Front Skid Plates

So far I've got a fully stock 2015 Trail Edition. I went and did a bit of off-roading and there were some deep ruts that I tried to avoid, but with the muddy conditions I ended up sliding in at one point and damaged the OEM front skid plate (tin POS).

The vehicle is my daily commuter but will be used for some lighter off-roading (no serious rock crawling at this point).

I'm looking at replacing this skid plate but have a few questions:
1) What material would you recommend? Aluminum, Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel?
2) Any brands that you would recommend?
3) Will there be issues for accessibilty (eg. for oil changes)?
4) How can you tell if the plate will be KDSS compatible?


I looked at the Bud Built design but feel it's a bit pricey especially if buying it in anything other than plain carbon steel.

http://www.budbuilt.com/index.php?p...tegory_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=170

 

1) I've been doing some of my own research and figure that the lighter aluminum would be strong enough for my needs. As a bonus it won't rust when scraped. It should be good enough unless I really screw up on a big rock or something.
2) Unfortunately I found that there is some difference in designs, i.e. BudBuilt only replaces the very front skid plate and not the one with the oil drain (others make one bigger plate to replace both). This is why I think BudBuilt is pricey compared to others.
3) I figure if I get something that replaces both skid plates it should be equipped with an access door for the oil drain and another one for the oil filter. Although I question the size of some of these openings and how easy it will be to change oil - I'll need to read some more reviews. RCI seems to have changed their design quite a few times and I'm no longer sure what you get.
4) I'll be contacting a few manufacturers with questions for sure. Thanks for the list. I'm new in to the offroading thing and I have not heard of most of these companies before.

Thanks for the reply Havik!

 

Don't forget to ask them if its designed for KSS...

 

Great. Yeah I have their sliders I just put on over the holiday and I love them