I just bought a DG full body skidplate for my 400ex. It came with 4 clamps(3 of one size, and 1 that was a little smaller), a T shaped bracket for the top, and 5 screws(3 long ones and 2 short ones). I am not sure why one of the clamps is smaller and the screws are two different sizes. Has anyone else installed one of these? And if so, is this the same mounting hardware that came with yours? You would think that when you pay that much money for a piece of aluminum that DG could at least provide simple instructions. If anyone could shed some light on where the smaller clamp and 2 shorter screws are supposed to go I would appreciate it.

Thanks, Mike
'00 400ex

 

I have the same skid plate on my 400ex, I didn't have any problem with that but my bolts sure went in real hard. Make sure you are using a good allen head wrench to put them on or they will round out for sure. As far as your bolts being diiferent sizes, I didn't have that problem, I would just make sure you have a good amount of the bolt threads going into your brackets. If I had to buy new skid plates again i sure wouldn't go with the DG product!

 

I had several friends look at it, and nobody could figure out why the different size clamp and bolts. I think that someone screwed up at the factory and put the wrong stuff in the bag. I was able to put it on, and it seems to be on there solid. I am going to use some lock-tite on the bolts before I go out riding. I still need to get a swingarm skidplate. I'm thinking of going with another company, possibly PRM. If anyone has the PRM swingarm skidplate, let me know what you think of it.

Thanks, Mike

 

I have a DG skid and A-arm guards. The only good is the A-arm guards, no complaints about those but the skid is another story. You think paying that much money that the the skid would fit.. I could only get the T and 2 of the curved anchors to work the other two forget it. All my bolts were different sizes. I would never buy DG skids again. In fact today i just paid $15 dollars for a 1/8 inch piece of AL for my polaris and made my own skid in about two hours with a drill and a jigsaw.

 

This is a little bit of your subject, but I was going to buy a DG skidplate for my EX till I read your forums. Have you heard anything bad about the AC skidplate?

 

The DG skid plate material wears well, but the mounting system is terrible. The best way I got it to tighten up all the way for me was to start the bolts, and then use an adjustible wrench to hold the clamp from spinning. You could use pliers, but then the clamp would get nicked up.
As for the best swingarm skid plate on the market is the Pro-tect. This skid is hand made of stainless steel, and is a completely perfect fit, and the best crafted skid out there. They do not use elongated holes that most mass produced skids use either. I use these on my team esclusivly for XC racing, and have never had one fail me yet. The added benifit of the stainless has over the aluminum is the fact that rocks cannot scrape away the stainless material as it would aluminum, making it thin and weak, plus the stainless has a lot more resistance toward bending. They are tig welded, and when you do bent one, all you do is remove it and bend it back with a hammer. Just remember that a good skid plate has to take the hit well enough to last the race or the weekend. One that is too soft or too hard when hit will let the swingarm take the impact which eventually gets real expensive when you are replacing swingarms and brake rotors. The Pro-tect is probably the most expensive skid out there at $120.00 ea., but what is you swingarm and rotor worth to you? I am on my third year with my pro-tect skid, and it looks great, when I use to by an aluminum one at least twice a year. If you are set on aluminum then I would suggest a PRM skid. You can email Pro-tect @ www.protect@indy.net. As of now, Pro-tect only make Honda skids for 250X, 300EX, 250R, and 400EX.

 

I spent 3 hours (some of the time chasing the dog) installing the son of a Bi... What I came up with was that the smaller clamp is for by the shift lever so as to not catch on it when you shift.
The part about starting them all and then tighten them up will work if you can get them all started but I saved one short screw and the short clamp for last. The T clamp gets the other short screw.
I thought the same thing about the mixed bag of hardware with no instructions. I hope I cleared up your questions with the guesses I made... The group I ride with has 5 400ex's and 3 of us got the DG at the same time but the other two don't know what to do now... can't blame them for reconsidering... DG what a joke... and I was all ready to sing the praises with all the band wagon people, but now all I have to say is you could do it better and less expensive at your local machine shop... again, DG what a joke... Now what do I do for a front bumper???

DoughBoyRacer
WWW.EvilPumpkinRacing.com

 

DoughBoyRacer,
We must think alike because I mounted mine the same way with the smaller clamp by the shifter. I still can't understand why they couldn't provide simple directions so that people don't have to guess how to install. I think that I am going to go with the PRM swingarm skidplate. As for the front bumper, I have a friend with a Warrior with a DG front bumper, and it mounted up without any problems and looks good. My cousin has a PRM front bumper on his 300ex, and I think it is butt ugly(just my opinion). I would probably go with the DG front bumper over the PRM.