Jason88888

This is my first post in these forums! I've been driving my 2011 Q5 for about a year now. I'm loving it, but I have a problem. A couple of months ago, I was driving through some deep snow in Canyonlands National Park (on the highway). The road hadn't been plowed, and the snow was rubbing against my undercarriage. After I got back on plowed roads, I could hear a rubbing noise, but I thought it was just ice caked in the wheel wells. When I got back to my hotel, I looked underneath, and saw that the two protective panels (skid plates, for lack of a better term) that run along the sides of the car between the wheels were hanging down. They had both been ripped away from the car along the inner side, and were flapping in the breeze, with tons of snow caked inside them.
I took my Q5 to a car wash, and hosed the snow out of the panels, after which they both sprang back into place, more or less. I was working in a remote area at the time, and I had no options to take the car into an Audi joint for repair. Over the next couple of days, the remaining pieces of the panels broke off as I drove. All of the bolts are still present, and nothing else seems to be damaged. But I am concerned about the exposed fuel and/or brake lines. I called a couple of Audi dealerships to see what it would take to get these flimsy pieces of sh*t replaced, but the people at the dealerships had no clue which part I was talking about.
I've seen some aftermarket aluminum front and rear skid plates, and I'm wondering if these side panels exist in aluminum or some other more sturdy material than lightweight plastic. I've searched the web a fair amount, but no luck. I'd like to know that I can drive through deep snow with my AWD SUV without damaging something. Anybody have any experience/knowledge on the subject?

Thanks!

Jake-AudiUSAParts

Unfortunately, you will probably notice if you do some Googling is that there are aluminum skid plates available but only for cars like Subaru STI's and Mitsu Evo's and so on, I have seen some for the original Allroad but nothing for the Q5. I would recommend finding a company that makes a skid plate that you like the quality and look of and see if they will do a custom job for you, if you do the measuring for them it might not be too expensive. I will do some snooping around and see if I can find anything for you but don't hold your breath.