Aftermarket rock / skid plate?

[swengl]

The Cybertruck will come with a certain amount of protection because it needs to protect it's battery from highway debris that might get wedged between the road and battery. Just how much abuse it will be able to take is not determinable from a video because it's basically showing that, at a minimum, there is an aero fairing covering the bottom.

As a life-long off-roader, I can you it's always better to avoid being high centered with most of the weight on a single point. Even if you have a skid plate. This is a good way to get stuck. A skilled driver can avoid this by being familiar with their vehicle and knowing where the wheels will track and being able to pick lines that maximize clearance.

I take my Tesla Model 3 with AWD on roads that require me to use all the skills I have learned just to get through. I often lightly scrape various areas of the under carriage on the ground. This helps the driver learn the limits without causing significant damage. I did need to have one of the pressed fiber under-fairings replaced recently but that's no big deal.

The generous approach/departure angles and maximum ground clearance of the Cybertruck will allow it tackle terrain off limits to many other stock off-roaders and I'm well past the point in my life that I want to do a gnarly route simply to prove that me and my rig are ultra-capable. I drive off-road to get places without a lengthy hike and I have no doubts the biggest limitation of the Cybertruck will simply be it large size, mostly it's width but also it's length. When the going gets tough I navigate very slowly to avoid serious damage. So I think driving skills and a realistic understanding of which purposes the Cybertruck is suitable for, coupled with the very generous ground clearance, pretty much negates the need for a heavy-duty skid plate (beyond whatever OEM protection the battery is protected with). Driving skill and proper caution when indicated go a long way. A fool can still get in trouble, even with a gnarly skid plate.

The Model S has a titanium plate that I can attest that it does a great job protecting the battery: I ran over a cinderblock in my S @ 65 mph on a highway. It scratched up the plastic in front of the battery, but the titanium plate destroyed the cinderblock without any damage to the battery pack. The impact lifted the S off the ground and I feared the worst when I was able to pull over to assess the damage: It was minimal. If they do something similar with the CT, we should be good to go.

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[chalupacabre]

My favorite cowboy warned me that 4WDs just get you stuck further from home.

 

[rr6013]

I don’t think I’ve seen a review where they take a stock truck out on desert roads at 75MPH. I don’t think that is an expectation people have of any stock vehicle.

I see lots of bits on the underside of a Ford Raptor that are far less protected than the battery pack on the Cybertruck.

The highest risk in desert is the sand between two tracks. That reduces speed and undercarriage quick. Mohave has long road portions that are stable packed sand. Maybe it just looked like 75mph when Raptors passed my Chevy. They have more travel and do travel faster. They might be millionaires.LOL

 

[FrankMCT]

The population of people who off-road at 75 mph is largely limited to multi-millionaires and a few young rednecks who either know how to weld or will shortly be learning how to weld.

Due to nowadays prices for service and details, we will be rednecks as soon as possible. I'm ready for it with my MIG welder(reviewed here). Or 1st option, probably

 

[Sirfun]

My favorite cowboy warned me that 4WDs just get you stuck further from home.

4x4's just allow you to get further in, deeper, and MORE stuck. Which means WAY more difficult to get to, and get out when you do get stuck. A must for off-roading is recovery points.

I love watching Matt's offroad recovery on Youtube. Yesterday's video was as bad as it gets.

 

[Hunter]

4x4's just allow you to get further in, deeper, and MORE stuck. Which means WAY more difficult to get to, and get out when you do get stuck. A must for off-roading is recovery points.

I love watching Matt's offroad recovery on Youtube. Yesterday's video was as bad as it gets.

Interesting to contemplate both getting a CT stuck like this, and getting it unstuck. Possibly this is a place for the crab-walk.

 

[Crissa]

Interesting to contemplate both getting a CT stuck like this, and getting it unstuck. Possibly this is a place for the crab-walk.

Yep. And why you don't take certain terrain alone.

-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

Interesting to contemplate both getting a CT stuck like this, and getting it unstuck. Possibly this is a place for the crab-walk.

I think this is no place for a CT. That (path) sounds like it was made by ATV's which are way more narrow than a CT. Matt would not have driven up that thing, EXCEPT for a job.

However, that being said. Crabwalk/ 4 wheel steering would have been helpful. I just hope 4 wheel steering isn't so helpful that it will get us into predicaments that will be even harder, for recovery. This is why it's a bad idea to go off on your own like this guy had to for his job. I've been stuck and had to walk out to get help. It's not fun!

 

[FutureBoy]

Watching the recovery video I see the trucks driving on a path that has a significant slant to the side. I'm wondering if the CT would allow you to drive a path like that with the suspension set such that the cab is relatively flat while the wheels are compensating for the lean in the road.

If it does, the driving would be more comfortable on a trail like this. But that might also lull some people into thinking things were safer than they really are.

 

[Quicksilver]

I was in the surplus military vehicle hobby/business for many years.
It never ceased to amaze me what acts of stupidity a human is capable of.
Just because a vehicle was built to traverse all manners of terrain in all weather conditions does not mean you can't get it stuck or tear it up trying to get it unstuck.
The Army has several manuals that deal with how to self recover or to recover other vehicles.
I attended the "Vehicle Recovery and Evacuation Course" at Fort Eustice, Virginia many years ago and we were taught how to avoid getting stuck before we were taught how to unstick them.

 

[Hunter]

Watching the recovery video I see the trucks driving on a path that has a significant slant to the side. I'm wondering if the CT would allow you to drive a path like that with the suspension set such that the cab is relatively flat while the wheels are compensating for the lean in the road.

If it does, the driving would be more comfortable on a trail like this. But that might also lull some people into thinking things were safer than they really are.

And I don't think a seat belt will save you from a roll off a hill like this. He should never have been up there, and especially not with all around tires like he had. Should have backed out long ago. Notice how the rocks roll the car down hill on the back wheels after the front has been pulled up. Marbles. darn-fool.

 

[Eye of Elon]

If the Cybertruck FSD can drive backwards long distances on dirt roads I'll take a lot more chances starting out on scetchy looking roads.

 

[Ogre]

Yep. And why you don't take certain terrain alone.

-Crissa

This poor dude was just the victim of bad mapping or bad directions. He’d never intended to hit a super-sketch 4WD route!

 

[FutureBoy]

This poor dude was just the victim of bad mapping or bad directions. He’d never intended to hit a super-sketch 4WD route!

Plus it was his job to service something he knew others had driven up to before. So his expectation was that the road was navigable even if it looked a bit sketch at the start. Unfortunately, Google apparently gave him a path that was over a less than navigable 4wheeler path instead of the much better-built dirt road.

I think I would have really tried looking for another path before getting too far up that sketchy road.

 

[Ogre]

Plus it was his job to service something he knew others had driven up to before. So his expectation was that the road was navigable even if it looked a bit sketch at the start. Unfortunately, Google apparently gave him a path that was over a less than navigable 4wheeler path instead of the much better-built dirt road.

I think I would have really tried looking for another path before getting too far up that sketchy road.

The other way was gated. Also, looked like the sort of road where it kept getting worse and worse as you climbed.

With no turn-around a lot of people aren’t comfortable reversing down a hill.

Just a bad setup. Dude probably makes $15/ hr to do this. Hopefully his employer paid for the rescue and his time, if he’s a contractor he got screwed.

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