Moderator: volvite
How do you keep the underside so friggin' clean?!? I've had mine for a month, and already it looks like I've driven all 800 miles through mud flats!RacerZX wrote:The skid plate piece is a little flimsy for my taste, definitely of the one-hit-and-replace variety. Not a huge issue, the truck already has another stock plate just behind it protecting the bottom of the radiator.
RacerZX wrote:Even before I purchased my Path I had my eye on this guard, it adds some much needed muscular purpose and poise to the truck. At $400 that ain't bad at all for what you're getting, but be prepared for the shipping, $140 for 70lbs of truck freight.
The install is absolutely bone-head easy. Two brackets mount to the frame where the tow hooks go, you need to trim the plastic hole out on the driver's side, and the rest just goes together like an erector set.
The bolt holes for the brackets to attach to the frame are slotted, as are the holes in the guard that attach to the brackets, so make sure to leave them all loose at first and get everything lined up just the way you like it before you torque them down (having a second person to help with this is really really helpful, Thanks Michael!)
The skid plate piece is a little flimsy for my taste, definitely of the one-hit-and-replace variety. Not a huge issue, the truck already has another stock plate just behind it protecting the bottom of the radiator. If at some point I wonk it good I'll probably just have a stronger one made of thick aluminum.
Here's the finished product in the setting sun, I love the look!, and it'll be very functional when I go off-roading. Now for a little something in the rear to fix that dreadful box-butt-syndrome...
MARKSPATH wrote:Hey falcondrgn,
None of the bolt-on bumper guards or bull bars provide much in the way of functional protection other than from low-speed encounters with shopping carts. The problem is the brackets needed to clear the front bumper fascia have to extend down and out so much that it's impossible to make them heavy enough to bear any real force.
Worse -- at least from my perspective, as I actually do off-road my Pathy -- is you give-up your front recovery point (tow hook) when installing these kits. I wind-up having to wrap a recovery strap around the frame behind the bracket before heading-off on any more difficult terrain.
If you're looking for functional protection, the only option I've found are ARB winch bumpers, which replace the stock bumper. At about $1k and 130 pounds, this is a substantial investment.
I put on a bull bar expressly to mount lights, and I'm thinking about going to go to a local welding shop to have a modified front tow hitch receiver made with extended flanges that I can mount the bull-bar to. This way I can either put a D-shackle adapter in for a recovery point, or even mount a recovery winch on a hitch mounting plate.