Off roading upgrade suggestions

[Offroad Travels]

Wow, that muffler is caved in and there's a pretty good sized dent in the tailpipe. Sorry but this appears to be a lack of driver understanding of a vehicle's capability limits, notably ground clearance.

Yeah we understand that but the muffler assembly shouldn't be that close. If you look at the underbody of your rig everything is spaced nicely and has protection (badlands I'm referring to not sure what trims look like below the badlands). If a rock gets kicked up or you come down on something atleast if it wasnt overlapping you would be fine but the overlap causes this to happen.

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[Rgill]

I have recently upgraded my tires to the 235/65/r17 Open Country A/T III so decided to take my Big Bend off roading on what was listed as a moderate difficulty trail (Yankee hill in Colorado). Didn't have any traction issues or anything like that (aired down to 20-25 psi) and for the most part did just fine but did end up scrapping / bashing a few times on some larger rocks I couldn't completely avoid and even managed to brake one of the mounts that hangs the muffler (even the guy at the ford parts center was confused as to how the piece broke. The metal skid plate under the car car scrapped off on the drivers side and is a bit bashed and crumpled but apart from some scratches on plastics doesn't seem to be any other issues.

So that brings me to what are some parts I should swap out to make this a bit more reliable off road. I would like to have full metal skid plates covering all the important parts but i've been a bit confused by some of the posts here with links to a few part number of which areas these actually cover. I was planning to get a lift kit but not sure how effective the 1.5" from rough country really will be, id like the 2" from ford lifts but at over $500 that's way too much for a basic lift kit (should have done this and then bought largest possible tires but too late now). Being on the base big bend i don't even have the rear hitch and doesn't look like there are any front tow points so seems like i need to get something added there (not sure if the tow hooks from badlands can be easily installed or if something like rough country nudge bar would be a better option).

What parts have others added to help getting out in more rugged terrain?

Things I would add regardless of trim level

Lift. (All trims) Non spacer type if possible, better for vehicle (yes none out there yet)
All trims: Real set of rock rails with bump out towards rear (bump out adds so much)
Bash plates, all need one up front to protect radiator area (added weight). Everything below BL does not even have bash plates. BL at least has an initial set

 

[CaptainCrud]

All trims: Real set of rock rails with bump out towards rear (bump out adds so much)

Anyone seen anything like this commercially available yet?

 

[Rgill]

Anyone seen anything like this commercially available yet?

Not yet with all the searching I have done. I have only seen Bronco ones

 

[vyruz]

Things I would add regardless of trim level

Lift. (All trims) Non spacer type if possible, better for vehicle (yes none out there yet)
All trims: Real set of rock rails with bump out towards rear (bump out adds so much)
Bash plates, all need one up front to protect radiator area (added weight). Everything below BL does not even have bash plates. BL at least has an initial set

Are there even any bash plates available for the sport? I wanted to get some but couldnt find any and i dont have the tools needed to make them myself.

 

[Rgill]

Are there even any bash plates available for the sport? I wanted to get some but couldnt find any and i dont have the tools needed to make them myself.

Not yet that i have seenI am hoping the baja forged tube bumper comes with a bash plate for the very front.

 

[Clester74]

Could not agree more about the bad design on the muffler mount... we had this happen when driving and now the dealership is trying to charge us 2k for a full replacement... essentially the muffler is bent up touching the driveshaft so when it rotates it grinds the metal.

We called Ford and they said there have been other reporting issues with this because the muffle sits so close and any rock, bump etc can cause this...

There's also no protection there...?‍♂

I have the exact same thing. I haven’t even had her off road yet. Brought her home 5 days ago, drove her into work on Tuesday & noise started while circling thru parking garage. They tell me I hit something. I promise you, I have not hit a thing but the muffler is completely jacked and they want me to pay $2700 to fix it.

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