Why are my skid plates so low?

[Reloaderguy]

Any of you notice this? The front cross member to the gas tank skid plate is lower than all of the other cross members and skid plates. Inexplicably low considering the mounting brackets are adjustable. There appears to be plenty of clearance between the cross member and the gas tank, drive shaft, and exhaust. I've looked through all of the picture threads and I can't get any clear side shots of other 2014+ trucks showing the skids. Any reason I can't just raise the cross member an inch like the adjustment suggests I can?

Can someone take some pictures of their truck to compare?

Driver's side showing the low skid:


Bracket adjustment:


Clearance:


Passenger's side:


Bracket Adjustment:


Clearance:

[whitey]

Looking at yours I would raise it up however if the 14' has a crossmember by your rear driveshaft then be careful about clearance for that crossmember. Mine is bent up and had to be swapped with another crossmember to keep it from touching the rear driveshaft while off road periodically.

[Reloaderguy]

That crossed my mind. I don't have a way to fully droop the rear so I'm not certain how much clearance I need. The thought crossed my mind that Ram calculated total drive shaft travel and then adjusted the cross member to allow for proper clearance while ignoring looks. Maybe I need a narrower steel driveshaft?

[olyelr]

Im a 1000+ miles away from my truck so I cant look, but I dont remember it hanging down that far.

It seems if there was a clearance issue with the shaft, a little notch should be all that is needed.

A typical floor jack with 14+-" long piece of 2x4 under the reese hitch will get it to full droop easily.

[TheDirtRoad]

It looks to me like they are just bolted too low from the factory. Here is how mine are bolted on my '14.

[Reloaderguy]

It looks to me like they are just bolted too low from the factory. Here is how mine are bolted on my '14.

skid1.jpg

skid2.jpg

Would you mind taking a picture of the clearance between the cross member and the drive shaft?

[Reloaderguy]

So the mystery is solved. Don moved the cross member when he did the lift. I didn't realize the cross member had been moved and you can't really tell where the bolts had been. I'll try to get a forklift under it in a week or two to check clearance.

[TheDirtRoad]

I have 1.5" of clearance with the truck sitting level. You can see where my drive shaft has been scraped. That isn't from the cross-member as the cross-member has no scuff on it. It is from the mud and other crap that settled on the cross-member.

[OffroadTreks]

Interesting. Your bolts are in a different place from mine. But mine also hangs lower than the other skids. But not as much as yours I don't think. Hard for me to tell with the rock sliders in the way. But what does it matter on that show truck of yours.

[Reloaderguy]

[DamageWagon]

That's odd. Mike and Reloader have different mounting patterns. My 2011 has the pattern that Mike does. Reloader, it just looks like it got reinstalled wrong. The upper bolt isn't even doing anything. On my brackets the bracket itself is designed to bottom out against the frame, the slots are just to make install easier. I assume yours are the same


Sent from my safe space

[adeluca73]

Alright, went out & checked mine, had to bust off some caked on clay from a few wks ago to see the bolts, mine look closer to MikeKey than yours. Not exact, but close, & there's little if any gap. Also, looking at your bolts, I did a double take, on the one side, one of bolts isn't even bearing any load at all, compressive or shear. Maybe Thuren was putting down too many suds that day

[OffroadTreks]

So the mystery is solved. Don moved the cross member when he did the lift. I didn't realize the cross member had been moved and you can't really tell where the bolts had been. I'll try to get a forklift under it in a week or two to check clearance.

[olyelr]

Why did they even move the skids in the first place?

[Reloaderguy]

Don said his springs and shocks increase travel enough that there is interference at full droop. That makes sense looking at TDR's pictures. I'm not certain I'd ever see full droop considering the rear of my truck is lower than stock with the extra weight.

[OffroadTreks]

. I'm not certain I'd ever see full droop considering the rear of my truck is lower than stock with the extra weight.

Yea not a lot of chances in the mall parking lot for full droop.

[Reloaderguy]

Panties start drooping when I roll through the mall.

[whitey]

I live close to some train tracks and I'm always happy to hit it going 45-50. My truck catches air just fine. Or at least it used to...I just had the Thuren tie rod and draglink installed. Now I have bump steer. Anyhow the point is that you don't have to go off road to get to full droop. Any country road can get you there.

[Timgco]

My 16 sits just a tad higher, however at full droop the driveshaft hits on the lift.

[OffroadTreks]

Panties start drooping when I roll through the mall.

You win. I just can't compete with your wit no matter how hard I try. Off I go to cry about my tires.

[Bill2014]

Panties start drooping when I roll through the mall.

That's an easy fix - don't wear your Panties when you visit the Mall!

[Reloaderguy]

Panties start drooping when I roll through the mall.

That's an easy fix - don't wear your Panties when you visit the Mall!

Ouch!

On a more serious note, I think a steel driveshaft is the solution short of a fab'd crossmember with a larger cutout.

[Colibri]

I had to notch my rear crossmember and plate it back in to clear at full droop, it's not too bad of a job if you have access to a welder. Definitely worth it to avoid potentially serious trouble, you'd be surprised how easy it is to hit full droop doing relatively mundane schtuff. Some of my toys have steel driveshafts but I'd hate to put one on the rear of my wagon, the extra weight will be noticeable on acceleration, and the ass end of the transfercase might let go before the shaft crumples if you have a bad hit.