HRG Mid Skid ordered

[Bluebaru]

Well it finally happened, I ripped off most of the factory Felt mid skid plate, on my last off road adventure, to the New River Gorge National Park area, last weekend. It took about a a year and a half, of once a month, off road trips and I had previously ripped a palm sized hole in it but a combination off wet snow and a large rock, I didn't see, pulled the middle 1/3 of it down and I had to cut it off mid trail. Luckily for me (?) I had seen a Facebook post, from HRG the previous week that he had just installed a mid Skid of his own design. But, at $549, I had to take a look at the JCR version again, it being ~$100 less. Based on pics and price there are certainly some things I like about the JCR better but based on all the installation difficulties, of the JCR, as others, like @NMhunter have documented, I went with the HRG, which they claim is a straight, bolt on. We shall see!,

I'll post a follow up when it's on, Hopefully in about 2 weeks.

It looks like that rock hit me in the best possible place!

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[gatornek]

Looking forward to that update. Like the price/effort/result comparison on the two available models. Thank you!

 

[DirtyLuke]

I also tore off my felt in Moab. Good thing the badlands has that steel plate over the canister itself at least. I love HRG so I'm excited to see what the install and build quality on these are like. I'm also excited to see them coming out with new products for the BS. Hopefully they're working on rock sliders too.

 

[jhnvan]

One thing to consider also.... JCR sells their mid skid plates for 100$ less..... for a pair!! That covers both sides of the car!

 

[Black Rob]

The JCR ones are $380 right now. They are considerably more robust and come with both sides. HRG is better than the felt, but nowhere near a $550 product.

 

[gatornek]

The JCR ones are $380 right now. They are considerably more robust and come with both sides. HRG is better than the felt, but nowhere near a $550 product.

Yeah, but I would like to know more about these install "difficulties". Can anyone link a thread?

 

[Black Rob]

Yeah, but I would like to know more about these install "difficulties". Can anyone link a thread?

You have to drill a few holes through the pinch weld.

 

[DirtyLuke]

You have to drill a few holes through the pinch weld.

You also have to remove and trim the gas tank skid for the badlands.

The lack of badlands specific products from JCR is the reason I've been staying away for now. Hopefully they rectify this.

 

[Bluebaru]

Yeah, but I would like to know more about these install "difficulties". Can anyone link a thread?

Here is the thread I was referencing . https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/installed-jcr-offroad-evap-skid-on-badlands.10289/

I agree with @DirtyLuke, the lack of JCR, Badlands specific products is disappointing. I'll also add that, even though I haven't received the HRG Mid Skid plate yet, I do think it's over priced but felt like I needed it NOW and wanted a much simpler installation. JCR seems to want you to buy everything from them and makes it necessary to buy one of their products in order to install another of their products.

The HRG plate does come with a lifetime warranty though!

 

[jhnvan]

The mid skids are required for the sliders and i think that's normal since it interfaces with the mid skid to keep it as low profile as possible. The bumper skid requires their engine skid for the same reason. But the other skids are all independent of each other (the gas tank skids and the cat skid). You also don't need any of their other skids to install the mid skids. The mod for the badlands is pretty minor.

I lifted my obx and had to modify a few pieces and all were easily done with a grinder and some paint.

That being said, i think it's great that we are seeing more options.

 

[gatornek]

Here is the thread I was referencing . https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/installed-jcr-offroad-evap-skid-on-badlands.10289/

I agree with @DirtyLuke, the lack of JCR, Badlands specific products is disappointing. I'll also add that, even though I haven't received the HRG Mid Skid plate yet, I do think it's over priced but felt like I needed it NOW and wanted a much simpler installation. JCR seems to want you to buy everything from them and makes it necessary to buy one of their products in order to install another of their products.

The HRG plate does come with a lifetime warranty though!

Thank you. Install difficulty does make a world of difference if you value your time. Not only that, but drilling the pinch weld is not really something I'd like to do.

Thanks again for linking. Keep us posted! Like everyone chiming in on this thread, I found the undercarriage protection severely lacking for what the manufacturer's "sell" these vehicles as being able to do.

 

[jhnvan]

The mid skids only really needs two holes drilled in the pinch weld.. If you install the sliders, then all the holes have to be drilled.

So not as much work as most people think.

 

[NMhunter]

The install wasn't bad once I heated the bolts on the gas tank skid to take the red loctite off. Drilling the pinch weld isn't a big deal with the right carbide drill bits, and the bolts reinforce where you drill. Trimming the gas tank skid went easily with an angle grinder. If I had started out knowing to use a mini torch on the Loctite, it would have been a straight forward install.

 

[Mark S.]

The mid skids only really needs two holes drilled in the pinch weld.. If you install the sliders, then all the holes have to be drilled.

So not as much work as most people think.

I'm not concerned so much with the work, I'm concerned with the loss of corrosion protection. That area of the unibody will suffer extreme exposure to all the elements that cause corrosion, and if you aren't extremely careful how you go about it you will create areas that hold contaminants in a position where they can do the most harm.

 

[NMhunter]

Fortunately, that isn't an issue in NM. They did salt the roads once this year, so I had to wash the car.

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