Protek Skid Plate Install

[mitch t]

I found a good pic of the plates in action, on my car. I think it does a good job of illustrating why they are shaped the way they are, and what they are good at, as far as protecting the bumper.


My car is on coils, and is maybe a little lower than what is best for autocrossing, but I dropped it to look good for a couple of shows. (I will raise it about 3/8" for the upcoming racing season. )

[mitch t]

Hey guys,
Is anyone interested in skid plates for the release 1.0 FRS?

[Max FRS]

I installed these a few months ago. I am anal about parking and not scraping the bottom of my front bumper but I have several scratches. I'm one of those you probably curse for not fully pulling into a parking space when their is some type of concrete barrier. I have since installed a front camera which permits me to park better. The Protek Skidplates mounted directly over the scratched area and have strengthened and protected the bottom of my front bumper. Great product!

[BRZ Blue]

Thanks for answering the question we all have about that wrong angle of attack on just about any driveway or speed bump. I had been looking at the Protekt Skid Plate system for a while. When I left the bank the other day, another scrape, my mind was made up.
The install is very straight forward and the Protekt looks great. The Motoiq install is quite informative. http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...kidplates.aspx

I found that for the BRZ, there is no need to remove the bumper support, there is also no need to notch the Belly Pan as there is no center bolt on the BRZ version of the Skid Plate Set.
The use of Polyethylene is brilliant. The material is flexible and slippery. Just ask any Skier or Snowboarder! The use of countersunk SS hardware with nylocks to mount the Plates mean that they will never loosen. I have seen where it was brought up that counterbored fasteners might have been preferable. I am not an engineer, but after many years in the hardware business with practical hands on experience, I can vouch for Mitch's choice in mounting hardware.
Thank you Mitch

[nova.86]

are these still available?

[mitch t]

thanks!

[mitch t]

Yup!

[mitch t]

Originally Posted by Crazypinoy9

i wonder how well these would fit on the RS1 front lip...

I would be down to make one specifically for the RS1 cars, if anyone is interested. I know they need one really bad, and the shape of the bumper looks like it would allow coverage all the way to the leading edge, similar to the BRZ skid plates.

[mitch t]

Originally Posted by Crazypinoy9

Sent you an email a couple days ago. Let's talk

reply sent! pretty excited to maybe finally get a product for the RS1 guys. the lip on those things is $$pendy!

[mitch t]

Hey guys, time for a question!

Is anybody getting any significant wear on your skidplates? Mine are holding up well, but I am probably not as hard on them as some of you guys are. I would be really interested to see some pics of some that have been abused.

[RickyBobby]

Here's some pics of the skid plates after bottoming out on some steep driveways. My dentist's driveway got me the other day.

Someone brought up a good point. Anything you add to the bottom of the bumper is going to increase the chance of you hitting something. A lip adds ~1", the skid pates ~3/8". Would my bumper have hit the driveway or cleared it without the skid plates?

Left skid plate. I had previously touched up some of the bumper scraps.


Middle skid plate


Still firmly attached.

[mitch t]

Yea, I really tried to make them as low profile as possible, but no matter what they are going to have some thickness. I don't notice mine scraping anywhere that it didn't before, so it seems like the difference is minimal.

It looks like you aren't getting any new paint scratches though, so that is good!

[RickyBobby]

Originally Posted by mitch t

Yea, I really tried to make them as low profile as possible, but no matter what they are going to have some thickness. I don't notice mine scraping anywhere that it didn't before, so it seems like the difference is minimal.

It looks like you aren't getting any new paint scratches though, so that is good!

I agree it's a trade off. It looks like some of the scrapes were on the beveled front edges of the skid plates so those would have scraped the bumper.

When I took the pics I checked the screws. They were all still tight.

[mitch t]

Originally Posted by RickyBobby

I agree it's a trade off. It looks like some of the scrapes were on the beveled front edges of the skid plates so those would have scraped the bumper.

When I took the pics I checked the screws. They were all still tight.

@RickyBobby ,

I know there are some folks who have been concerned that the plates need more coverage to protect the bumper.

Are they working OK for you? it looks like you are not getting anymore paint scratches in the photos, but in your opinion are they doing the job?