[Brandon]

I'm new to this forum and my 06 Xterra. This past weekend I went to a trail called Cleghorn in So Cal with some friends. Tough trail, I ended up with severl scratches and dents. Mainly on my rocker panels.

I'm now convinced that I have to have sliders installed. I took off the crapy stock side bars, they got dented and some of the bolts sheard on the first moderate trail I went on.

Seems like everyone likes the Shrockbars. My question is how well they protect that area. Looks like they protect the majority of the rocker panel just fine but I am not sure about the lowest part of the fenders on either side. Which is where I got the most damage, tore it up completely on the drivers side.

Here is an example picture:
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1424664270027333187hTXscA

Is there something that protects the entire length? Any suggestions?

Also, has anyone ever had the plastic fender well cover on the underside get riped out by the tire? All of the sudden I saw it in the review mirror after what seemed like an easy obstical.

 

[Muzikman]

First off, Welcome!

The Shrock bars protect as much as you really need. You can drop your front tires slowly off a ledge and still only hit the sliders.

At ECXC I did hit something that dented the drivers side rear door. What ever it was (my guess a tree) must have been higher than the slider.

Bottom line. Shrock is about the best coverage you are going to get in a slider.

I am not sure what plastic under fender you are talking about. If you mean the mud flaps, then yes, they get ripped off all the time. If you are talking about the actual inner fender, no, I have never seen one rip out.

Got any pics of your X?

 

[JIMBO]

:clown: --Always remember Brandon, the sliders and skid plates are not a PANACEA --you still need judgement, care, experience and constant AWARENESS of the obstacles surounding your truck--

--There are a lot of SAFETY devices, but you will have to drive with their blessing, not their forgiveness---

--You'll have to be careful of tilt angles and the results of over rocks dropoff---

--I'm sorry for what seems to be a short lecture, but you have to care about the environment and your equipment, not just for you, but also OTHERS--

---Take care and welcome--

--- --JIMBO

 

[Brandon]

I removed all my mud flaps and such. I was talking about the inner plastic fender. It got ripped off completely and it bent all of the attachment points. It also warped the fender a bit.

I'll post a picture when I get home.

 

[Glucola]

Welcome to the club. :wave:

 

[Muzikman]

Wow, you ripped the inner fender out? I am not sure what it could have gotten caught on to have that happen. I guess if you got a large stick up in there. I would check things such as your brake lines and ABS wires to make sure you didn't do any damage to them. I would also crawl under there and check to see what kind of under body damage you did. Even if you have the OR model, the skids that it comes with can't take much abuse.

Are you running stock tires?

Take Jimbo's advice. The X is a durable beast of an SUV, but if you slam it around too much, it will break. I have wheeled the hell out of mine and have the body scars to show for it, but dents, dings, scratches and one blown diff is all the problems I have had.

 

[Brandon]

I've got the stock tires for the OR edition. What I think happened was the front bumper got pushed into the tire and the tire slipped a bit going over the rock. Nothing a new bumper wouldn't fix.

I did look at the under side and realized the stock skids were extremely banged up. A little disapointed in the quality and size. I will be getting better armor before heading out next time.

I think I was a little overly adventurous this last time out. At least now I know a bit more about what the X can do with and without damage. It certainly got me wanting several Mod's.

 

[Muzikman]

Yeah, the X can take you many places, but things such as sliders, front bumpers (for increased approch angles) and skid plates, allow you to do it with minimal damage.

I have all the Shrock armor and the first run out after installing the skids I put a few nice dents in them. I took trails that I wouldn't have done without the skid plates.

I think they are the single most important mod I have. The stock skids are more to fend off twigs and grass. But if you think about it, even stock Jeep skids (on the Rubicon) suck. The good news is that there are now armor options for the new X's. Both Shrock and Black Panther make skids. Shrock and Calmini make front and rear bumpers as well as sliders.