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Had mine installed today. Here are a couple pics of how much had to be cut from the plastic. Welded on a few tabs that line up with the holes on the plate. Used stock brackets in front. Also had to trip a little off the front edge of the plate to make it fit.
Do you mind taking some photos of where the rear bolts from the skid plate bolted up?
These little tabs welded on. Skid plate nuts on them. Bolt right up.
that’s a damn fine job. I’m gonna try to tackle it again tomorrow. Mine doesn’t look anything like that under there. Guessing bc mine is an fx4, it’s got a wide skid plate on there already. The factory raptor brackets are set back farther setting the skid plate further back.
The two bolts that you see in the above image that are holding the air damn on the frame that are just above the welded brackets that the guy added are where the bolts go. If you were to follow his backs up to the frame its just in front towards the front of the vehicle is where they go just missing the air damn panel. The easiest way to find the location perfectly is mounting the skid plate to the front brackets first, then taking a long bolt and put it through the two holes on the back of the skid plate and tighten them down to the skid plate acting as a guide indicator to where they will land for your set up. Everyones hole location is slightly different depending on if they made the brackets or if they bought them.
Alright everyone I finally got mine installed after everyones help on this forum.
My truck is a 2016 F150 3.5eco with 2" leveling kit and 34" tires. I feel like my setup is a little more unique because I do not how the tow hooks so I had to modify the front valence plastic a bit more to cover up that space. The valence piece that is separate from the 4" piece of crap was a PAIN IN THE *** to take off. It was held up by 22 bolts that were extremely hard to get to but I think the finish product after all that effort looks amazing. Took my time to diligently try to make the valence tie in seamlessly and cleanly. Made the brackets because I didnt want to fork up 140 bucks. Bought the skid plate on offer up for 100 bucks! I think it turned out great and looks so much better than the 4" piece of plastic on the front and it also helps with vibration issues if nothing was there to fill in the space.
Let me know what you guys think! Damn she looks good. Notice the front valence trim job My truck is a 4x2 so no tow hooks. Used the original valence to fill in the space. Clean trim around the valence Back bolt location using a hollow steal tube to complete the empty space front backets that were made not bought
The two bolts that you see in the above image that are holding the air damn on the frame that are just above the welded brackets that the guy added are where the bolts go. If you were to follow his backs up to the frame its just in front towards the front of the vehicle is where they go just missing the air damn panel. The easiest way to find the location perfectly is mounting the skid plate to the front brackets first, then taking a long bolt and put it through the two holes on the back of the skid plate and tighten them down to the skid plate acting as a guide indicator to where they will land for your set up. Everyones hole location is slightly different depending on if they made the brackets or if they bought them.
I think I may be SOL on the front brackets. I’ve got a 2018 fx4 and bought the raptor brackets, they do not line up anywhere near the tow hooks on the front, if I were to mount the skid at the location the front brackets go the skid is way back further. Does anyone have any photos of where the stock brackets go on a truck that utilized the stock raptor brackets to see how far up it is? I am assuming it is just right near the tow hooks.
UPDATE: As other members are installing skid plates, it is clear that the skid plate may not directly bolt up to every truck. Minor modification will probably need to be made to either the skid plate or the frame of your truck, or if you are capable of fabricating your own extension brackets, no modification may be needed. Just something to keep in mind for those looking to add a Raptor skid plate to their non-raptor F-150.
Just thought I’d share my Raptor Skid Plate installation on my 2018 F-150 XLT in case anyone else is looking to do the same. I was originally planning to just trim the lower valance but then I saw a new “takeoff” skid plate on eBay for ~$100 so it had me wondering if I could just bolt this onto my F-150. After searching these forums and other posts online I saw that it had been done on a 2015-2017 but there wasn’t a ton of information. So, I thought I’d share what I learned throughout the process.
Parts needed (I’ll add part numbers if I can find them):
Raptor Skid Plate: HL3V-5E154-ED
Skid Plate Brackets: HL3V079 / AL3V079
Rear Support Plate: HL3Z-8307-A
Misc. Bolts and U-nuts
Overall, the installation was very easy and straight forward, required no major modifications aside from trimming the plastic, lower bumper cover. Also requires minor modification to the skid plate or the frame of the truck to bolt up 100%. I did not find this out until I picked up the rear support bar and was unable to fully bolt through with the skid plate as-is. My plan to correct this is to drill a new set of holes at the rear of the skid plate as pictured below.
I found this video to be extremely helpful. The first 2 minutes show the removal of the skid plate from a Raptor, as well as the front brackets and rear support plate that are needed. If you just reverse these steps, you will have your skid plate on in no time, assuming you have all of the parts/pieces. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1wXM_zwg-c
Pictures of the parts needed and a diagram from Tasca that may be helpful:
Overall, installation was pretty easy. Since my truck is not lifted or leveled it is a very subtle change that really looks much better in person. I personally didn’t mind the lower valance that the truck came with but I also wasn’t a huge fan of just hacking off the lower plastic cover, so this was a good alternative for me; I got to trim the lower cover, and integrate a skid plate.
I think I may be SOL on the front brackets. I’ve got a 2018 fx4 and bought the raptor brackets, they do not line up anywhere near the tow hooks on the front, if I were to mount the skid at the location the front brackets go the skid is way back further. Does anyone have any photos of where the stock brackets go on a truck that utilized the stock raptor brackets to see how far up it is? I am assuming it is just right near the tow hooks.
The brackets dont mount to the tow hook bolt location, theres a hole just behind that, its next to the bolt to the inter-cooler bracket if that makes more sense. Have the bracket facing towards the front of the truck.
The brackets dont mount to the tow hook bolt location, theres a hole just behind that, its next to the bolt to the inter-cooler bracket if that makes more sense. Have the bracket facing towards the front of the truck.
yep the hole is way back I think I’m gonna just drill a hole further near the tow hooks. May do this this weekend. I’ll keep y’all posted.
11-15-2019, 10:14 PM
