Skid Plate Using Control Arm Bolt

[zmiles308]

Hey fellas, looking for some advice.
New to me 2013 crew cab has an aftermarket bumper and skidplate. The plate is attached to the same bolt the lower control arm uses. I'm about to install a caster/camber kit before its next alignment. The alignment shop expressed concern with the current plate mounting set up.
Should I-
A. Keep the same plate mounting set up, but cut a channel and an indexing hole in the skid plate to allow for mounting and use of the front caster/camber bracket.
B. Cut the plate mounting tab off and have it fabricated to mount into the holes in the frame cross member above the skid plate.
C. Find an aftermarket skid plate than mounts up to my unidentified bumper.

North East Florida Truck that will not see rocks. Only daily drive, hunting club roads, beach driving.

Thanks for your help.
Picture of mounting set up attached.
Side note- does anyone recognize this bumper?

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Welcome to the place, congrats on a beautiful Raptor. I don’t see what the problem is, I’m sure the hole in the skid plate is large enough for the cam alignment to fit behind it, if not you can dremel it out and put a washer on top and then the bolt or nut. I’m no expert though, good luck.

 

[B E N]

Makes me a little nervous, I don't like the idea of the clamping force for the LCA being split between the LCA and the skid plate. I would think a hard hit on the skid would knock the alignment out as well. Maybe it isn't a real issue, but I think I would cut that mount tab off and fabricate a new location.

At a minimum you will need to slot that mounting hole to get the alignment adjustments available.

The heaviest force the front end of one of these trucks usually endures is hard braking on asphalt, it is immense. Running trails hunting, hitting beaches is going to have perils as well, I just don't think it is worth messing with. Refabricate using stock mount points.

 

[W0n70n]

I don't have any personal experience with that particular set-up but I can only guess that your camber and castor are unadjustable with that skid plate and the mounting location would need to be ovaled out in order to get your adjust ability back but honestly I wouldn't do that since it's like adding a washer where a washer was specifically avoided in order to keep everything in spec during use. If you just make the castor bolts mate up to the front of that skid plate it just means that if you hit something hard enough on one side it will translate that force through both castors as they will either slide the lower skid to one side or another or bend that mounting location out of it's way, more than likely a mixture of both. Most front bumper skid plate combos mount under the steering rack bolts but given your expectations for use I would just make tabs to mount it to the factory holes in the front crossmember. Hope that helps

 

[Jakenbake]

What upper control arms are you running OP?

 

[Jhollowell]

I agree with BEN more parts in the stack will reduce clamp up force. Also the kit i have uses a slotted plate on the outside of the frame so I’m not even sure you could mount a skid plate with the camber adjustment kit. I’d find a new skid plate or figure out a different way to mount it.

 

[B E N]

Ahh, that's the solution. Get a set of the SPC alignment adjusters, install them, cut that tab at the adjuster and weld them together. The adjuster plate registers in a slot in the frame and is a fixed member.

 

[W0n70n]

Ahh, that's the solution. Get a set of the SPC alignment adjusters, install them, cut that tab at the adjuster and weld them together. The adjuster plate registers in a slot in the frame and is a fixed member.

I would be curious how much thread you're going to lose off of the camber kit from what looks like a 3/8" skid

 

[B E N]

What I mean is cut the skid plate so that it is butted to the cam plate, then weld those together. That way you are not sandwiching anything extra. The cam plate needs to be a fixed member either way, and the skid plate is evidently designed to use some sort of anchor in that region.

 

[Rick at FMS]

That bumper looks like what Saints Offroad used to sell. They used to be a vendor here.
With that skid plate, you basically have a slot delete kit built-in. What UCA do you have because it should be an adjustable one. If it is adjustable, then I personally would do your Option B and cut the skid plate and mount differently. The bolts above the skid plate are the steering rack bolts. They are torque to 325. With an adjustable UCA, get a slot delete kit and do it right. For the record, we sell the Foutz and KHC ones and they do require longer bolts. If you are going to go with CAM's, we sell the SPC HD ones and they should work unless the slot behind the skid plate has been modified. You will find out once you remove the skid plate.

The big question here is what UCA do you have?