my 3/8" bumper weighs in lighter than ARB and a few others at 88lbs

 

What are you hitting that would call for 3/8? Lol

But as for the skid plate, I would brace a 1/4 skid before I ever considered building it out of 3/8

 

All of my wheeling in rock gardens and waterfalls since I live in the desert. I saw a yj put a crease in his 1/4" rock rails and I have seen 3/16" bend often. Although we are not easy on our rigs either

 

If you want to stay with aluminum you could always back plate it with 1/4 steel behind the areas that will take the most abuse. Just cut out a square of steel and bolt it to the aluminum just as an extra percaution. You would still have the nice look aluminum with the added protection of the steel.

 

A decent grade 1/4 alloy or 1/4 mild steel would exceed probably 90% of the current forum users needs. Aluminum would be fine unless you Baja your vehicle frequently. Also make sure the plate is securely mounted to the unibody correctly; also do not mix steel and alloys as they have tendency to corrode each over through electrolysis. If a person were to use alloy make sure to isolate the alloy with stainless hardware and some type of gasket to reduce the corrosive effects.

 

do you have dimensions on that plate, and more pics of how the front mounts?