Oil pan Skid Plate. . .in progress.

[bobbyblaze]

Ok. I totally understand the need for a sronger skid plate than the plastic water shield that comes as standard equiptment. I have already torn off the door to that anyway, so I needed a new one.

I had 3 choices as far as I could see.

1) Buy a new plastic one and pray it dosen't get smashed again
2) Buy one of those aluminum ones from bartonmd.

OR. . .
3) Mod the hell out of one for myself. Bigger, Stronger and faster with a few extras. Well, here is the first installment of the fabrication. I should be done and waiting for the paint to dry by tomorrow night.
I made it from 1/4 inch plate steel. Wicked strong. The plate I had to work with is only 12 1/2 inches wide so I had to weld the wings on the sides. I also welded small triangles in front of each of the bolts to help protect the heads from getting sheared off in the event of rock-to-plate contact. You can see the dirty drain bolt in the one pic when I was test fitting it. I still have to add one more layer for the drain bolt protector. No need for 3 layers. 2 will be enough.

tbskid beforesm.jpg

raw steel with OEM plate

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[teebes]

1/4 steel

Can't wait to see more pics

[bobbyblaze]

Part 2 of oil pan skid plate. In the closeup You can see the dirty oil pan drain bolt. The bolt dosen't hang lower than the first layer of steel I welded on. I am only gonna do one more layer. I rounded and smoothed the front of the drain bolt protector to minimize the possibility of something catching it. In the other pic, I laid the old one on top of the new one to see how much more protection i'm getting. Nice !

More to come ? Yep. Bolt protectors and maybe even diamondplate for some bling factor I hope to have it finished with the paint drying, this time tomorrow. Ready in time for for TECORE !!!!

[The Roadie]

Outstanding drool generator. Yes!

Avoid the bling, or TECORE will have to run an intervention.

[bobbyblaze]

Thank you sir

He said intervention The bling will be for good, not evil and will only be seen by rocks, mud, debris and anyone who happens to see this the rest of the pix that I will post in this thread.

Well, off to mow the lawn . . . Then it's grinder time in my yard

[bobbyblaze]

As promised. One finished home brewed oil pan skid plate (well sorta finished). Waitin for the paint to dry Gonna post pix tomorrow.
The second layer of steel for the drain bolt pyramid is all thats needed. I left it open for two reasons. One being that if I land hard enough on a rock and the plate does bend, My drain bolt won't get smashed by the plate. Unless of course the rock just happens to directly hit the bolt area hard enough, in which case i'd be screwed no matter what I had under there. The other reason for the larger hole is simply to help evacuate water/debris as fast as possible after stream/puddle crossings.
Other than that, I welded triangle shaped deflectors in front of where the mounting bolts go. Sorta like mini bolt sliders. I didn't like the way those bolts were out in the open. Is it overkill ? Didn't cost me anymore money and barely more time for a little insurance policy case I drag a rock across the plate and snap a bolt.
The last thing I did was to add a few more holes for drainage. One on each side tab and two towards the rear just before the crossmember where gravity and inertia would take it. Once again, overkill ? Drilling four extra holes didn't kill me.
There's one more bling i'm adding after paint.

TBnewplateclose2sm.jpg

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[MrSmithsTB]

Nice, nice work. Feel like making another one?

[teebes]

Lookin' good!

I like the buildup in front of the bolt heads, good thinking! One of the vendors on the FJ forums uses some sort of indented washer which allows the bolt head to hide a bit. I'm sure the fastener/setup has a more technical name, but my brain is tired

[The Roadie]

Is it overkill ?

Great project! I can absol-frickin-utely GUARANTEE that protecting those bolt heads is not overkill. I've had to use a cutoff wheel three times to get mine off. Even with hardened, hex recess, button head bolts, a rock will distort them enough to make getting a wrench in them impossible.

[Trail X]

I've seen these, by ballistic fab:



Apparently they are called rock washers...?... just another idea.

[bartonmd]

Lookin good!

I'm really glad you added the second layer on the oil pan pyramid!
Did you weld the sides on at an angle, so they rest on the sides of the frame, there?

I'm making them out of 3/16" steel now (as well as the 1/4" aluminum), but we can't punch 1/4" steel... well... we technically can, but it's HARD on the tools, so we don't...

Do be careful, though... Being 1/4" steel, you've made the skidplate much stronger than the frame, so if you hit stuff with absolute wreckless abandon because of your super-strong skidplate, you'll bend the frame, instead...

Mike

[bobbyblaze]

Nice, nice work. Feel like making another one?

We can talk about that at Tecore2

[bobbyblaze]

I've seen these, by ballistic fab:



Apparently they are called rock washers...?... just another idea.

The design that TEEBES has a pic of is a wicked plate and those bolts do hide pretty nicely.

The washers in this pic are freakin badass ! If I had a machine shop, I'd have washers like these.
After seeeing these pics you guys posted, One thing that I would change with mine (and probably will cause I can) is to re-do the bolt protectors after tecore. Gonna' cut off the triangles and fabricate four small round plates with the centers drilled out for the bolts. This way I not only have protection going foward, but also in reverse. Thanks

[bobbyblaze]

Lookin good!

I'm really glad you added the second layer on the oil pan pyramid!
Did you weld the sides on at an angle, so they rest on the sides of the frame, there?

I'm making them out of 3/16" steel now (as well as the 1/4" aluminum), but we can't punch 1/4" steel... well... we technically can, but it's HARD on the tools, so we don't...

Do be careful, though... Being 1/4" steel, you've made the skidplate much stronger than the frame, so if you hit stuff with absolute wreckless abandon because of your super-strong skidplate, you'll bend the frame, instead...

Mike

Thanks. The side welds are an optical illusion. They are straight and paralell with each other. I will try to get a painted pic up tomorrow. I rushed the paint and F***ed it up. Probably gonna reprime and go with a rubberized undercoating over the paint.

I will totally agree with you. 1/4 inch IS hard on the tools. I went through 5 thin cuts for my angle grinder. Broke 3 drill bits, and overloaded my dremel (think that might be fried). Thanks for the heads-up with the strength thing. I don't have any plans to do anything crazy. I used 1/4 inch cause I happened to have a piece of 1/4 inch plate left over from an armor project with an old jeep of mine.

[bartonmd]

Lookin good!

I'm really glad you added the second layer on the oil pan pyramid!
Did you weld the sides on at an angle, so they rest on the sides of the frame, there?

I'm making them out of 3/16" steel now (as well as the 1/4" aluminum), but we can't punch 1/4" steel... well... we technically can, but it's HARD on the tools, so we don't...

Do be careful, though... Being 1/4" steel, you've made the skidplate much stronger than the frame, so if you hit stuff with absolute wreckless abandon because of your super-strong skidplate, you'll bend the frame, instead...

Mike

Thanks. The side welds are an optical illusion. They are straight and paralell with each other. I will try to get a painted pic up tomorrow. I rushed the paint and F***ed it up. Probably gonna reprime and go with a rubberized undercoating over the paint.

I will totally agree with you. 1/4 inch IS hard on the tools. I went through 5 thin cuts for my angle grinder. Broke 3 drill bits, and overloaded my dremel (think that might be fried). Thanks for the heads-up with the strength thing. I don't have any plans to do anything crazy. I used 1/4 inch cause I happened to have a piece of 1/4 inch plate left over from an armor project with an old jeep of mine.

OK, look at the way mine are done... Weld a small angled piece on each side, so it sits on the frame, and transfers some of the load to the sides, not just to the front and back... the back is pretty unsupported...

1/4 is perfectly fine, but just know that you'll still mess up your frame is you go nerfing off of big rocks and stuff... If you treat it like you've got a thinner plate, youre frame will be fine...

Mike

[bobbyblaze]

Due to time constraints, I left the botched paint job the way it is.

Finally finished. . .for now Here's the bling. Had a scrap piece of aluminum diamondplate, so I cut it to fit, scuffed it up with 120 grit sandpaper and pop riveted it to the kick-up at the front of the skid plate. I think it gives it a more rustic, viking warlord type look

I'm probably gonna' mount it tomorrow. I'll post pix of it mounted and lookin pretty.

[MrSmithsTB]

Nice work, Bob.

[Gordinho80]

Good work, Bob. I like the touch of diamond plate. It adds a little more strength to the front lip, so it is functional too...

[MrSmithsTB]

Good work, Bob. I like the touch of diamond plate. It adds a little more strength to the front lip, so it is functional too...

What ever you say, Mario. Congrats on being the schoolyard Aide.

[Gordinho80]

I was just giving Bob some artillery for when Bill attacks him about being blingy again.

Thanks Bot!! I'm bringing a 12 pack to TECORE to celebrate! You coming???