The paper one on my company truck must have ripped and been dragging on the ground 5 or 6 times. I crawled under with a utility knife cut it off and just quit having it replaced because I was tired of dealing with it every 6 months.

 

It's embarrassing that Ford put such a crappy OEM part on their trucks.

 

all the companies are doing it... selling cheap made trucks at huge prices..

 

I removed the one from my Ford Escape. If my F-150 starts sagging it will get removed too

 

Are these parts on the 2019 F150 ?

 

I believe so. I'd check for sure. There are four mounting tabs on the skid plate. Many of the parts diagrams that I see only show three.

 

My 2017 has a metal one. I've had my nephew drill holes in it for water drainage. I park my truck on a slight downhill. The water from the bed cover sheds in-between the truck bed and cab....and apparently some goes into the skid plate. I don't like the idea of a "bowel of water" sitting under the metal parts.

So the drain holes eliminated 90% of the water.

 

... make ya wonder about engineering/ bean counters.

 

I'm sure that crappy felt paper shield cost a little bit of nothing to manufacture. The metal one had to be stamped, punched and painted. On the plus side for Ford they're happy to charge you over $225 plus the cost of additional hardware so you can install what should have been installed in the first place.

 

Auto makers. Many years ago I owned a Chevy Monte Carlo SS. It had a 3.8L V6 in it. At 100,000 the "gasket" (a word I use loosely) between the intake manifold and block (heads) had a plastic gasket. After 100K of milage, and just the normal heat\cooling of the engine, that gasket cracked.....thus allowing water into the block. And you know what happened next.

Some of the junk they put into cars.

 

Paper doesn’t sound very effective. My Toyota came with a nice 1/4 inch thick aluminum one.

 

My Toyotas (1993 small truck., and 2012 Tundra) had metal skid plates, and lasted many miles... traded in the Tundra with 320K and no major repairs to pick up a 2019 F150 that had no internal wheel well covers (unlike the Toyota) and no metal skid plate -- I've been looking at skid plates from RCI , but the Raptor skid plates may just be what I need, since my fiberboard plate is tearing and I've rigged up some wire to hold it together while I plot the next move. Thanks for the info!

 

this kinda stuff, after being a ford guy guy whole life ,currently have 9 from 1941 up . but I bought a jeep gladiator in July just to drive to work. dealer gave lifetime tranny /engine warranty upon signing. kinda can't go wrong ,I want to be critical and after 2000 miles, I like it.

 

I custom build one at work out of aluminum diamond plate took me a few hours but worth it.

 

Mine went in the garage, any worries with anything getting damaged underneath?

 

You should be fine unless you do a lot of off roading scraping the undercarriage on things.

 

I’ve had zero issues in the few years since I took mine off. I’m not sure what that piece of fiberboard was going to truly protect anyway.

 

Just a warning some of the new JEEPS have engine misses right out of the dealership lot..

 

But overall that Jeep 3.6L Pentastar engine has a great reputation

 

Yes it does. And between the Wrangler and the direct competitor Ford Bronco, it is the only naturally aspirated V6 that is offered for those who don’t care for the smaller displacement with a turbo thing. The Pentastar has been around for a while, which usually means it’s reliable and most of the bugs have been worked out.

 

Do the 2023 F-150’s have this sagging skid plate? I haven’t noticed anything on mine yet.

 

Mike, what trim line is your F150? Mine is a 2022 XLT and it had the sagging skid plate. I don't think they've changed in since the 2021 model redesign. The one in question is the rear one behind the front axle. If you touch it and it feels soft like heavy felt paper, it will eventually sag and tear.

See if these help... The first two pics are the original skid plate:

The next three pics are the Raptor skid plate that I used, taken from the driver side, passenger side and the front:

 

Thanks. I looked under mine and it does not appear that I have that one, thank goodness.

It is maddening the way manufacturers are going toward cheaper production. Another issue that I hear about is the whole wet belt oil pump thing. I have not heard any widespread issues with it, but it seems to be a big deal to some folks.
My dad bought an XLT FX4 Ranger in the spring. He doesn’t tow or haul anything, but I pushed him to just get the 2.3 EB four banger because it still has a gear driven oil pump, only has one turbo versus two, and just seems to be a simpler engine.

 

which engine has the wet belt oil pump???

 

2.7 V6 EB and the 5.0 V8.

The 3.5 V6 EB still has a gear driven oil pump.