Aluminum skid plate for engine

[Hiro's XC]

This thing is beefy! Lisle Volvo here in Il had one in stock. Somone ordered it 4 months ago and never bothered to pick it up. $169.00 with a coupon I had!  What a bargin! I also got the rear mud flaps. No fronts available yet. I'll post some pictures of it soon. Really nice unit!

[wiz]

How much thicker than the standard one is it?  Do you happen to know the regular price?

[Hiro's XC]

Well, it does not replace the front plate that goes on the bumper cladding. This replaces the plastic cover that is held on by 6 bolts to keep debris out of the engine bay. If you look under the car you can see a plastic cover that has 6 NACA ducts for letting in cooling air. That is the one that is replaced.

I bought this as there is a ton of truck tire debris on the highways around Chicago. A 1/8th inch thick plastic cover will not stop a huge chunk of retread. This plate actually lets in more venting air in the back which would be good for venting turbo heat. It is constructed of Aluminum and is about 10MM thick. It took about 10 minutes to install with a socket wrench, a 12mm and 15 mm socket, and a 15mm box wrench.
You will need to jack the car up to get under it and attach the bolts. You have to put the front 2 on first, LOOSELY! Then the rears. You have to a bit nimble to get the washer and the bolt inside the subframe though. But anybody with some patience could do it.

The plate has a cut out so you can now reach up and unscrew the filter housing without removing the plate. Big bonus in my book!

I still have to snap the photos, but this thing is definetly hand made on a milling machine once the sheet is contoured. There are the scoring lines and everything left on it.

I think you could actuallt highside the car now without damaging the trans/engine. You would bend the plate, but that is a small price to pay for saving a $5000 combo.

The plate was listed for $269-$325 depending on the dealer.

Jason

[Hiro's XC]

BTW, The factory plastic part runs $250 from Volvo. Anybody have a damaged one? I'll sell mine real cheap.

Jason

[Art]

Check out the photo of Combustion's front skid plate in Coastal's Vancouver area GTG album. Looks pretty beefy to me. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Front Skid Plate (http://www.v70xc.com/pics/g2g_vancouver_072602/index.html)

[wiz]

Those are NICE!! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

That's the oil filter there? That thing comes off without emptying the oil like in the older Volvos?

[Hiro's XC]

Thanks for the photo! Saves me the time! Those pictures are great, looked like fun. Yeah, the new oil filters are a lot nicer that the old style canister ones that leaked down the block, steering, and your arm.

Jason

[ltoolio]

Anyone know if this album is still here on the site:

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Check out the photo of Combustion&#39;s front skid plate in Coastal&#39;s Vancouver area GTG album. &nbsp;Looks pretty beefy to me. &nbsp;

Front Skid Plate[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Here is the url:
http://www.v70xc.com/pics/g2g_vancouver_072602/index.html

I&#39;ve tried a few changes on the URL, but couldn&#39;t get it to resolve.

I think I know what the skid plate looks like, but since it references the Oil Filter in the thread, I&#39;m thinking I might be wrong.

[coastal]

Those photos were in the old galleries which are no longer online. I&#39;ve added them to the new gallery database just now so here&#39;s the image:

http://www.xc70.com/pics/albums/userpics/072602/03.jpg http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Stu in Oregon]

I&#39;ve got the Volvo skid plate on both of our XCs. I installed them to protect the low hanging vitals from rocks on the dirt roads I frequent for my fly fishing. But I have yet to test them on any actual rocks thankfully. However, The plates have seen a lot of chunky and icy snow plowings and such. The snow we get here can turn into an almost concrete like chunk because it is so moisture laiden and usually warms and refreezes several times. The plates (mostly on my wife&#39;s car http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/music.gif ) have a fair amount of scraping but have suffered no denting or deflection. The neat thing about them is that any ice or snow that passes under them seems to have no effect on other car parts elswhere in the underbelly. The Volvo skid plates are &quot;cheap insurance&quot; in my opinion.

[barrysharp]

A very worthwhile addition IMHO. If you&#39;re buying via OSD the alloy plate is quite reasonably priced at FDC and they will install for free (if you give them a Swedish smile, that is http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif)

The OEM plastic engine grate may look substantial but from my past experiences with plastics it will most likely become brittle with heat and age and will need replacing at around 100,000 miles or sooner -- and at a cost quite likely to be around &#036;200-&#036;300. This makes the alloy plate addition a no brainer decision.

[mrb]

A good idea for those who might encounter hazzards but for a city driver like me--&quot;maybe&quot; &nbsp;Hans at FDC talked me out of it and if Barry is correct (and I&#39;m sure he is) 100,000 miles is good--ok--very good-- http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[budrichard]

Had mine on from day one. Got high sided on packed snow drift. Was able to shovel out the underside of the vehicle. No damage. The older 99XC has a tubular bar arrangement which is not as good as the plate. -Dick

[ltoolio]

Hey folks,
I just picked up my skid plate from my local dealer tonight.

They first quoted me teh &#036;216.00 that is retail for it. &nbsp;I then showed them a copy of the Volvopartsworld.com ad for it. &nbsp;VPW.com had it at &#036;172.80.


The dealer looked at the ad, and gave it to me for &#036;175.00. &nbsp; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

So, now I don&#39;t need to pay for shipping, and even better yet I get to install it this weekend rather than wait for it to show up at my door http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Maybe I&#39;ll take some pictures of the install. &nbsp;Not sure if it will be worth it, but it won&#39;t hurt.

I also picked up front mud flaps. &nbsp;I might take pictures of that, too.

Ryan

[TrueBlue]

Itoolio,

Go for it, man, pics say a thousand words, and are always valuable.

BTW do you have a Volvo part No: handy - I&#39;d like to get one over here

[ltoolio]

From the label on the box:
Volvo Part Number 9451784

[ltoolio]

So, I just did the install of the skid plate. Took me close to an hour from start to finish. That included gathering tools, taking pictures, etc.

Here are a couple of pictures to show what the plate looks like compared to the plastic one:
http://www.moviecrap.com/rk/downcompare.gif

http://www.moviecrap.com/rk/uprightcompare.gif

Here&#39;s a picture of the back so you can see the plastic venting:
http://www.moviecrap.com/rk/back.gif

One of my biggest sources of frustration was getting the first bolt in. The plate is relatively large, and is a bit awkward to hold. So, I supported the back end of it with an empty bucket. Once I did this, I was able to get the front screws on pretty easy.
http://www.moviecrap.com/rk/support.gif

The back nuts are a bit tough to get to. I used my hands to start the nut on the bolt, and then used a 12mm wrench to hold the nut in place while I used a 12mm socket to tighten the screw:
http://www.moviecrap.com/rk/rearbolt.gif

And, after some hard work, done&#33;
http://www.moviecrap.com/rk/done.gif

Let me know if you have any questions about the install or about the plate.

Ryan

[ltoolio]

Deleted..guess my pictures are working &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[AWD*V70XC]

I think you can edit out all the above as I can see those photos just fine, hope you never have the use of that plate as I know what the score will be; Car 1 - other 0 &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[SpudRacer]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Had mine on from day one. Got high sided on packed snow drift. Was able to shovel out the underside of the vehicle. No damage. The older 99XC has a tubular bar arrangement which is not as good as the plate. -Dick [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

I experienced the same thing while driving in the mountains in Andorra. &nbsp;The skid plate just pushed and packed the snow up underneath it until I lost traction. &nbsp;It didn&#39;t take much to get unstuck, but the skid plate left a pretty impression in the packed snow&#33;&#33;

THose with the skid plate be forewarned that it MAY decrease your ability to forge through deeper snow. &nbsp;I posted some pics today, but they disappeared. &nbsp;Hopefully they are under Taylor&#39;s careful manipulation.

Tom

[mhoy]

ltoolio:
Nice posts on the pix/details of the self install. Well done.

Mark

[Raynald]

Am I mistaken, but does that plate as to be removed every time you make an oil change? &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[ltoolio]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Am I mistaken, but does that plate as to be removed every time you make an oil change? &nbsp;[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

That&#39;s a good question. &nbsp;Since I haven&#39;t done an oil change yet, I&#39;m not sure how much room I realistically need to get the existing filter off and get something in there to catch the spilling oil.

If you do need some room, you could probably just unscrew the front bolts and leave the back ones on. &nbsp;But, this is just speculation, of course.

Hiro or Art - what has your experience been in doing the oil change?

[Art]

Up to this point, I&#39;ve been providing my dealer with Mobil 1 and having them perform the changes. I&#39;ll certainly take a crack at doing it myself once things start to warm up, but winter is definitely out of the question.

By the sound of Jason&#39;s first experience (http://xc70.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=749;hl=oil+change), I&#39;m inclined to think that by removing the skid plate there would be little or no spillage to contain. That said, it does appear that he&#39;s working on a compatible solution. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Anyone considering IPD&#39;s skid plate (http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx?CategoryID=1585&NodeID=5044&RootID=629)? Looks like it has a cutout to allow full access to the cartridge housing. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Hiro's XC]

There are issues with oil changes.

A couple of solutions I came up with right before we sold the car. I cut a little bigger opening for the oil filter, about an inch farther back. Helped imeasurably. I also cut a Hole for a FUMOTO drain valve. That is a valve with a tube attached that you put where the drain plug goes. You simply turn the lever and out comes the oil. ( there is a safety indent so it can&#39;t happen accidently) Otherwise you need to buy a topside oil changer and suck pre heated oil out. I did this for a while, but since you have to go underneath you might as well add the valve. Otherwise you spend and hour R&amp;R the skid plate.

[budrichard]

Since the purpose of the plate is to protect the underside of the vehicle, I have cut no holes in mine. I also do not install any type of device to help drain engine oil. The skid plate is removed to facilitate engine oil changes. I have Rhino Ramps and 8x8 wood blocks to ensure safety. Go to a lumber yard and purchase a block and have it cut to the proper lenghts. I would not just trust any ramp by itself. -Dick