Attached are pictures for your review. The Trailhawk models have a different front clip, as you know. I had to cut the front small plate so it would fit. Without it, there was no front mounting methods to the lower radiator support. The two factory stamped steel wings had to be removed. The factory bolts I ordered had washers that were too small, so I had to add an extra to them. The new plate added real rigidity to the lower front end for sure.
I did not install these to go rock crawling, just for road debris, camping roads and ice mounds.
The Wolverine heater install went well. It is all sealed up, I think. It is a Model 9. I cannot believe Jeep does not offer a block heater on these.
There is an image with all the part numbers needed to do this install yourselves. Note that the NUTS, 20ea, are NOT needed. I did not use a single one. I put them in my nut bin.
At the lowest point, my ground clearance is now just over 7 1/2".
We left Saturday morning for our first camping trip with the Compass. I can attest, 100%, that the skid plates added some much needed rigidity to the front end. The steering is a lot better. Even after paying to have the tires roadforce balanced, and the dealer doing a warranty alignment, the steering was still light and it wondered. After mounting up the skid plate, those problems are gone. It is still light feeling, but the road no longer dictates how the vehicle goes. That alone was worth the effort.
I found out that the limiting aspect is not the center / breakover angle of the Compass. It is the front air dam. I got it hung up three times on National Forest trails getting to disbursed campsites. It does break away from the lower bumper easily, as I now have a nice separation line in the center. No rocks or other things, and the skid plate never hit the ground. Just ruts with the grassy hump in the middle. I also made it through a couple of decent mud puddles without any issues with traction.
I haven't hit any deep rutted roads yet, but a couple steep angled creek crossings. Nothing to test breakover, but entry and exit angles were pushed! Haven't come close to "rubbing" the underbody yet. Still, I would like to add some protection. Especially if it improves the on road rigidity.
One key point. With the most weight I've had in the Compass, including slow-going gravel and dirt trails, I made it up north and back on less than 3/4 of a tank. Hand calculated MPGs were 29.5. I gained almost 1 MPG.
Nice, I haven't even looked underneath ours yet once. Hard to tell orientation on some of your pictures but it looks good. How thick is the big "plate"? Like is it actually appreciably thick or is it more flexible and sheetmetal-like?
Do these replace factory plastic plates or is it just wide open underneath until you put those on?
Would be neat if we had pictures of a trailhawk and a non-trailhawk from underneath with both on a lift, get a big picture idea of the overall difference it makes.
I'll let you pop your hood and take a look around to answer some of your questions. I'll restate that I noticed a difference in steering and road feel due to the front end being more tied together. The plates are typical Mopar steel. They are a mild steel and painted. I'd not want to bash rocks on a hard trail, but for the reasons I mounted them, they serve the purpose. Since it is unlikely anything aftermarket will surface, factory is the path I chose.
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