[rebeccaramos]

For anyone running one of these - any concern about buildup (salt/mud/sand etc) on the inner side?

I just returned from a 7,400 mile road trip. Traversed 8 miles of gravel dirt road and ventured onto the Bonneville Salt Flats. There were no vehicles in front of me kicking up debris, either. I just removed the skid plate for cleaning and servicing the Passport. There was very little debris on the top side of the skid plate, aside from a couple of big grasshoppers. No evidence of salt from Bonneville on the skid plate. There is a gap between the skid plate and chassis that you access to flush. The skid plate is aluminum... no worries with corrosion.

Most of the mud, dirt and salt that is kicked up by your own wheels end up in the wheel wells and the plastic panels on the lower parts of the door and beneath. I did find salt from Bonneville accumulated on the plastic panels beneath the door (especially the jack point openings). You'll want to give that entire area a good flushing with NE winter salt.

 

[madison38]

I can see where this may be a concern in snowy areas with salt on the road. The leading edge seals fairly well to the front bumper so it might actually be a net benefit protecting the underlying structures from spray. There is an area for ventilating the exhaust which would allow some debris to get into the plate, but the back has enough clearance that I feel most would just pass through. This is another reason why I plan to remove it at evert oil change to make sure there's nothing stuck in there.

I'm actually more concerned with grass and foliage getting stuck under there with the potential for fire. I would only see this being possible if I needed to back up in an area with a lot of brush, not something I plan to do a lot of. The chances seem exceedingly slim, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

I had a chance to run some fairly extreme trails last weekend and the skid plate absolutely proved its worth as it took quite a few hard hits and scrapes. All in all, for my use case, the benefits of the skid plate far out way the potential risks. Obviously this is something that might change for someone in a colder climate or with a different use case.