Rival Fuel Tank Skidplate Failure… Looking for stronger alternatives!

[Icemilkteaa]

UPDATE: Warranty was honored by Rival, and new skid plate is en route to my house thank you Rival!

Hi all, I’m in a predicament. Buy another one hit wonder skid plate, or wait for a better option. I’m looking at you @foutz

The welds on the rival don’t have full penetration. I’m not really willing to throw money at something this disposable, so I’m looking for options.

The pictures on foutz’s bronco raptor fuel tank skid show boxed supports and a fully welded skid essentially hopefully giving it more strength.
Carnage attached below

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[Icemilkteaa]

@GregFoutz

 

[markal49]

would rival warranty that? at least to get you through in the meantime?

 

[Icemilkteaa]

would rival warranty that? at least to get you through in the meantime?

Would not warranty, hence why I’m here.

 

[John E Davies]

Take it to a local welder who specializes in aluminum fabrication, have him strip the powder coat and reweld the bad spots. Don’t bother re-powder coating it, just spray some primer and white paint on the bare aluminum. Once the original powder coating is compromised, it won’t last very long if you get any nasty chemicals on it…. Like road salt or liquid deicer.

Why did Rival deny warranty? Those welds are faulty, without a doubt.

The best material for skid plates that are not all for show is steel. Aluminum expands and contracts way more than steel, this causes additional problems. I was not surprised to see your thread, I have been suspicious of the Rival products from the very beginning . Was any of the hardware loose or missing? Their instructions caution you to check them every 250 miles! That is crazy.

Good luck.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[RIVAL 4x4]

Would not warranty, hence why I’m here.

I’m sorry you feel that we would not warranty your skid plate .

With any manufacturing defect we have to inform the factory of the failure to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Per our last conversation we mentioned that we would be sending pictures to the factory. Once they give us the ok that this is a one off weld failure a new plate would have been issued. We never mentioned we wouldn’t warranty it…

While this is no excuse for the cracked weld, did the skid do its job of protecting the fuel tank on impact? We have customers that heavily use/abuse our skid plates but at the end of the day they always did their job at protecting the vital components under them.

 

[Icemilkteaa]

I’m sorry you feel that we would not warranty your skid plate .

With any manufacturing defect we have to inform the factory of the failure to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Per our last conversation we mentioned that we would be sending pictures to the factory. Once they give us the ok that this is a one off weld failure a new plate would have been issued. We never mentioned we wouldn’t warranty it…

While this is no excuse for the cracked weld, did the skid do its job of protecting the fuel tank on impact? We have customers that heavily use/abuse our skid plates but at the end of the day they always did their job at protecting the vital components under them.

Thank you for the update. The email wasn’t clear that there would be next steps at all from what was mentioned.

The skid sort of did its job. Between the weld on both sides was pushed upwards causing stress on the tank, and was causing a fuel level issue.

I look forward to a follow up from the factory

 

[telenerd]

If you’re doing any type of rock crawling or sliding your gas tank over boulders aluminum is not the best solution. It will crack like you have shown regardless of brand. Get steel if you want more piece of mind.

 

[MoBob]

I had the RCI skids on my last full size Raptor and they held up great. They had a little rust and the coating got scraped off, but they slid over many obstacles in 10 yrs and never had any issues. I will be getting a set for the little Raptor before too long.

 

[RangerPA]

Take it to a local welder who specializes in aluminum fabrication, have him strip the powder coat and reweld the bad spots. Don’t bother re-powder coating it, just spray some primer and white paint on the bare aluminum. Once the original powder coating is compromised, it won’t last very long if you get any nasty chemicals on it…. Like road salt or liquid deicer.

Why did Rival deny warranty? Those welds are faulty, without a doubt.

The best material for skid plates that are not all for show is steel. Aluminum expands and contracts way more than steel, this causes additional problems. I was not surprised to see your thread, I have been suspicious of the Rival products from the very beginning . Was any of the hardware loose or missing? Their instructions caution you to check them every 250 miles! That is crazy.

Good luck.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

I'm stunned that wasn't good for a warranty replacement.

 

[rxv_poor]

I've got all of the Rival skids. I've dented/scratched all of them. They've all held up and done their jobs. I've taken my Ranger Raptor that is stock except for full skids on 7 out of 10 rated trail. The still work.

Rival has been good by me. No one from Rival asked me to send this and I'm not expecting anything from it.

 

[John E Davies]

I've got all of the Rival skids. I've dented/scratched all of them. They've all held up and done their jobs. I've taken my Ranger Raptor that is stock except for full skids on 7 out of 10 rated trail. The still work.

Rival has been good by me. No one from Rival asked me to send this and I'm not expecting anything from it.

Have you been checking the hardware torque frequently? Were any of the bolts loose? How do the welds look?

Have you seen any evidence of mud or gravel trapped between the plates and the truck parts? The steel plates I have used on different vehicles had lots of clearance so this wasn’t a concern, the nasty stuff could almost “self clean”…

Thanks.

Edit, FYI this is a Land Cruiser 200 plate kit from Slee Offroad:

Features:

• Uses factory mounting points for ease of installation and serviceability.
• Louvers allow crud to escape and be easily washed out, excess heat to flow out, and adds rigidity to the plating. They are formed in a way that doesn’t impede forward motion and aids in airflow.
• Most of the structural integrity comes from the side that is not visible when installed. This keeps structural components from becoming snags in the roots and rocks. It also allows for maximum clearance. The skid system uses high tensile steel and many OEM load dispersion points to protect vital drivetrain components all while making sure that the engine oil filter and oil drain plug remain easily accessible.
• They are easy to install and remove. Part of having a good skid system is making sure that it can be removed. Even with normal cleaning and features that allow crud egress, it’s important to clean the covered areas from time to time.

Construction:

• The skid system uses a mix of 3/16” and 1/8” laser cut and CNC formed HSLA.
• High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) has nearly twice the strength and impact resistance of general purpose mild steel (A1011 and A36). 30-36ksi Yield strength vs 50ksi yield strength minimum.
• It is coated using our typical durable coating process.
• Weighs in at 140lbs
• Proudly made in Colorado USA.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[DanielRayJ]

If you’re doing any type of rock crawling or sliding your gas tank over boulders aluminum is not the best solution. It will crack like you have shown regardless of brand. Get steel if you want more piece of mind.

What about the the Plastic HDMP something like that over the aluminum. You see these type of applications in the UTV Aftermarket Products. If I get some new skid plates I am going to put my own plastic outside of the aluminum plate.

 

[Peter949]

Mine took a light hit but didn't crack but that's a uncomplete weld.

 

[telenerd]

What about the the Plastic HDMP something like that over the aluminum. You see these type of applications in the UTV Aftermarket Products. If I get some new skid plates I am going to put my own plastic outside of the aluminum plate.

Yeah that would work Next Venture does that for their Bronco skids. But nothing will out last steel. My belly pan skids on my Bronco sure have taken a beating. But honestly I wouldn’t take my Raptor where my Bronco goes. So really all depends on what you’re doing. If you can deal with the weight and rock crawl go with steel. If your overlanding and hitting the dunes the stock skids work just fine. If you want just a little extra protection but not slamming your raptor constantly against rocks go aluminum and save the weight.

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