Do you need under carriage protection?

If you really want one, mark, funny thing i read some came with them when shipped to snow/sail areas...anyway >http://www.jcwhitney.com/2010-2012-subaru-outback/direct-fit-engine- splash-shield/p3038697d13233y2010-2012j1.jcwx

salt ......ok

Kelly, I'm really looking at this, these guys seem to know, see link http://get-primitive.com/3-protection-skidplates

Kelly, yeah, I'm thinking, I take my car to National Parks and sometimes travel gravel road, etc. could even do some light off road, but, it's cheap insurance and peace of mind. Out in the wild is a terrible place to have a problem, if you know what I mean.

James, very funny, where did you find that GIF. Although, I'm more impressed with the protective plates I found online. Yes, you get what you pay for. I'm kind of leaning in towards doing it. You guys see any downsides.

i made one for my chevelle ..but to get clean air under there...of all places i found yours jc whitney. did you check it out..

yes but more will flow through the radiator ..

Kelly, yeah, I was concerned about that, but, apparently, this is fitted just under the radiator, I don't think blocking that would enable them to sell their plates to a lot of folks, do you? I did look at the JC Whitney plates, but, these others from Oregon looked more substantial to me. Also, they have a front, mid and rear plate for the differential. Remember, the Subaru is an AWD car and has components in the back. I'm going to add a few pictures for you in the following posts.

Mid protection, picture

Rear differential, picture,

i like it/them..and it has to be better all around than nothing at all..and it will drive better so on and so forth and so on...

This company in Oregon just seems to have a more complete package of protection, more than the JC Whitney folks. James, I appreciate your comments, its nice to get people to weigh in on this stuff. Hey, I'm not really a big off road person, but, like I said, cheap insurance. Besides, it's worth protecting my investment in the car, don't you think?

Hey Kelly, you think it will drive better and give better airflow under the car? I think I read somewhere else that someone got better gas mileage with one plates like these. Do you think that sounds reasonable?

yes and about the only enjoyment i get out of life is looking for things to spend my money that i dont have on my hot rods ..to get things i could do without....

are they clear coated???

Don't know about that, but, they are made of 3/4 inch aluminum.

Kelly, one of the options on these plates is to get them with oil holes drilled and a fumato valve to make draining oil easier. I'm thinking of taking those two options. I wouldn't want some oil leak to collect on the inside of these plates and cause a big mess in there. You think that's a good idea, I imagine?

oh yea and i pick up a tenth of a second and 1 mile per hour... 1/4 mile times.

Well, you know, my Subaru Outback is no street racer, more like a highway cruiser and rough roads car. And, with my trailer, I can't go too much faster than 60 in California anyway. I was really more interested in protecting the under carriage and not having too worry on gravel roads. So, you think it's a cool idea and you would have them drill in the oil holes, correct? Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it very much.

Yeah, I'd rather not spend the extra money, but, I paid a lot of money for this certified car and don't want to mess up the AWD or under carriage.

if its an option do it.if i could see the after that would help...i would just drop the pan....

Kelly, it's about $500 for all the plates and then another $100 or so to install on my car, but, I figure this only has to be done ONCE. Over the life of the car and I usually keep my cars a minimum of 10 years, this is a pretty good investment against any road items damaging the underside of the car especially if I take it on gravel or other rough roads. At least, I won't think twice about doing it. Thanks for your help. There are some good pictures of Outbacks installed with these components at the Primitive Racing web site.

Thanks guys for your time and answers. I'm likely to do this ASAP.

mark,the nice thing about it you will get your money back when you get ride of the car down the road...

Kelly, so, you think this would be a good selling point if I ever decided to sell later?

yes mark... ya see if (Js08016) would have had an incentive on 1 of the 2 cars he was looking at , like Neova tires $$450.00 each...... so sure its a win win for you...or, just like money in the bank.. also.. how did you- THROUGH a rod at 62,000 miles... and what were you doing on a poor little rabbit?

The 1970 VW Beetle was my first brand new car, I was 18. Drove that everywhere, typical kid you know. I don't know, probably didn't heed advice about needing a valve job, my Dad told me at 60,000 miles the mechanic was just looking for money? His 1966 never needed this, but the engine blew just over 100k. Well, I was on the freeway and heard this screeching sound and knew immediately something was wrong and the car slowed down quickly. These air cooled car required a lot of maintenance, never again.

The Rabbit just started burning oil, one quart every 500 miles and leaking. A friend actually rebuilt the engine and did a great job. Kept the car to 199,000 miles and 11 years. But, the car had a lot of problems- later discovered that my neighbor was VW mechanic and helped me to get 11 years of service from that car. No more VWs ever for me.

Kelly, James, did you know that you have to remove the entire skid plate every time you do an oil change? Since I really don't do much "off road " in my car, I'm starting to wonder if this is a good idea. Maybe it would be better to just protect the CVT transmission mechanism and skip the front plate altogether. After all, the car has an 8.7 inch ground clearance.

its your money...get it all...drill mod..the way you want it.....commmme on mannnnnnn.