When you head off-road, you want the sensitive parts under your vehicle protected. The well-known VW off-road specialist Seikel has now taken on the VW Bus T8 and the Ford Custom V710.
Thanks to the cooperation between Ford and VW, the VW Bus T8 and the Ford Custom V710 are closely related. So it made sense for Seikel to offer protection systems for the 4×4 versions. These make up the most elaborate protection design Seikel has developed to date: the engine skid plate in 8 mm thick aluminium, a plate for the fuel tank and one for the AdBlue tank.
New rock sliders protect the lower flank of the vehicles. Hollow aluminium profiles with internal reinforcing struts give the necessary strength.
Underbody protection: several plates guard the vulnerable spots
It’s getting more crowded down there. Where 30 years ago there were only a few things under the car, the underbody today is packed with all sorts of tech. When you head off-road, you do well to protect it. Especially when the vehicle wasn’t primarily developed for off-road use and the engineers therefore didn’t make a point of keeping sensitive parts out of the contact zones.
The list of underbody plates shows everything that could be damaged on ground contact: the engine, the low-mounted radiator, the fuel and AdBlue tanks, differentials and various driveshafts. Add to that the sills, which are also permanently at risk because they sit so low.
Engine and radiator protection
In the lower front, the low-mounted radiator and the engine, or rather its oil pan, are especially at risk. These are made today of very thin steel sheet or plastic, which don’t cope well with knocks and impacts. In front of the engine sits the delicate radiator, very low down. At that height you’ll soon pick up a branch. That’s exactly what the engine skid plate and the radiator guard protect against.
Tank protection
Naturally the heavy things on a vehicle sit lower down. So do the tanks, of which diesel vehicles now have two: fuel and AdBlue. Both have to be protected from damage when driving off-road. So matching protection systems round off Seikel’s underbody range for the VW and the Ford. The tank plate and the underbody plate do the job.
This also protects the lines of the air conditioning and the night heater.
Rockslider
Rock sliders help protect the sills. These are just as exposed off-road, especially when the vehicle has a longer wheelbase. The Seikel rock sliders don’t stick out too far, so they don’t get in the way when you climb out. To make them strong enough despite the light aluminium, they have reinforcing struts inside. They’re kept flat so as not to give up too much ground clearance.
The new protection systems are already available from Seikel: Seikel protection systems for the Ford Custom V710 and the VW Bus T8.
© Photos: Seikel