I am looking into adding a bit of under body protection to my 2018 2.5i Base Premium Forester. I believe the current under guard is plastic but I see that Subaru offers steel and in come cases aluminum under guards for the engine, transmission, muffler and differential. These offer a significant savings over the aftermarket protection and since I plan only moderate off road use and not rock crawling or racing I was wondering what opinions members had of these options.
I do see that from pictures the diff protector looks like a "this looks cool" mod as opposed to anything that would provide any real protection since the supports look pretty weak.
The Subaru part numbers are:
Part Number: E515SSJ000 Engine Under Guard - Steel
Part Number: E515SSJ010 Engine Under Guard - Aluminum
Part Number: E515EFL201 Subaru Forester Differential Under Guard - Steel
From https://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f139/subaru-under-guards-questions-789753/ I see that the steel is 2mm ( a little over 1/16") and the Al is 3mm (a littl under 1/8") kind of a toss up for strength.
These designs are admittedly not the "slide over rock" types on the after market but is that really needed.
Anyway what do you think?
I do see that from pictures the diff protector looks like a "this looks cool" mod as opposed to anything that would provide any real protection since the supports look pretty weak.
The Subaru part numbers are:
Part Number: E515SSJ000 Engine Under Guard - Steel
Part Number: E515SSJ010 Engine Under Guard - Aluminum
Part Number: E515EFL201 Subaru Forester Differential Under Guard - Steel
From https://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f139/subaru-under-guards-questions-789753/ I see that the steel is 2mm ( a little over 1/16") and the Al is 3mm (a littl under 1/8") kind of a toss up for strength.
These designs are admittedly not the "slide over rock" types on the after market but is that really needed.
Anyway what do you think?