Much Needed Under Armor

As my wife says "If you are gonna do wrong do wrong the right way". Amen baby! After I removed my bumper I was feeling a little exposed, not like that bumper offered much protection anyway. I cannot let vital systems hang down where they are sure to be damaged. The radiator, AC condenser and trans cooler NEED to be protected if I expect them to do their part.

As I mentioned in a previous post, after-market support for Explorer is not that great. I did find a Ranger skid plate from RCI Metal Works . They had great service and quick delivery. However installation wasn't without complications.

So excited. 

Getting ready to install. RCI provided 4 self-tapping bolts. These were extremely beneficial. 

Because this was designed for a Ranger only the further most bolts lined up, the front two did not. To frustrate matters one of the only two holes that it reached was stripped out, Arggh.

The hole closest to the sway bar is stripped out, I made a scratched outline of the where the second bolt should go after a trial shield install. I took the armor off and drilled a hole for the self-tapping bolts to insert.

While I was at it I drilled a new hole for the stripped out rear bolt hole. I chose to drill it more towards the outside over the overlapped frame to allow more thread area. 

Now it fits nicely and offers great coverage. 

Lets see how long we can keep that nice powder-coat on.