn up over the weekend. Was a conga line of offroaders out there.

 

[StezenW]

Haha, well I did. I was there over the weekend as a passenger in Jeeps. It got torn torn torn up over the weekend. Was a conga line of offroaders out there.

It was probably just a bad line then. You can't expect an OEM skid plate to stand up to the extreme forces of the front end of the truck and a rock.

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