What do you guys think of the skid plate in designing?

[Mooseknuckle]

I'm excited to see what happens with this.

[chevycrew]

My skids will protect under the cases, tank, exhaust, etc. But its more to help me slide over stuff. I have a fairly low belly at 24". Im only using plate about the thickness of a nickel? (Im too lazy to go measure it).

I may add a layer of UHMW to help slide at a later date.

[DirtyBacon04]

Well anyone who's not american has some sort of problem.
But agreed with JD, i think 1/4" is plenty thick. We're dealing with pesky lil rocks here... not IEDs.
Unless your gonna go the whole MRAP route and make the thing blast proof.

[fishsticks]

I bent one of Mike's steel oil skids pretty good...

[DirtyBacon04]

Fish... you're in a whole nother category. We need to have "regular armor" and "fishsticks edition" armor

[bartonmd]

I bent one of Mike's steel oil skids pretty good...

Nice thing about mild steel... You do something outlandish and bend it, all it takes is a couple pieces of 2x4, a driveway, and a sledge hammer... Good as new...

The reality is that nothing can be EVERYTHING-PROOF... It's a trade-off between strength/weight/workability/cost... 1/2" A50 is still bendable. Just depends on how had you have to hit it...

Mike

[djthumper]

Fish... you're in a whole nother category. We need to have "regular armor" and "fishsticks edition" armor

I think that is Normal spec, Military spec and then fishstick spec.

[fishsticks]

I bent one of Mike's steel oil skids pretty good...

Nice thing about mild steel... You do something outlandish and bend it, all it takes is a couple pieces of 2x4, a driveway, and a sledge hammer... Good as new...

The reality is that nothing can be EVERYTHING-PROOF... It's a trade-off between strength/weight/workability/cost... 1/2" A50 is still bendable. Just depends on how had you have to hit it...

Mike

This. It should be noted that the subframe underneath suffered no damage. Working as intended.


To all you haters:

[MD_trailblazer]

http://m1079.photobucket.com/albumview/ ... 0&newest=1

http://m1079.photobucket.com/albumview/ ... 1&newest=1

http://m1079.photobucket.com/albumview/ ... 2&newest=1

http://m1079.photobucket.com/albumview/ ... 3&newest=1

http://m1079.photobucket.com/albumview/ ... 5&newest=1

Let me know what you guys think

[navigator]

do you have enough recess for the oil drain plug? It appears you only have the one step (thickness of the metal) and it seems most others I have seen have about 3 steps.

[MD_trailblazer]

It's 7/16 of an inch thick aluminum and the guys running the ones with three steps are 1/4 inch so yes there is plenty of clearance and so far it's been pretty thought went thru some rocky filled mud over some rocks and curbs and also huge logs so far so good but I'm gonna keep testing

[bartonmd]

It's 7/16 of an inch thick aluminum and the guys running the ones with three steps are 1/4 inch so yes there is plenty of clearance and so far it's been pretty thought went thru some rocky filled mud over some rocks and curbs and also huge logs so far so good but I'm gonna keep testing

Yeah, mine are 3 thicknesses of 1/4", for 3/4". It really only needs 3/8 or 7/16" with the engine at rest, but I added a third thickness because I wanted to keep the engine from rubbing on the skid while torqued up and/or bouncing around...

The skid is actually pretty similar to the one I looked at making, when I had the Curt front hitch to support the load under the radiator. I was just going to bolt it to the hitch. This should work well for somebody who is going to wheel with the plastic bumper cover on, and doesn't really need to support a lot of weight on the radiator section, and doesn't want a radiator skid, but also doesn't want sticks and corn stalks getting up into the fan and pulleys. Exactly what I was going for when my wife was using our TB for field work (fire trails, fields, medians, pulling off the side of the road, straddling ditches, etc), several years back...

Mike

[MD_trailblazer]

Yeah that's why I made the front over hang so wide was to protect the fan and pulleys...ima pull it off after a weeks of driving to work and back and check for rubbing and cracks that will be about 800 miles of just daily driving use but every weekend I'm make sure I beat that skid up lol I don't wanna make or sell something that will break and leave you guys stranded that's If I'll be able to keep the price down

[Trail X]

Where are you testing this thing? I wish I knew of a legal place around here to use as a proving ground.

[bartonmd]

Yeah, keeping the price down may be your issue... From general dimensions, and knowing what we pay per lb. of aluminum, I'm guessing before it's even touched, you're looking at $170 or so of aluminum... That's me getting it at cost from where I work, where we get the lowest rates that the distributors give. If you were to go to a local welding shop and buy it, you're probably looking at a $250 piece of aluminum (again, before cutting or welding)... Having been there, done that, making stuff from scrap at work is dirt cheap for yourself, but start making and selling stuff, and you actually pay for it... Not doing so, and somebody finding out, is a good way to get canned... I even pay for materials for myself, any more, becaue I don't want anybody saying that I'm getting stuff for free to sell...

Mike

[navigator]

... I even pay for materials for myself, any more, becaue I don't want anybody saying that I'm getting stuff for free to sell...Mike

there are a lot of folks that lose good jobs over scraps from work, good call on paying for it.

[bartonmd]

... I even pay for materials for myself, any more, becaue I don't want anybody saying that I'm getting stuff for free to sell...Mike

there are a lot of folks that lose good jobs over scraps from work, good call on paying for it.

Yeah, and getting fired for stealing from a company (whether generally allowed or not) makes you pretty much un-hireable...

I work at a really small place, so if it's not too big, and if it's for youself, it's kind of a perk, if you get permission for it... I just want there to be no doubt that I pay for everything, now that I do sell stuff...

Mike

[navigator]

yeah my dad works for a paper mill and they used to be able to get passes for things they deemed as scrap or things they made on their lunch breaks and stuff. People took advantage though and I think it is pretty hard to get a pass for anything now.

[MD_trailblazer]

Where are you testing this thing? I wish I knew of a legal place around here to use as a proving ground.

I'm testing in Pasadena and off of coca cola drive

[Trail X]

Did they open up Coca Cola again? I had heard plenty of stories that the area was closed and that people were getting charged with trespassing.

Where in Pasadena? I'm guessing private land of some sort?