A skid plate is a heavy-gauge steel plate bolted to a vehicle’s underbody to protect the components above from damage, usually associated with off-road vehicles.
A skid plate typically protects components like the engine and steering assembly, with a separate one protecting the fuel tank. Skid plates often are sold as optional equipment on SUVs and pickup trucks to save pavement-bound buyers the money, weight — thus fuel economy — and repair hassles (skid plates tend to obstruct repair work).
Information for this was taken from the Cars.com’s glossary, written by Joe Wiesenfelder.
Learn more
See if your question has already been asked and answered
Your question has been successfully submitted to Ask.cars.com. It will now be reviewed by our editors and we'll answer it soon if we think it's a useful question. You will be notified via e-mail when the answer is posted. Ask.cars.com tackles your questions about new cars and the car-buying process. Unfortunately we can't answer questions regarding:
Have our experts answer any of your questions about new cars.
Don't worry — we won't publish your last name or email.
