Aftermarket bumper skid Plate

[Boyter]

Hello from Dubai! I just purchased my 2019 Ram Rebel after owning a 2013 model Raptor for 6+ yrs. 3 days in and so far, so good!

Living in the Middle East, there is alot of off-roading fun to be had but its mainly in deep sand and I have concerns over the OEM bumper, specifically the lower part in silver as there isn't much (or any) support behind it. I've not had the truck off-road yet but I cant see the bumper staying in the shape as Ram intended for long. I had the same issue with the Raptor skid plate which Ford clearly made from cheese.

Short of going down the ADD route, has anyone found any aftermarket bumper skid-plates which can retain the upper part of the bumper (which looks damn good IMO) My thought is to design something that replaces the lower part in silver with something stronger but the same shape, then tubular downpipes linked back to the lower control arm mounts. A thick alloy skid plate can then be mounted between the tubulars completing the protection. Something that will have purpose but have an OEM look.
I was talking to a couple of fabricators today but would love to see other examples or how everyone else got round similar issues rather than starting from a clean sheet.

The only real thing I've done in the truck so far was tow the trailer round the block...so here's a picture of that (No TBC fitted, just been reading up on that which brought me to this forum)

 

[AnthonyD1978]

I've been looking, but yet to find anything. I'll probably end up having something fabricated for me. Lots of room under there with plenty of mounting points.

 

[Boyter]

Progress so far. There is a huge space to fill so better to have too much bracing than not enough. New tow eyes will be bolted in the same location as OEM but higher and will protrude from the front holes of the skid plate.

 

[dts828]

You don't waste no time, can't wait to see it finished. Looking good!

Sent from my GM1917 using Tapatalk

 

[AnthonyD1978]

Progress so far. There is a huge space to fill so better to have too much bracing than not enough. New tow eyes will be bolted in the same location as OEM but higher and will protrude from the front holes of the skid plate.

So good! Nice to see someone take the matter into their own hands. I too need to have my tow loops protrude higher up after I cut my bumper for added clearance. Keep us updated.

 

[Boyter]

I was in to see an update today as they needed some advice on mounting brackets. The tow hooks are in but I forgot to take pics they are made from 18mm steel plate so are at the same level as the bottom of the chassis leg where the originals bolt too. The are not breaking anytime soon!

I'll grab some underside pics tomorrow

 

[Downytide]

Love what I see so far.

Did you leave a spot open in order to reach the oil filter?

 

[Boyter]

All the steelwork is away for powder coat but I snapped a shot of the alloy parts. 6mm for the front and 8mm for the actual skid plate. Should all be fitted on Sunday

 

[AnthonyD1978]

I need this in my life!

 

[Rob5589]

Diggin it!

 

[7amada]

Really nice work, but im confused.

dont the rebels come with a steel skid plate?

 

[Boyter]

Really nice work, but im confused.

dont the rebels come with a steel skid plate?

They come with a different colour lower bumper which 'looks' like a skid plate made from 1.5mm steel and less support and structure than a baked beans tin. Realistically it wouldn't be able to skid over anything other than a very soft snow drift without major bumper damage.

The sand dunes out here get pretty big and front bumpers on any 4x4 are the first to see damage, even with something as simple as cresting over a dune will have the bumper in contact with sand.

 

[Downytide]

Really nice work, but im confused.

dont the rebels come with a steel skid plate?

If you look at post #3, you can see the front cross member (one with all the holes), for OP's situation, he wants to glide on sand dunes, but for me, its those silly rock/boulder sticking out that you can get caught on, ideally the front skid plate should be like ones on Tundra TRD Pro, it covers from the front bumper to the cross member.

 

[AnthonyD1978]

If you look at post #3, you can see the front cross member (one with all the holes), for OP's situation, he wants to glide on sand dunes, but for me, its those silly rock/boulder sticking out that you can get caught on, ideally the front skid plate should be like ones on Tundra TRD Pro, it covers from the front bumper to the cross member.

Same here. It would also protect my winch.

 

[Boyter]

Aaaaaaaand we're done

Proper solid skid plate which doesn't look too wild but will take a serious knock. The guys decided to replace the factory crossmember skid plate too with the left over alloy so the entire front underside will be protected.

I flashed the tow points in red to see if it would look good...thoughts? or leave them powdercoated black? more pics to follow as I ran out of day light today.

 

[Rob5589]

Nice work!

 

[AnthonyD1978]

Nicely done and much better skid plate. Another thing to add to my to-do list.

I like the red tow points on your truck over black.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

Really well done! I almost think that the skid plate should be painted/powder coated in black... with those red tow points the whole assembly would pop!

 

[Boyter]

Really well done! I almost think that the skid plate should be painted/powder coated in black... with those red tow points the whole assembly would pop!

I like the idea of black and did ponder it but sadly it wouldn't stay that way for long (the front part might to be fair) its gonna get scratched and bent soon enough. I was also thinking about waterjetting my race teams logo to the underside but again it would just get damaged and look like sh*t
I finished trimming the side plastic trim so the parking sensors are working again. Just need to go out and get some better pics.

I'm surprised there isn't an off the shelf item like this for trucks in general rather than complete bumpers. I had to do the same on my old Raptor too.

 

[Downytide]

May be I'm nitpicking, but couldn't they keep the lower trim stock? or is that too much work to form it to fit?