Do I Need a Skid Plate on a 04.5 Sportsman 500, does anyone use these, It looks pretty beefy under there. I can see putting plates on the A-arms. What do you think?

 

I use the Polaris guards on the A-arms to protect the valuable boots. But for the main body, I don't think you need one. It is all steel there. I have done some nasty belly-skids on some big rocks on my 400, and looking under there, all there is is some long scratches that run the whole length. Maybe if you did rock crawling on a regular basis and regularly slammed down on the center of the frame, but even then, it is pretty sturdy already.