Exploring trip that was great until it wasn't

[jmb01]

Please post your skid plate modification. I am planning to drive the beach to Port Mansfield soon. 50 miles of sometimes very deep sand, with lots of debris. The Gulf currents merge there, so all sorts of stuff washes up. Lots of transfer cases have been taken out down there.

If it's not totalled...totally will.

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[jmb01]

If nothing else, this exposes the opportunity for design improvement. Either from FoMoCo, or the aftermarket.

Sucks nonetheless.

Agreed, I don't see how this would be an expensive modification to the current skid plate. This doesn't need to bear the weight of the vehicle, just deflect random debris.

 

[jmb01]

The dangers of off roading. It happens and has nothing to do with design. Just dumb luck. I have suffered stick damage a few times in my off road vehicles and people have even been gored. I had a mini excavator in my shop that broke a hydraulic line in the drive and a valve up in the swing area from just a branch.

Being a mechanic I would have let you know the worst case scenario (battery damage), you just never know until you pull it apart. Best case they have to drop the tray and replace the fittings/connectors and refill it.

You can honestly say the gap in the skid plate directly behind the front tire that exposes a fragile component has nothing to do with design? We should also define "off-roading"...Do you think driving down a grated gravel road is equivalent to driving up Hell's Revenge?

My thinking is, if my use case is common, expected use of my pickup, then why is this different than a rear led light bar filling with water, is that also dumb luck? Some of us don't have that problem just like I assume you don't have a stick in your battery tray but I understand water in the light is a flaw that should be fixed.

 

[Heliian]

expected use of my pickup

My ice f150 had a carpet skid plate that did nothing but get ripped out by snow.

You would see a stick on the gravel road, gravel roads are fine, drive them all the time. Once you turn off the gravel, any off roader knows that if you can't see in tall grass or snow, you should be prepared for hidden obstacles.

The lightning and any other stock pickup is not designed for off-road. Like I said, shit happens with sticks on the trail. Get full skid plates.

 

[jmb01]

My ice f150 had a carpet skid plate that did nothing but get ripped out by snow.

You would see a stick on the gravel road, gravel roads are fine, drive them all the time. Once you turn off the gravel, any off roader knows that if you can't see in tall grass or snow, you should be prepared for hidden obstacles.

The lightning and any other stock pickup is not designed for off-road. Like I said, shit happens with sticks on the trail. Get full skid plates.

Why does Ford have marketing with their own off-road course? What is the rear locker for?

 

[Heliian]

marketing

Ya, it can do it but trails may vary.

I'm pretty sure it specifically says that off road damage isn't covered by warranty.

 

[jmb01]

Ya, it can do it but trails may vary.

I'm pretty sure it specifically says that off road damage isn't covered by warranty.

You're moving the goalpost, you said it wasn't designed for off-road then when I gave evidence for it, we start taking about warranty.

 

[Dinozero]

Why is this sooo fragile? Doesn't the teslas have a complete underbody skid plate basically?

I thought the entire bottom of all EVs was basically a solid metal plate. I had no idea our trucks were so vulnerable underneath.

 

[Heliian]

I thought the entire bottom of all EVs was basically a solid metal plate

Unfortunately they aren't. The batteries are well protected but outside of that it's just fairings.

 

[Balke]

Hate that happened to you, would be nice if our trucks had some extra protection there for sure. From searching a bit it looks like other EV's have had similar damages. Probably something all manufacturers could improve on especially ones that are designed to do some off roading.

 

[davehu]

Sounds like it was a good size "Stick".

doesn't have to be big...just sharp!

 

[jmb01]

Unfortunately they aren't. The batteries are well protected but outside of that it's just fairings.

Not even a fairing, just an open hole for debris to hit a plastic connector.

 

[jmb01]

Someone else's recent post in FB group

 

[Zaptor]

Someone else's recent post in FB group

Gonna need a bit more info... that 'twig' doesn't look big enough to 'destroy' a connection, and assuming that's basically a wire/plug, how tf would that warrant replacing the whole pack???
I mean, yeah, if that is what happened, of course it wouldn't be a warranty issue, because it's not a manufacturing defect per se, but if there is a connection down there that *does* in fact warrant full pack replacement -9 modules, I believe- if damaged, it's definitely a design and engineering shortcoming to have it that unprotected under these trucks! I take mine 'off-road' (down gravel, logging roads, my own land etc) all the time, so this is potentially worrisome...
Cheers, hoping for more light on the subject
-Zap

 

[jmb01]

Gonna need a bit more info... that 'twig' doesn't look big enough to 'destroy' a connection, and assuming that's basically a wire/plug, how tf would that warrant replacing the whole pack???
I mean, yeah, if that is what happened, of course it wouldn't be a warranty issue, because it's not a manufacturing defect per se, but if there is a connection down there that *does* in fact warrant full pack replacement -9 modules, I believe- if damaged, it's definitely a design and engineering shortcoming to have it that unprotected under these trucks! I take mine 'off-road' (down gravel, logging roads, my own land etc) all the time, so this is potentially worrisome...
Cheers, hoping for more light on the subject
-Zap

Looks like the exact same thing that happened to me. As I said in the thread, my dealership said it's possible that the pack would need replaced, but I was fortunate and it didn't. This guy apparently wasn't as fortunate. I went out and took a quick (bad and out of focus) pic of my skid plate where that gap is and you can see where much of the paint has been worn off by debris and can also see both the HV and coolant connectors in the gap.

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