Skid Plate FAQ

A skid plate is a sheet of material that installs to your machine’s undercarriage. It acts as a barrier against off-road hazards like rocks and logs, protecting your side-by-side’s most vulnerable parts. It also prevents sticks from poking through your floorboard—something that would be bad for your UTV and also your legs.

Almost all modern UTVs have skid plates straight from the factory, but they’re not always the most reliable. Some are nothing more than a thin sheet of aluminum, which won’t do you much good after bottoming out a time or two. Aftermarket skid plates are thicker and more durable than stock.

If you ride hard and on rough or rocky trails, you want to upgrade to an aftermarket skid plate.

The design of our skid plates varies somewhat, based on the specific make and model of your machine. Some of our skid plates partially protect the firewall. With other designs, the firewall is exposed.

No, SuperATV skid plates do not cover the A-arms and they do not come with boot guards.

If it’s a SuperATV skid plate and SuperATV nerf bars, you shouldn’t have any issues. Each skid plate we make is compatible with all other SuperATV products for that same machine, with only a couple exceptions.

The first is for people who want to run a frame stiffener and a skid plate at the same time. In that case, you’ll need to remove the front portion of your skid plate in order to make it work.

The other exception is for the Polaris RZR XP 1000 and XP Turbo. If you want to add our High Clearance Rear Trailing Arms while running a skid plate, you will need to trim the trailing arms slightly.

All of our skid plates are manufactured right here in the US—specifically at our headquarters in Madison, Indiana.

SuperATV skid plates are covered by a 30-day warranty.

All SuperATV skid plates are made from ARMW. It’s our proprietary blend of UHMW, an extremely tough plastic. ARMW has extremely low wear characteristics and is abrasion, break, and bend resistant. It’s lightweight, incredibly strong, and trail proven.

We prefer UHMW because is slides over obstacles more easily. If you hit an obstacle, an aluminum skid plate is going to rattle (even if properly secured) and will also be loud on impact. A UHMW skid plate, on the other hand, glides over rocks and ruts much more smoothly.

UHMW is also more difficult to damage. It can’t be repaired like aluminum can, but UHMW flexes, bends, and keeps its shape when hit, which is a huge plus for rough riding.

A thicker skid plate offers more protection. And because we make our skid plates out of ARMW (a proprietary blend of UHMW), which is lighter than some competitor materials, we’re able to go thicker without adding extra weight to your machine.

Our preferred installation method is to pull the machine on its side using another machine and a safety line. Installing a skid plate while your UTV is on its side gives you the most visibility and ease of access.

You could also lift the machine up on a jack and install the front portion first, then the rear. And if you happen to have access to a garage lift, that works too!

One method we do not recommend is winching your side-by-side up in a tree. We know people do this, but this method is too dangerous for us to stand behind. If the tree branch breaks, you could do serious damage to your machine or, worse, yourself.

For most people, a skid plate install can be done in 2-3 hours.

Yes! We include everything you need for a smooth installation, including all required hardware and access to easy-to-follow instructions.

Many of our skid plates come with self-tapping screws to firmly secure the skid plate to your machine. In that case, you will need to pre-drill holes into your frame.