XOPlate Frequently Asked Questions

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Many skid plates on the market use 1/8" hot rolled steel. XOPlates use 10-guage cold rolled steel as it's base material. 10-gauge steel is 0.135" thick versus 0.125" for 1/8" steel. This seemingly small difference in thickness makes 10-guage approximately 1.3 times more resistant to bending than 1/8" steel. Furthermore, cold rolled steel is approximately 20% harder than hot rolled steel. Using this material is more expensive than 1/8" hot rolled steel but protecting your vehicle's drivetrain is worth the extra investment.

No, not at all. Even a person with modest mechanical skills can install it in under an hour. There is no drilling required or special tools needed, just standard sockets and wrenches. One of our testers even made a YouTube Video of the installation process.

Strange question, but... yes you can! We even have proof in a YouTube video.

Well, it's not as easy as the WK2 rear diff guard, but it's not particularly difficult. The biggest problem installing it is it's size. An extra set of hands is certainly helpful. Other than that, it should take about 1.5 hours to install and doesn't require drilling or the use of any exotic tools. You can get a good iso of what is involved by watching this independent YouTube video.

The KL rear skid plate is quite complicated due to its goal of protecting your sub-frame from dents AND rear driveline module (RDM) from severe damage. It has seven mounting points, three on the sub-frame itself, two directly on the unibody and two more indirectly on the unibody (by attaching to the fuel tank skid plate side mounts). Since the sub-frame and unibody can move independently from each other, rubber isolators are used to prevent the skid plate from experiencing stress due to flexing.

No. A plate that bolts directly to the RDM would only be good in protecting it from gouges and scratches. A hard hit to such a plate will transfer the force of impact directly to the RDM, possibly resulting in a cracked housing. Any skid plate for a sensitive component on any vehicle must not bolt directly to the sensitive component it is trying to protect!

All Gleaming Alloy products are warranted to be free from defects, in materials or workmanship, for one year after receipt by the customer. Should any component fail (or begin to fail) due to such a defect, it will be replaced free-of-charge within the one-year warranty period. Defects are not to be confused with damage or normal wear and tear. Determination of such defects is made at the sole discretion of Gleaming Alloy Fabrication, Inc.