Skid plate on a Mazda5?

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'13 Mazda 5 Sport
So living in the Blue Ridge mountains almost nowhere is level. I am constantly scraping my front end. Some places I go to aren’t even paved. At one point I was driving on a well used dirt road and was grounding out.

So I’m thinking a skid plate might be in order. One just big enough to cover all the important bits. What do y’all think???
 
How creative are you with sheetmetal and do you have the tools to form your own? You could probably start with the current plastic shield Mazda put there. However, the one that is there now is to shield from the dirt/water coming off the road into the engine bay. Also, you would need to do a good job with locating or fabricating new mounting points for this plate. Sheetmetal would be considerably heavier, so you would have to mount to metal areas only. Keep us updated.
 
How creative are you with sheetmetal and do you have the tools to form your own? You could probably start with the current plastic shield Mazda put there. However, the one that is there now is to shield from the dirt/water coming off the road into the engine bay. Also, you would need to do a good job with locating or fabricating new mounting points for this plate. Sheetmetal would be considerably heavier, so you would have to mount to metal areas only. Keep us updated.
Well I do not have a welder and I'm not a welder to begin with. But I do a lot of metalworking as a hobby. So I feel confident in my ability. I was thinking sheet metal as well. Just because it's easy to find. I did see some YouTube vids on people using some kinds of thick plastics.
 
Don't you need to raise your car if it's grounding out? How would a piece of metal going to help? Most people buy SUVs and trucks and use them only on paved roads, your sir are going the opposite direction. Mazda 5 is not an off road vehicle. It is not even a dirt road vehicle. I had a tough time driving it in our local campground. It is not meant to be unless you raise it and risk wearing out the suspension components faster.
Subaru Forester or Crosstrek are more suitable for what you want to do.
 
Don't you need to raise your car if it's grounding out? How would a piece of metal going to help? Most people buy SUVs and trucks and use them only on paved roads, your sir are going the opposite direction. Mazda 5 is not an off road vehicle. It is not even a dirt road vehicle. I had a tough time driving it in our local campground. It is not meant to be unless you raise it and risk wearing out the suspension components faster.
Subaru Forester or Crosstrek are more suitable for what you want to do.
You're right, a SUV or pickup would be a better choice. However, my M5 was what I was available in my price range that's wasn't a P.O.S. So I have to make do with what I have.
 
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