Does anyone have any experience on either of the skid plates? The one from Polaris Accessory Item # 2880543 goes for $339 and the Factory UTV goes for $438.90. Looks like the Polaris skid plate is 3 pieces, so i would assume install is easy. But i hear stuff that even though made by Polaris, their accessories do not fit perfectly. I have experience with the Factory UTV for my kids RZR 170 and don't have any complaints. I was just looking to save $100 if possible.
The good thing about a UHMW skid plate,... is that you can easily drill a hole into it if need be for proper fitment.
Might as well save yourself $100.
Most likely the same material and same material thickness as the OEM.
I think both the Polaris OEM Aftermarket brand and Factory UTV brand are made of plastic=aka UHMW. I was wondering about fitment issues and coverage. But i also hear what your saying about the ease of making it fit. Thanks for the feedback
Got me thinking. Wonder what the cost would be to have a piece of diamond plate metal fabricated and copied from the bottom skid plate. We have a great fabrication shop about 40 minutes from me. Be interesting to see what they would charge to copy and cut.
Why use diamond plate in an area that you cannot see until you roll over or jump something?
Plus a skid plate should be able to slide on things. Diamond plate will grip.
Just my 2 cents.
I 'was' going to draw up the main skid plate the other day when I put my winch and plow mount on.
But one damn bolt refused to budge from the main skid plate. But at the time I didn't need it off. I just wanted it off.
However, when the winter season is over and I take the plow mount off,.. I'll be sure to take the skids off and duplicate it.
Not to mention noise with the aluminum/metal skid plate...I can imagine a lot of chatter/noise coming from it vs a UHMW where if any noise would be muted.
Noise? Like rattling noise when you are going down a trail?
If it is securely bolted in place,... then I don't see it rattling.
If you are talking about a scraping sound when running over rocks/train tracks/ etc... then absolutely it will be much much louder with a metal skid than a plastic skid.
I was just snooping online for skid plate drawings,... and realized that I am missing the small front skid plate on mine.
Hmm. I wonder if it had to be removed to add the front bumper?
That's what you get when ya buy used,... ya just never know what's been done or changed to a machine.
THanks for the link! Pretty good price $308 shipped OTD. I wonder how the vendor is though. I thought I saw bad reviews on BBB...but looking at it right now, its currently being updated.
I purchased the ACE 900 SP under armor from Trail Armor and I like it, but it was $400. When I replace it (it has taken a beating racing and has quite a few gouges in it already), I will purchase some UHMW plastic and make my own at about 30% of the cost. I traced the ones I have now and will just use it as a pattern. I didn't do this initially because I didn't have time to get it done before my first race in 2018. It has held up really well and I will use plastic every time because of the lighter weight and ability to bend and return to shape when it hits a rock rather than bend permanently like my old ATV swing arm protector.
I installed the HMW skid plate from Polaris (2880543) on my '15 ACE 570 and the fit was great with no issues. It is noticeably thicker with complete coverage compared to the stock guard.
Please all keep in mind that HMW and UHMW are not the same thing! HMW is a much weaker and less expensive material. UHMW has more than 10 times the impact strength that HMW has and more than 4 times the wear resistance. Think impact strength is a quality you want in your skid plate? There is a reason that almost every Polaris factory racer runs Factory UTV UHMW products.
I always assumed that HMW was always a misspelled UHMW.
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