to sidestep or not?

i spose as long as the prop shafts aren't obstructed by it it would be ok, a mate has bolted a sheet of 6mm ally to his slitty an that looks ok until you look underneath or have to change the gear box oil that is, but still you could make access doors for all that stuff,
unlike his

I have looked at options like this for mine as I have underslung gas tanks so would like to protect their mountings a little.. but every idea I come up with reduces ground clearance and as this is my main drive I don't want to do any lifting.. so it's always back to the drawing board for me...