I do on all mine, clear or metal depending on the theme.

I add washers on the top and bottom, and throw away the cheap looking plastic nuts and replace with chrome crown nuts.

what size are those again? I wanted to do those too so the plastic doesn't get all jacked up

I think this is a good idea - if you are careful when screwing things down, you won't bend or damage the plastic. The washers do create a rubbed area sometimes, which is kind of frustrating but better than a broken plastic!

clear plastic seems far better a choice to me than metal. Love the chromed nuts idea.

Kind of a waste IMO.

The top of a plastic is not printed so you don't have to worry about damage - it can be polished out.. and the area is covered by the nut itself anyway. All you are doing is making the blocked area even bigger.

I never thought to add washers like that. Does it actually do anything?

I do add PETG washers below plastics to help protect them from ball strikes, primarly on slingshots and any sections that jut out or are near pop bumpers.

Also, depending on the game, I sometimes use rubber post caps, so if a ball strikes the plastic, it will pop off from the force of the ball, rather than ending up trying to absorb that direct strike and possibly breaking.

Silly me- I thought this thread was about the use of 3/4-1 inch washers to protect plastics near slings from ball strikes.

FWIW- I think almost every game I have came with at least most/many of the plastics using washers as described here so I have carried the "tradition" forward- but wondered why. I do believe I will evaluate their presence going forward now that I discovered they are an aftermarket mod.... they are pervasive in my neck of the woods- that much i know.

nope

Shopped a ton of games and all the above washer does is press it's way into the plastic.

The clear fender washers, when installed correctly, do not actually touch the silkscreened plastics:

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Correct, but not at all on topic.

Seemed like we were talking about PETG washers somewhere in this thread.....and every game I see has them installed incorrectly (chewing up the graphics on the undersides of the plastics).

Not really.

But yes people do put them on incorrectly.

Stern assembled their fender washers wrong too then.. as they would not be under the nut, but on top.

"Stern can't do anything right"

-Pinside

I sometimes put washers on top where the plastics overlap the siderails and have screws holding them on. In those places there is usually a cut-out in the plastic rather than a full hole and it seems to hold them on better.

Do people put metal washers on top of plastic posts as a rule between the plastic post and the top of the metal post, i.e the same place where Vid has the fender washers? I've seen some people do this, but it kind of seems like overkill.

...oops.

Looks like I'm gonna have to fix that on my pin... I just hate that I'll have to mess with so much Loctite...

I kinda do all of the above...clear washers below plastic, sometimes done as vid shows...mostly slings, or shots in direct line.

Metal washers, wherever needed. I rarely add, if ever metal to any new Stern, but on older DMD, so many washers are often removed, I add them back.
(Sometimes, when re-assembling layered games, Ill add a washer above the plastic, because its difficult to get the nut out straight, and it protects gouging the plastic, as well as it being hidden)

Ive broken 2 plastics in 45 years, one had no protection, the other snapped the clear washer as well/

I assume there less ball damage with PETG, plus is looks better.