Those Rival skids seem tougher for the same weight compared to the OE FX4 skids, but what did that set cost you?It really depends on your use case. If you are planning on taking your Ranger into very rocky terrain and doing proper crawling then without a doubt, the durability and scratch resistance of the harder steel material is likely the better option. As already mentioned, you can always clean the rust off and paint it again if it's a big issue for you, but most of the time the steel is so thick that a little rust doesn't matter.
If you're more likely to be on dirt/gravel/sand/forest trails or want piece of mind for day-to-day use then the much lighter weight aluminum skids are probably more than sufficient.
I chose to go the aluminum route because I'm towing with my truck and trying to keep weight down. I'm also hoping to do some basic trails to get to cool camping spots and such and I don't know where that might lead. I haven't hit anything with them yet, and may never, but I'm also not worried if I do.
I caught a sale or two and I bought them piece-by-piece over a year so I'm not entirely sure what I paid for the entire set (don't really want to know
).
It's a bit of an optical illusion of how much of a drop it is, but it serves 2 purposes:
