2024-2026 Ford Ranger Raptor Fuel Tank Skid Plate

The skid plates can be installed on the ground, but if you do decide to jack up your truck to get more room for the install ALWAYS use jack stands. Never go underneath your truck on jacks alone. The skid plates come with (4) different steel mounting brackets that bolt into the factory gas tank mounting locations. All (4) of the brackets are different and have a specific location as marked below:

The gas tank skid plate comes in two pieces and the first step is to bolt the two skid plates together before installing the skid plate. Using the provided (4) 3/8 x 1" bolts, (8) washers, and (4) low profile 3/8" nylock nuts bolt the skids together with the front skid portion underneath the rear portion.

Once the skid plates are bolted together the steel mounting brackets can be installed. ONLY install one bracket at a time as you will be removing the gas tank mounting bolts that hold the gas tank up. If you remove more than one bolt at a time the gas tank could fall down causing damage to your vehicle. The (4) factory gas tank bolts are located in the locations shown below.

The first bracket to install will be the drivers side rear bracket. This mounting bolt is tucked between the gas tank and the lower rear control arm frame mount. See picture below of factory bolt location and bracket mounting orientation. Fully remove this factory mounting bolt and use it to mount the drivers side rear bracket. You can fully tighten this bracket in place with the factory bolt as it is hard to get back in later to tighten this with the skid plate installed. Factory strap bolt torque is 35 ft-lbs.

The next bracket to be installed is the passenger side rear bracket. This is the longer bracket and will mount using the factory gas tank mounting bolt. Fully remove this bolt and install the passenger side rear bracket. For the rest of the mounting bracket leave them just slightly loose so you can move the bracket slightly if necessary for alignment with the skid plate.

The next bracket will be the passenger side front bracket. Again you will need to remove the factory bolt completely and install our bracket with the factory bolt. Leave this bolt slightly loose as well so you can move the brackets slightly if needed for alignment. See picture below of the installed bracket. **Update this bracket has been changed from a "Z" shape to a "C" shape to improve strength and room between gas tank and rivnut**

Final bracket is the driver's side front bracket. This will be the shortest bracket and will be bolted to the frame with the factory gas tank bolt as well. Picture below showing installed orientation.

Now that all (4) brackets are installed we can install the skid plate. There are four holes that will line up with the brackets that were just installed. Using the provided (4) 3/8 x 1" bolts and (4) washers with a dab of blue loctite on the threads of these bolts install the skid plate to the brackets. Torque these bolts to 15 ft-lbs, the blue loctite will hold these bolts tight. See installed picture below.

Go back and tighten all the factory gas tank bolts to 35 ft-lbs. Once the skid plate bolts are all tightened and factory gas tank bolts are tightened the installation is complete. Enjoy your new Juggernaut USA skid plate!