Are Skid Plates Worth It?
If there’s any mod which can make a pickup truck look more aggressive (except the obvious lift kit), it’s definitely going to be skid plates, in my mind.
Looks aside, is there any point in getting one?
Depends on what you do…
Will you be doing some serious off-roading on your truck? A skid plate is a must have then; let me explain why…
What it does is prevent any objects from coming in contact with the parts of the undercarriage. If you don’t have skid plates on your ride, a simple rock bruise can render many of those under-the-vehicle parts useless costing you only additional money to get it all fixed; not good.
Now skid plates don’t just protect the upper front of the truck, that is, what you literally see – they can stretch way along the whole undercarriage, protecting everything from the transmission to the transfer case.
Should i get one just for looks?
Sure, why not? I mean, i would not do it if i wouldn’t actually need it, but then again, people lift their trucks and never do any serious mudding to begin with, right?
At the end of the day, if you’ll go for skids plates, i would suggest sticking to something simple. Covering the whole under of the pickup will make it that much more tedious to do any maintenance repairs.
Steel or aluminum
Steel is always going to be a more rugged choice, so if you indeed intent to take your truck to the outdoors seriously, this is the only way.
One thing for sure, get the aftermarket option if possible – the ones which come from factory with the vehicle aren’t really made for the type of stuff you desire.