Metal skid plates?

thewhitestallion · January 9, 2015

I'm in. if shipping is too much I could just make the 4 hour road trip and pick it up. this of course if the price is reasonable.

Silverado-Hareek · January 9, 2015

Just messaged him on facebook. Sorry I've been swamped at work and did not get a chance to do it until today. I will let you know what he says. If he can do it, I'll post more information about his shop and website but I didn't want to do that without checking with him first. I'll keep you all posted.

Spurshot · January 9, 2015

Are we thinkin aluminum here? That front angled splash guard in thick steel would need three men and a little boy to install.

Grandpa · January 9, 2015

I would prefer aluminum also.

Silverado-Hareek · January 9, 2015

I'm thinking aluminum as well. I frankly don't do that much with my truck other than some light off roading, hunting, camping, etc. Most of the time I'm just driving to work. I may add a leveling kit one day but otherwise my truck will remain mostly stock. Aluminum will give the benefit of being more robust than plastic but not be extremely heavy. Now if I had a lifted truck and was doing some heavier off-roading with the potential to hit a lot of different hard objects, I'd go with some form of steel.

I haven't crawled under my truck to look but I believe there is a skid plate in the front under the engine and then a metal one under the transfer case right? So I'm guessing we just need to swap the front one under the engine?

Are we thinkin aluminum here? That front angled splash guard in thick steel would need three men and a little boy to install.

EDIT: I forgot about this piece. So there's 2 plates we need to swap?

EDIT #2: I heard back. He said he thinks it's a great idea but he's going to check to see what he can get his hands on first CAD file-wise. I'll keep y'all posted.

Spurshot · January 10, 2015

Here's what the front splash guard looks like off the truck. Just for you guys thinking a "skid plate" on a 6000lb truck is going to somehow allow the truck to bounce over boulders like your 125 dirtbike, think again. A big hit on a skid plate on one of these trucks will bend up a good skid plate and may even damage what you're trying to protect. You just aren't going to be able to make a skid plate that will take a big hit that will hold the weight of the truck. You'd need to build some real big structure up under there for that. A good skid plate will take some light to moderate hits from rocks that will move out of the way. After that, it's going to inflict some damage. Besides, there's only about 6 little 8 mm bolts holding this thing on.

MikeNH · January 10, 2015

The skids on the old 800-series trucks were tough. Going through some water on a trail too fast I nailed a rock that about stopped me dead. Big dent in the front crossmember near where it opens up for the lower control arm bolt. Then on the oil pan skid I bent the bolt head back 90 degrees. Didn't snap. Not sure if that's a sign of a strong bolt or a crappy one.

Spurshot · January 10, 2015

Even the 08 900 series had a decent skid plate setup. I smacked a big "tombstone" in the middle of my friend's carrot field. It dented the skid plate pretty bad and even knocked the exhaust loose. But it still protected the stuff it needed to. This 2014 has essentially no protection except that little transfer case tab that sticks out. I just don't know how they think that's a skid plate package. Maybe I'll look into using the GMT900 skid plates on this truck. Same front suspension...maybe the same around the cross member.

I'm guessing that big plastic piece above is more about drag reduction than anything else.

Silverado-Hareek · January 10, 2015

I'm guessing that big plastic piece above is more about drag reduction than anything else.

Whatever it's for it's about to be metal soon haha

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jvanwinkle2 · January 14, 2015

I may be interested as well. Never needed it on my 04 but I would rather have it and not need it.

Spurshot · January 15, 2015

Whatever it's for it's about to be metal soon haha

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I'm interested to see your friend's capability. The plastic part is very complex.

Silverado-Hareek · January 15, 2015

I'm interested to see your friend's capability. The plastic part is very complex.

When he gives me the go ahead, I'll link to his company website, name, etc. I didn't want to throw all of that out there without confirming he can do it first. I can also get him to detail the process a little further as well. The plastic part might be complex if you factor in all of those bumps and stuff. Half of that is probably just to give it more strength because it's plastic. I'd imagine the metal plate would have the same main bends and dimensions but not every tiny detail. I don't know of a way to do that other than to do a billet cut out of a block of aluminum which would be expensive. I'd imagine he'll be getting a sheet of aluminum, plasma cutting it to shape and size, bending it to get the main angles, and then drilling holes for mounting. I'm still waiting to hear back from him on the CAD files first. I'll definitely keep everyone posted.

EDIT: I forgot to mention in my original post but he and his buddy sort of got into the business initially to make a new skid plate for his Raptor because he bent the old one taking the truck off-road. It took off from there.

Spurshot · January 15, 2015

I was thinking exactly what you stated. Probably going toward new mounting holes and a much simpler design. They're going to need a truck to prototype it.

Silverado-Hareek · January 15, 2015

I was thinking exactly what you stated. Probably going toward new mounting holes and a much simpler design. They're going to need a truck to prototype it.

What do you mean new mounting holes? I'm thinking the goal is that this would be nearly a direct swap with the factory holes already being utilized by the plastic skid plate. That's my understanding of why he's trying to obtain the CAD Files so he can match everything perfect.

As for a prototype, his shop is starting to work on non Ford Raptor trucks now and he's done a few Silverado builds already. I'm sure he can either sell one to a client and try it out or at least verify that stuff lines up. Hopefully he gets back to me soon. I'm anxious to link the website I think you guys will really be impressed with some of the photos even though they have the evil "Ford" name on a lot of them haha

bronco351 · January 16, 2015

I'm glad someone is trying to make metal skid plates. I'm in. Cost would have to be pretty high for me to say no.

My friend's brother is a welder. I've seen his work, and he looks like a really good welder. I asked my friend if he would be interested in making metal skid plates for my truck. He said said that plastic is better than metal because it bends back into place, unlike metal, which is more of a one time use. My friend went on to ask a few more welders, and they all said the same thing: stick with plastic.

Well i just came back from a hunting trip. We were driving down mostly gravel roads, and some trails through fields. The only obstacles were snow drifts that sometimes reached 1.5'. "Cheby", as we ended up calling her, did really well. We got stuck a couple of times, but only had to dig ourselves out once (truck got high centered, we could spin a couple tires with our boots".

But then I noticed this when we got home:

Strange... i thought plastic was suppose to bend back into its original form....