Can't speak towards the others, but I have the IPD skid plate and while I was initially annoyed with the construction, after modifications it has held up against some serious punishment -see the two years later update. That was 2011 - and it's still going strong, the only updates in the interim 5 years being:
1) I ended up cutting out a 4" hole around where the lower engine mount was making contact. This eliminated the scraping noise under acceleration/deceleration
2) the hose clamp on the driver side IC hose started hitting the leading edge of the plate, likely due to damage sustained during an impact. Two days ago I hammered out the new curve and it seems to be clearing it now.
All of the reinforcements that I made have clearly improved the strength of the plate, but I'm not sure they would be needed for everyone. I have been known on occasion to exclaim "F* it I have AWD" as I veer off road in a stupid maneuver. If you are gentler with your car, the stock IPD is probably fine. Overall I would highly recommend getting an aluminum skidplate. Keep an eye on the scars and you'll be glad you did!
I have an IPD skid plate as well and I have the same issues with it as theshadow27 does with regards to it hitting the lower transmission mount and the intercooler clamp. I don't know how thick the Volvo skid plate is but the IPD one is only about 1/4" so it does bend pretty easy if you hit something. As well the skid plate mounts to the bottom of the radiator mount which is also pretty thin metal. The skid plate isn't going to save you from hitting something solid but it does provide some protection. Pretty much every time I take the skid plate off I need to bend it back into shape. I don't like that it has the IPD logo cut out of it as well as the hole cut out of it to access the oil drain plug. These holes just allow snow to pack in there. Also, another modification to the IPD skid plate that you should do is to install some rivnuts into the radiator mount so that you don't have to use the bolts they supply to mount it. Installing and removing the bolts they give you is really difficult to do.
Also, in case you were wondering what the rows on the bottom are, there's three rows of angle running down the length, so now it's an actual skid plate instead of a decoration. There's beads of silicone running down the length, and one rivet per inch. It's significantly more sturdy than before, no flex whatsoever.
Since those photos were taken, I also added a 3/8" aluminum spacer around the rear holes to drop it down a little. This leaves a gap along the back to allow water and snow to work their way out without pooling.
I agree with the stock hardware sucking. Rather than rivnuts, I ended up welding nuts onto carriage bolts to make them captive, then I just use regular nuts to hold it on. At some point, if it lasts long enough, I'll probably replace two of the front nuts with pins.
The only bend I've seen is in the front (non-reinforced) section, which clearly involved a serious impact. Since the mods, I really have no complaints.
Considering how flimsy the front mounting location is, I wouldn't want a steel plate - Personally, I'd much rather have the skid plate deform than the oil pan
I know my old V50 had a crack in the factory plastic one, just in front of the oil pan. It was good enough to save the oil pan but I was always nervous.
My driveway is a 1/3 of a mile uphill- all gravel. It's got terrible ruts and bumps... I want to try and find something that'll give me the best protection possible ?
I have a used plastic one you can have for $40 shipped if you want. There's nothing wrong with it. I installed the IPD skid plate and have hit things and bend it back...it's still better than plastic but plastic is better than nothing.
The IPD skid plate uses 3 bolts to the sheet metal radiator guard in the front (where the stock one uses clips) and two large bolts into the subframe in the back.
IIRC, the Volvo plate and the iPd plate both sit at about the same height. They have a good 1" crumple room between the plate and the bottom of the oil pan.
Construction looks great but looks like you'd have to drop it every time for oil change and there's two huge holes in the front. I'd like to see it installed.
I have the IPD plate... got it a bit over a year ago I think. It covers the belts (the AC compressor has slung plenty of clutch dust on it as proof). It doesn't make any odd noises and seems just as sturdy as the RalliTEK one that I used to have on my Subaru (which makes sense... since iPD and RalliTEK are one and the same). It took a beating on that car and kept on going. There is a hole for lower engine mount clearance, and the oil service hole like the old ones have.
I managed to own the V50 for three years with no underside protection and not hit anything. Since I installed the skidplate I've hit something a couple times a year. It has lots of scrapes and a few gouges from incidents but it works fine. Engine bay stays dry except for what comes through the radiator/condenser in heavy rain. My only complaint is the lack of decent hardware, but I fixed that easily with a trip to the hardware store for some quality stainless stuff.
Just for fun, here's 7 years later with the IPD (click for big):
Note the cutout for the lower mount, the spacers in the back, where I had to hammer out the curl in the front, and where the hose clamp started to eat through the eDead.
Little bit of a mess - the drain plug loosened up on me some how...
My IPD skid plate bent out going over something and dragged on any obstruction something awful, and I had to pound it back in...it has a dent now around the mount on the driver's side...probably better this way, but the IPD skid plates on the P1 are flimsy as hell. Still better than nothing I suppose. My mechanic also put in some slightly longer bolts on the front and tightened them down with locking nuts...so they hand down and are solidly in place making it a cinch to install the skid plate over them with another stet of locking nuts from the bottom side of the skid plate, and it's done- no more finagling though the little space at the top to get the skid plate off or on.
The Volvo plate you linked in your first post to FCP says it's $378.29, not the $334.99 you posted. Was it on sale back then? Anyway, here's the same part from Tasca for less http://www.tascaparts.com/oe-volvo/31269433 . I have a used Volvo plate that looks just like that. Not sure if I'm going to use it or not. The rivnuts that came with it are really beefy, pretty sure my rivnet tool isn't up to the task. Might need to have my mechanic install it.
Not having installed any other but the IPD aluminium underbody cover plate, I can only recommend that one, which I bought on sale from IPD for about $150 about 12 months ago. It already has been scratched and gauged but not through, so the protection is very good.
The PO of my car replaced them with some regular hex head screws like you can find at Home Depot. It makes it more convenient since I don't need to bet out the torx sockets. Kind of wish I had done it to my other car years ago.
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