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Primitive Skid Plates (are actually kinda soft)

138K views 119 replies 38 participants last post by  CNY_Dave 
#1 ·
Just crawled out from underneath the Outback. Decided to report about it here to see if other people have had the same experience.

A few weeks back we went out in the sticks and funny enough, I ended up dragging a stick for over 50 miles before I crawled under and found it/cleared it.

Sunday we went out in the sticks again and I have had a noise since then. I checked underneath without putting the car on ramps and didn't see anything. Got a chance to crawl under today and couldn't find anything. So I decided to hunt down the noise, after a little trial and error realized that the primitive front plate had one of it's wings pushed up and would occasionally ring the exhaust pipe. A quick bit of leverage with a crow bar straightened it back out. The phantom clunk is gone!

On the same trip sunday, the car made contact with the ground ONE time. You can actually see me hit on that video, @ 4:44, although the view is from the roof. I drive somewhat cautious when off roading the Subaru. I want to have fun in my car, but I don't want to trash it. I've got friends with Jeeps/4Runners and I've got a truck if I really want to beat something up. So as soon as it hit, I backed off and tried a different line up the path. So that was the only time the skid plate had been used to actually protect the underside. The rest of the time they're just there for peace of mind.

That being said, if anyone wants to seriously take their car out in the bush, I don't feel these will hold up. Has anyone else had this experience?

What makes it worse, is now I'm considering building my own but looking at the underside, primitive has attached their plate with the best method available. If I were to make something similar out of 1/4" steel or something, the mounting holes might not hold up under abuse.
 
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#2 ·
I have thought the same thing when looking and not buying primitive basic thin stuff.

(late edit Nov 2018: in more recent years I have bought a used primitive in mint condition off another member that was scrapping their gen2 H6,....still have the OEM steel rear diff protector from the catalog )

______

as a alternative, I was wondering if using a original plastic subaru one, and then putting a Primitive on below it would make something that would make both last.

the subaru plastic would not rip as easy,
and the primitive metal would not dent as easy.

together both might be better then the sum of their parts.

although to test my theory someone with both would need to try it, ...pushing through nasty 14" deep snow banks. (like with hard chunks from a municipal plow found at the end of my driveway).

_____

my ideas come from 2002 model year outbacks,...as both my OEM plastic ones are held together with lots and lots of zip ties.
 
#3 ·
No...they won't

The aluminum plates are more under-body bling than of any real supportive/protective function. If you see real...off-road skid bars or plates, they are 1/4 steel or better.

1/4" steel...folks. I kinda think the Aluminum ones are rubbish. In some cases can actually deform against what they are trying to protect, and then that causes problems.

But my OB is a street car. My XJ is the off road pig.
 
#4 ·
Other than just a giant steel plate, I've also heard of guys using HDPE / UHMW but mostly on side by sides/ATV's. A steel skeleton covered by HDPE might work as far as a nice compromise of strength and weight.

I'd probably just take some 1/4" AR500 steel I use for target practice and bolt it to the bottom and be done. The weight really isn't that big of a deal.
 
#5 ·
My old 4runner I put longer bolts on and placed old shock bushings between the plate and hard point to see if a little initial give at contact would help lessen the bent guard issue. Seemed to help some but it wasnt very scientific. I think having some give is good as it lowers the impact on critical parts and is sorta the off road version of curb feelers, when you hear that crunch you know to stop and work through it vs just power on etc.
 
#6 ·
Not surprised. I like saying that the Primitive plates are GREAT on easy terrain where they keep tons of gravel and small rocks from hitting the undercarriage. They are definitely NOT suitable to protect the car against bad hits. They do not allow jacking up under them (except rear diff plate and under rear bolt of front plate) for a reason.

Mine served me well on three occasions:
--hit when cresting a hill, mildly dented the plate
--hit a rock in water, made noise, no damage (I do mean "hit").
--fell in a rut and the skid plates plowed through the dirt that formed its left edge.

I also have a bent front right edge, middle front edge, and smashed right side breathers.

While I doubt that any of those would have resulted in real trouble without plates, I was glad I had them.

My biggest grievance is the 0.5" clearance loss IN FRONT OF the front wheels. The AT plate causes the same--but behind the wheels, so not a big deal. Unfortunately, there is no way to mount it differently due to exhaust tubes.

I have considered taking the front plate off before tougher, rockier, specifically ledgy terrain, but have not done it yet. It may be counter-intuitive but it makes sense to me. It is no protection against a really poor decision anyway.

I do not always agree with BlueFox over at the Foz forum, but he is right that these plates can inspire false confidence. If this happens, better not have them.

Then, again, I LOVE them over easy terrain. Rocks, gravel, branches, all is kept out.

As for heavy duty: where would a strong plate attach? I do not think that an OB has proper attachment points for a heavy duty front plate. It is better to break the plate (except into oil pan!) than to have the radiator support give in.
 
#7 ·
As for heavy duty: where would a strong plate attach? I do not think that an OB has proper attachment points for a heavy duty front plate. It is better to break the plate (except into oil pan!) than to have the radiator support give in.
That's kinda what I'm thinking. If they're any stronger, they don't have any good place to mount and the attachment would be the weak point. I would have to build an attachment bracket for it.
 
#8 ·
No the radiator supports wont give in, if anything they will just break off and you will have to re weld new nuts on. on buy new radiator support beam... 18 bucks on rock auto.

this happened to my OBW right after the accident I just had on Saturday, and i re welded new nuts in place of the old ones that broke off.

Here you can see where it hit and protected my car (1st Picture)

in the next picture you can see where the nuts broke off... its no probloem welding them on vs replacing the oil pan or something else.....
 

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#9 ·
Aussies might have better designs to emulate and augment.

it seems like many small manufactures thinking about making subarus tougher there for poking down on to beaches, over washed out roads, and off road on ranches.
 
#10 ·
hmmmmmm this got me into thinking. (there is SMOKE coming out of my head!!!! AHHHH)

Back when I had my 2nd gen (base model 2000) I wanted a FULL BODY skid plate, there was some kind of plastic they were going to use that was better then the aluminum Plates.... although I cant remember what it is off the top of my head...

If anyone is interested, I can call back down to talk to the manager and find out what it was?
 
#11 ·
Good points...

Let's consider the most likely scenarios. For me, that is hitting the front when coming down small ledges. The steeper, the worse as weight transfer can put most weight up front, exacerbating clearance and all. This means hitting behind the radiator support and in front of the axles with forces going mostly up. Therefore, relatively weak attachment points are not a big issue. In case of a frontal impact, e.g. a crash, weak attachments may be a good thing. Why mess up with airbag operation?

All in all, attachments of plate to whatever it is would probably be the best place for some destruction to occur.

SubaX in Australia makes good front plates. Their plates for older Foresters were, reputedly, very strong. But I am not sure if their current model OB plate is any stronger than Primitive's. I tried to learn from them the clearance loss it induces. It seems to be about the same as with Primitive, 0.5-0.6". Again, the problem is that this loss occurs right in front of the wheels.

I would be interested in any protection that minimizes or eliminates clearance loss, even if it is no stronger than Primitive's.
 
#17 ·
Why not use Subaru OEM skid plates?
For Generation 5: (may only be for 2.5l)
Part Number:E515EAL000 (Steel)
or E515EAL100 (Aluminum)
It also requires mounting kit:
Part Number: E515EAL010 (for Steel Plate)
E515EAL110 (kit for aluminum plate)
E515EAL200 (differential Plate)
E515EAL200 (kit for differential plate)

For Generation 4: (may only be for 2.5l)
E515EAJ100 (Alu Plate)
E515EAJ110 (Alu Mounting kit)
E515EAJ000 (Steel Plate)
E515EAJ010 (steel mounting kit)
E515EAJ200 (transmission plate)
E515EAJ300 (differential plate)

Here is where I got the info from:
http://subaru.pl/docs/accessories/15MY_OBK_acc.pdf
http://www.subaru.pl/docs/accessories/10MY_LegacyOutback_Accessory.pdf

It looks like this shop has them is stock and will ship to the US:
https://www.mobile.partacus.de/
 
#13 ·
That said, I agree with your approach: if one takes the ledgy sections/bigger stationary rock s-l-o-w-l-y, the skid plates become almost a moot point. Then, again, one day, a mistake will be made....:)
 
#20 ·
i look at those online shops who sells them here in my country and i cant stop but thinking that they just take peace of metal, drill holes in it and sells for profit. i mean why i cant do same myself and not pay for that simple thing.
DIY skid plates should be best thing, just made from some road sign maybe or other peace of metal or even just welded to protect just parts you need and not all thing. do we actually need then so wide ?
 
#23 ·
Your vids have me grinning!
Nice controlled driving. Enjoyed seeing your terrain, and enjoyed the music too… "my baby loves". Thanks!

appreciate your test report on the full plate system from Primitive.. chances are they saved you from some more important damage, even though they deformed.. and also good to learn from you about their limitations

I wonder how much the plates increase motor and tranny temperatures too..
 
#26 ·
https://www.kiessetz-und-schmidt.de/onlineshop/english/index.php?page=detail&item=5947

this one from Germany looks to be 211$ shipped. i just went through the order form to check on it. it also requires some sort of installation kit. when prompted to select world zone, you have to choose zone 3. ill be pulling the trigger on this one in the coming weeks. they also offer the tranny and diff covers that look to be steel as well.
 
#34 ·
i like steel. it has greater abrasion resistance and does not fatigue as quickly as aluminum. it may transmit force through to whatever its protecting the same as the thicker aluminum plate, but it will last through many more hits before it breaks. steel is real.
 
#30 ·
I did not follow this link but I did follow another one when it was posted. It was an OEM Subaru steel plate.

My Moab friend has steel rocker panel protection, but that is a 95 car. I am not sure you can do anything to a new car w/o immediately writing it off the resale market.

While we are on it, I am curious as to what you guys think is the worst case scenario of rocker panel damage assuming VERY slow speeds, rock crawling. I have wondered about it but have no idea. I was once hung on a rock but it did not cause any damage (may have helped that the rock was behind the front wheel and thus on the reinforced area for the jack).
@Brucey, since you have the 2" lift I would not worry all that much about it!
 
#31 ·
On switch back paths where water has dug a path down that keeps crossing at angles with the path, the rocker comes the closest to contacting the ground. I'm actually less worried about that huge front over hang in that situation. The solution for the bumper is easy, I think I've even showed you my idea. The rocker worried me a few times and I have dinged it. It's a lot more complicated problem, I suppose.
 
#36 ·
I have the 3/16" Primitive skid plates both on my Outback (3 years) and my WRX (11 years). I always jack up the car by the plate and there is no sign of any indentation or warping. I once managed to drive over a drainage pipe in a ditch with the WRX in a way that the car was sitting on the pipe's edge and had to be dragged away; there is barely a sign of that on the plate. I don't know why your experience has been different.


Kamen
 
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#37 ·
It's not US but at least it's North America... look at lpadventure.com (Lachute Performance out of Quebec). They have a nicer front skid plate (look how the mounting bolts have a shim welded around to make the bolt head kinda recessed and protected) and they just came out with some bumper guards (albeit probably not useful for much more than mounting lights). I did pose the question to Primitive about side rails for the Outback similar to what they designed for the Crosstrek, but they said that was a project for the distant future. I'd rather have sliders anyway, so maybe I'll ask that of Lachute, specifically ones compatible with a high-lift jack. If they made those, it might justify a road trip!

No problems with my Primitive plates yet, either.
 
#39 ·
i have a subiextreme guard on mine . 06 h6 but im just a bit pissed about i have to drop it every time i want to change the oil.... would love to have a sump plug adapter tap with a hose pipe on the end . can some one provide me with a part number for this tap please ?
 
#40 ·
I've got a Fumoto 108-S plug on mine, but you still have to drop the pan to get to the switch and pop on the hose/adapter. My plate is solid, though, and Primitive sells an option that has the hole cut out for you to reach the oil pan bolt/Fumoto plug (but then you're losing strength and protection at one of the areas you're trying to protect with the plate in the first place). I haven't seen the subiextreme model.

There's also another company, EZ Oil Plug, same concept but has an o-ring vs. a flat washer to seal the plug. You can review and hop in on that debate at the thread here titled 'Fumoto Washer'

I've been thinking of modding the plate with a cutout to access the drain plug but have that cut-out covered by another plate that can be removed via a few bolts, but then I'd have to find an aluminum fabrication shop to do all the necessary welds and I'm guessing it would be cost-prohibitive.
 
#41 ·
Hey, if you have a Fumoto F-105N on your car and want to install a Primitive Skid plate, DON'T.

Or you'll be doing this

on your weekend.
That's right replacing your oil pan because it cracked at the spot welds from INSTALLING a Primitive skid plate.

I thought this was curious as Primitive sells both the F-105N and the skid plate, so I shot them an email explaining the situation. And they said "bummer" more or less.

Here's the gouge the nipple on the F-105N put in the skid just from installing it. I followed their directions, had the car on ramps so no jack was involved and I haven't hit anything with the skid. They thought it was worn motor mounts, but I just had those replaced by a very reputable Subaru shop, less than a month ago. Shoot, you can see the shiny new motor mounts in the first picture.



And buttoned back up. The only reason I got this is because my splash pan was demolished by the PO and this was only a little more expensive than replacing the OEM part and I *thought* it would be tougher. I'll be upgrading to.....something else in the future.



It's a shame too because the skid plate is very well built, other than the massive design flaw. And I would have bought transmission and diff skids eventually too, and a bunch of other stuff from them, they were easy to deal with and shipped incredibly fast. But it still cracked my dang oil pan.
 
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