Justin: If you're looking to increase the protection and front-end appearance, then you'll
have to check out the RTR Skid Plate showing here today for your 2018 and newer F-150 at home.
Now, the RTR option is gonna combine a very thick 10-gauge steel plate construction,
along with the two-stage satin black powder coat and, of course, your RTR logo all for
right around the $700 price point. Now, install will be a direct bolt-on job reusing your factory
mounting locations and hardware, so figure solid 1 out of 3 wrenches on the difficulty meter and
I would say 45 minutes to an hour of your time to get everything in place as we'll show you later
in the video. So right up front, guys, the RTR is gonna be a great option for the '18 and newer
F-150 owners looking to add an aftermarket skid plate to the factory front bumper.
That's something you can't always find out there. And it's really gonna do a great job of balancing
both function and form simultaneously. Now, the RTR skid plate will first and foremost be a
protection or armor piece and will offer a ton of coverage for the vitals underneath the front end,
such as your rad and oil pan, just to name a few along with just adding more coverage,
more protection overall. Now, on top of that, it certainly helps contribute, I think,
to a beefier look for the front end. Now, on top of that increase in coverage and tough look,
you're also getting a much thicker material overall when compared to the factory skid plates,
which is something that's been pointed out in the customer review section
actually a couple of times. In fact, one owner, in particular,
mentions the quality of the RTR option here compared to the factory skid plate on his FX4
and noting how the RTR option is noticeably thicker and offers far more coverage.
As always, guys, don't take my word for it, feel free to check out the reviews
and pictures submitted by American Trucks customers back on the site, just to get a
better idea of how fellow F-150 owners are really digging the skid plate from RTR. Now,
one thing I do wanna point out here that is unique with the RTR option is that it does require you
to remove and ditch that plastic factory air dam, just due to how the skid plate actually installs,
which I actually think looks pretty cool to be completely honest. I think it makes for an overall
cleaner appearance, and by the way, you are improving your approach angle at the same time.
Now, the RTR does still maintain the factory tow hooks, thanks to those two cutouts, of course,
right up here. And speaking of cutouts, the cherry on top is gonna be the RTR logo here, kind of
laser-etched into that carbon steel. And guys have actually talked about putting lights behind this
that illuminate and really show off that RTR logo at night, which I do think is pretty cool.
But getting back to that 10-gauge steel again, guys, this thing is not light. It's
pretty heavy-duty. In fact, I'd say it's every bit of 50 to 60 pounds, if not more.
Getting it out of the box and onto the table was a little bit of a struggle, not gonna lie.
But what I'm trying to get at is this thing is certainly going to be up to the task
of handling some impacts off-road, taking them without buckling or bending, of course,
depending on how fast you're going, right. It's not bulletproof. Everything does have a limit. But
it is noticeably thicker than the factory skid plates, including the FX4 stuff. You're also
looking at that satin black two-stage powder coat, which again, is gonna help hold up despite being
dented, dinged, whatever off-road, and caused by any of those minor impacts.
Now, one of the best things here about this option is that there is
no modification needed outside of removing that air dam, of course.
But once that's out of the way, the RTR is simply just gonna bolt into place using existing factory
hardware. So, that's why the site's just gonna stick to a solid 1 out of 3 wrenches
on the difficulty meter, a strong 1 out of 3 wrenches, and call it about 45 minutes to an
hour to get everything in place. But to give you a better idea of how things will go down
on your rig at home, feel free to check out our detailed walkthrough and tool breakdown right now.
Man: Tools for this install, an impact, an 8-millimeter socket,
a 10-millimeter socket, a 13-millimeter socket, and a 15-millimeter shallow and deep socket,
as well as a ratchet or electric ratchet. Hey, guys, today we have our 2018 F-150. I'm gonna
show you how to get your stock splash guard off so we can get our aftermarket skid plate placed
on the truck, I'll show you that right now. Now in order to get your stock splash shield removed,
there's a series of 18 10-millimeter bolts that we need to release the splash shield from the bumper.
I'm gonna remove the bumper so we can get a better view of that. You do not need to do that at home,
but I'm gonna that for the purposes of this video.
Now we have our front bumper face down so you could see exactly which bolts I'm talking about.
It is the series of 18 of these 10-millimeter
nuts along the backside of the bumper. Taking your 10-millimeter socket, remove those nuts.
Now in order to access the 10-millimeter bolts that we do need to remove,
we do need to get our fog lights out of place first. So, taking your 8-millimeter socket,
remove your fog light bracket.
With a 13-millimeter socket, remove the brace on the outside of the fog light.
Once the braces are removed, you can remove your fog light. Now with our fog light removed,
back to our 10-millimeter bolts along the backside where that fog light was.
And repeat that on the other side. Now with all the nuts on the back side of the bumper removed,
you can now remove your factory splash guard.
Now with our factory splash shield removed, we're gonna loosen up the two bolts at the tow hooks,
that way we can get our new skid plate in place. Taking your 15-millimeter socket, loosen up
the bolts at the tow hooks, do not remove them completely. And do the same on the other side.
With your tow hook bolts loosened, wedge your new skid plate in between the frame and the tow hook.
Now with your factory hardware, bolt down the back of the skid plate. Our truck has been through the
wringer so we do have aftermarket hardware, but your factory hardware would work the same.
Make sure your skid plate is sitting in a desirable position,
and then tighten down the back bolts.
Now tighten up your tow hook bolts.
And do the same on the other side. Now with everything buttoned up, that's gonna wrap it
up for our review and install of the RTR Skid Plate in Satin Black. Thanks for watching,
guys. And for more videos just like this, keep it right here at americantrucks.com.