Skid Plate that I couldn't find any info on................ I bought one! ( T-Rex Racing )

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
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The skid plate looks VERY WELL made ! But I do wonder what kind of effect it has on cooling ?
Shouldn’t affect cooling at all, the radiator air intake is above and to the left. My RaveTech plate has a similar design in front and my bike has had no noticeable change in cooling performance.




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dannyv

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Indianapolis, IN
Have you ever tried to drill a hole in or cut stainless steel ?
It is not quite that simple. Machinability does not mean the steel is strong or weak. You have to look at elasticity, elongation, yield strength, hardness and the method of processing before deciding what material is best for a particular use. Stainless is great for our crash bars, partially because it won't rust. But many kinds of stainless would not be as tough some plain carbon steels. I love my stainless steel knife blades, they would be almost impossible to drill with a regular bit, hold an edge okay, but if I want a really sharp tough knife I use a carbon steel blade.

Good old Wikipedia puts it well- "Stainless steels have poor machinability compared to regular carbon steel because they are tougher, gummier and tend to work harden very rapidly."

This page is fairly concise- https://www.polymersolutions.com/blog/defining-metal-properties/
So what do we want for crash bars- Strong? Tough? Hard?

Or if we go to aluminum, we give up some toughness, but save weight! Not so simple choices. If you really want to look at materials, check this- http://www.engineershandbook.com/Tables/materials.htm You can see the numbers overlap a great deal, depending on which steels you compare.
 

WJBertrand

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Have you ever tried to drill a hole in or cut stainless steel ?
Stainless, especially higher grade 300 series, are tough to drill in part due to their "softness" The initial attempt to drill the stuff causes material to smear about the divot your making with your drill bit and then work harden. The bit never gets much chance to bite into the material and just spins around on a combination of soft gooey material as the bit advances, whilst fighting the thickening hardened layer being built up in its path. You kind of end up just trying to abrade the material away instead of cutting through it. As pointed out above, this is not related to the stiffness of the material. I would think for crash bars you would want a very high strength material to resist them bending into and contacting the bits you're trying to protect. Better yet to combine that with high elastic modulus to resist permanent deformation. Maybe a high grade chrome moly material?
 

Checkswrecks

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The impact on cooling can't be as much as the ADVRideOn ones, so I'd not worry about that.

The mounting is a lot like the ACD in picking up the engine mounts in front and the swingarm pivots in the rear. The aft left mount isn't going to take as much of an impact but still looks OK.
The front right looks like it is more to protect the radiator hose.
The problem with plates that have access to oil filters and drain plugs is that the oil still dribbles inside and it's a pain to clean.

You might think about cutting the boss at the front of the oil pan if you want to do real offroad. From this different plate striking the boss:

You can cut at the upper threaded area to minimize this risk, but NO HIGHER. The interior of the pan has a low spot in this area.
 

spam16v

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B-low, NY
That looks like it is below an ACD and above the Twisted Throttle & Altrider style plates in regards to protection. Glad we’re getting more support.
 

Clawdog60

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east central "ILL"
The plate and they're crash bars did not come with any installation instructions and no installation hardware for the bars. T-Rex.
 

jb

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Feb 19, 2017
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Portland, OR
Hello,

I just ordered the same T-Rex racing combo - crash bars and skid plate - in black. I would like to get an update on your riding experience with them... I wonder about possible vibrations/noise - from both the bars and plate, and also, how about the ease (or lack thereof) getting the right panel off to get at tools and battery...

I will post my experiences as well after the install...

Thanks,

--John
 

heberhog

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Feb 4, 2012
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utah
I have the same crash bars and skid plate and have been using them for 3 or 4 months now. no noticeable sounds or increase of sound. haven't tried to take the side panel off on the battery side.. i know that on the cooling side you can't get the cover off.
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
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Stainless is tougher then regular steel? Hmmmm.....
Different properties is more accurate. :cool:

Both mild steel, (in it's many, many varieties), and stainless, (in it's many, many varieties), offer advantages when used for crash bars and skid plates.

It's important to remember that these items are supposed to be self sacrificing at some level of impact. You don't want to damage the bike instead of the protection piece, for example. This is partly why skid plates are often aluminum. Absorb and deflect impact forces rather than simply transfer the impact force to the fasteners and mounting points.

The T-Rex bars look excellent. Great full coverage with their skid plate added to the package at an affordable price too. I'd still like them to come out with an integrated option like Rumbux used to offer, in addition to what they offer now. Having that kind of tie in to the bike and an easily removable skid plate for oil changes would be an even greater option.
 

Clawdog60

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Nov 14, 2018
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east central "ILL"
Hello,

I just ordered the same T-Rex racing combo - crash bars and skid plate - in black. I would like to get an update on your riding experience with them... I wonder about possible vibrations/noise - from both the bars and plate, and also, how about the ease (or lack thereof) getting the right panel off to get at tools and battery...

I will post my experiences as well after the install...

Thanks,

--John
Panel removal is easy. Seems to add a considerable amount of weight to the feel of the bike. I’ll know more after a 12 day ride next week. I don’t see much off road in it’s future. It’s a tank now. No having cake and eating it too.
 

Clawdog60

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Nov 14, 2018
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east central "ILL"
I hope yours fit better than mine did. Trex didn’t respond when I told them of the poor fitment. Be sure and install the rubber case bumper on the left side first. You may have to whittle on it a bit for proper fit.
 

Thrasherg

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Oct 16, 2017
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319
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Dallas, TX
I also have the T-rex skid plate and crash bars, they fitted my S10 perfectly and look very functional.. Very happy with them and will definitely buy other stuff from T-rex.
 

wjfawb0

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Jul 14, 2019
Messages
69
Location
Chattanooga, TN
I bought the t-rex skid plate and axle sliders. They didn't have any crashbars in stock, so I ended up getting a set of givi crashbars which went on pretty easily. When I tried to add the t-rex skid plate I had some difficulty getting the front skid plate bolts in with the stack up of the factory plate, givi crashbar plates, and the skid plate on top. I'll admit I cursed more installing the skid than I ever have before working on a bike. As of now the skid plate is touching the header up front which quickly heats up the skid plate to burning to the touch temperatures. When I have more time and less anger I'll try to shim the front bolts and move the whole skid forward.

I'll note too that the hardware provided for the crashbar+skid side frame mounts where the factory plastic engine guards mount is way longer than necessary. On my 2019 ST, at one mount point their 8x35mm bolt would be in a radiator hose.

If you're wondering about my mechanic skills based on my review, I'll say that changing Dana44 front solid axle inner seals is less frustrating than the skid plate install.
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
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Jun 20, 2015
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Ventura, CA
I bought the t-rex skid plate and axle sliders. They didn't have any crashbars in stock, so I ended up getting a set of givi crashbars which went on pretty easily. When I tried to add the t-rex skid plate I had some difficulty getting the front skid plate bolts in with the stack up of the factory plate, givi crashbar plates, and the skid plate on top. I'll admit I cursed more installing the skid than I ever have before working on a bike. As of now the skid plate is touching the header up front which quickly heats up the skid plate to burning to the touch temperatures. When I have more time and less anger I'll try to shim the front bolts and move the whole skid forward.

I'll note too that the hardware provided for the crashbar+skid side frame mounts where the factory plastic engine guards mount is way longer than necessary. On my 2019 ST, at one mount point their 8x35mm bolt would be in a radiator hose.

If you're wondering about my mechanic skills based on my review, I'll say that changing Dana44 front solid axle inner seals is less frustrating than the skid plate install.
Regarding the too-long hardware, I reused the metal spacers that are fitted into then OEM plastic tip over guards. Slipped them over the bolts and then slipped the bolt with spacer down the tube of the Givi mount.


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