OK...here it is...the next in a hopefully endless series of installs and reviews of products for the X....This time it is the brand new Shrockworks Stainless Steel Front Skid Plate...

As soon as I read about it being available on XOC I called Shrockworks and ordered it...as usual I got Jim on the phone when I called and he said it would ship in a week. Cost was $133 including shipping to my home address. Skid Plate arrived exactly two weeks after my order was placed...here is a pic of how it arrived....


kind of hard to damage a skid plate in shipping but as always you can tell care was placed in its packaging...Upon its unwrapping this is what she looked like on my living room floor...


and a side view showing the welded tabs that will attach to the sides of your Shrockworks bumper and the 4 holes through which you will attach the skidplate to the front of your bumper...


The bumper comes with all necessary hardware to mount the skid plate and also comes with the correct size and type of drill bit necessary to drill the holes in your bumper....Now this I found very nice...saves time for the installer looking for the correct size bit....Maybe saves you only a minute or so but it is a thoughtful touch--plus you get a really good quality bit out of the deal!! Other than the bit you get the 4 screws for the front of the bumper, 4 lock washers, 4 washers and 4 nuts. For the side tabs 2 bolts are provided...


Install is very straightforward requiring only a few tools....


and to be honest the torque wrench is really overkill as I will explain later...the socket and regular wrench size you will need is 13mm, and I used WD-40 on the bit as I was drilling to lessen the friction and keep the heat down...I went through about 1 fully charged battery for my 14.4V drill, so you probly wanna have a spare one charged up just in case...

First thing I did was take a look at the sides of my Shrockworks bumper where it attaches to the sides of the frame...this is what you should see...


Notice the small round hole on the lower left of the picture....this is the how through which you will bolt the skid plate to the bumper....If you have someone to help you it makes it a bit easier...I didn't so I balanced the skid on a couple paint cans till I could get the first bolt in...In order to get the bolt started I had to shave out the powdercoating in the hole with the drill bit as otherwise the hole was just a tiny bit to small...once that was done the bolt went in fine...put the other bolt in the opposite side and the skid will hang like this:



end part 1...