skid pate material

[aggielr]

what should i use for a t-case skid plate, i'm redoin the piece of crap someone riged up under my pile and i'm goin to make my own, what size sheet metal should i get to make it out of?

[redcagepatrol]

heat and bend some 3/8" flat plate. Jason did that and it came out pretty good + only 3/8" think.

it might have been 1/2", can't remember

[Krawler68]

USe some of that plastic **** that weighs nothin'... It's like 10x lighter than 3/8" plate steel...

Doug

[redcagepatrol]

Originally posted by Krawler68
USe some of that plastic **** that weighs nothin'... It's like 10x lighter than 3/8" plate steel...

Doug

are you for real - what is it? I want some

[Cajun]

The stuff the make cutting boards out of.

1/2"? Was he building a tank? Expecting land mines?

[Krawler68]

http://www.indplastic.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=detail&id=54875&product=38

here is one option...Delrin. Kind of more brittle than the following two options... you really should tuck EVERYTHING in the frame rails before you go this route...it would be REALLY dumb to try and mount your t-case to .5" plastic.

I think this stuff may be anywhere from 1/2 the weight to 5x lighter... my first statement was a little optimistic.

Here are two other options.

UHMW- not much info, but seemingly a tad bit softer than HDPE, which is more like cutting board material.

HDPE- http://www.plasticsusa.com/hdpe.html


These substances can be ironed to get rid of gouging made by rocks.... the only condition is that as heat is applied to these products they become VERY weak... at 180* you should be able to do a 90* bend with your gloved hands... hence it is imperative you keep ehaust away from these skids, or else heavily insulate your exhaust.

Doug

[redcagepatrol]

plastic sounds like a bad idea - too much to worry about with the heat and getting stuck on rocks. The weight is down low anyways, not a big deal to use steel

[Krawler68]

It's actually a luricated plastic at the molecular level, and if insulated properly works pretty badass... seen several people use it, and they just drag right over stuff... they like it alot... any weight is bad weight...

Doug

[eight]

He's building a real jeep, they don't use ****ty little Z71 plastic skid plates. I'd build a beefy tranny mount then the skid plate out of 3/16" and use some angle iron or whatever you have laying around for bracing.

[Krawler68]

Ryan continue on in the stoneage... you are a dumbass if you think there isn't room for advanced plastics in the rock crawling world. The purpose of a skidplate is not to be heavy...its purpose is to deflect rocks away from expensive and delicate driveline parts and slide you over boulders... high impact platics in .5" thick applications are Exceptional for this... not to mention well used and trail proven. If you ever try to climb an extremely vertical climb you'll find out the advantages of light weight and try to lose weight everywhere you can. Every pound counts. EVERY POUND!!!

Doug

[aggielr]

as much fun as it would be to say i had a milk jub skid plate, i'm goin to have to go w/ steel because of the price issue and this ain't no comp rig, so i guess i'll deal w/ extra weight, but i think the 3/8 th's flat plate might be the best choice as of now

[Chadnutz]

I have a sheet metal brake biotch.

[Krawler68]

the plastic would only be 200 bucks... and you don't need the sheetmetal brake...just a hairdryer... :flipoff2:

Doug

[eight]

Metal is a few cents per pound. Since you've got all this money coming out of your ass, why haven't you bought that 60 you keep wanting? And if you're gonna talk **** about my weight, you could say something about maybe bobbing it, or removing the AC system, or the passenger seat, or a number of other things that actually make a difference. But $200 to lose 30 pounds, I could do that much by just not eating, and taking my boots off.

[Krawler68]

Hmmm... because I've spent more than a D60 on beefing my D44...

I have spent enough to build a pair of 60's on my 44... it's the nature of the beast I already had it ready to go, and so I kept dumping money in it.


As for having money coming out of my ass... 200 bucks isn't that much money. Find me a D60 for less than 800 and I'll buy it.

I wasn't talking **** about YOUR weight, but weight in general... and it's not 30 pounds but more like 100 pounds if you run a full skid plate...

Doug

[Doug Krebs]

you have to wait to trip on a dana 60 before you find one for cheap... i always imagined getting one for like 100 bucks, but 335 wasn't bad!

[redcagepatrol]

I tripped and fell... sucka's:flipoff2:

[bigFAWKINranger]

just use the 3/8" plate... thats what i intend to use if i EVER figure out how to get this check signed by ford.

[robertf03]

lift the bitch sky high and have a wheel base that works with your size tire. then you wont need a 3/8" skid plate


1/4" should be overkill. I'm not sure what I'll use on mine, it'll probably be 3/16" thick, which is more than enogh if its got a few bends in it.

[Graystroke]

Yeah, 3/8" is way over kill. At 15.30 lbs/sq foot you would be looking at least 60lb skid plate. I'd think about building some brackets out of 1/4" steel and bend over a mounting place and then attaching 3/8" aluminum plate with counter sunk allen head screws.

And on the platsic issue. yeah, it would work. I don't know how well it would deflect the shock load (seems it would just bend and transfer the load to T-case, T-case mounts, etc.

I do know that gravel trucks use plastic to line their trailers to allow the gravel to slide out and not tear the trailer (some of the gravel and ore highly abrasive) . So it is slick. Maybe it contains PTFE?

[Cajun]

My understanding is that aluminum gouges, and because of this is too "sticky" if that makes sense. I don't have any personal experience with the stuff, so I can't say one way or another.

Anyone?

[redcagepatrol]

the 3/8" skidplate I was talking about was made for a yota, probably 6" flat plate with bends in it to drop down off the frame and catch the tranny mount, then back up to the other side of the frame. When using 6" x 3/8" plate bent to fit, you don't need any extra support and it would only weigh 30lbs at the most.

As for a Heep skidplate / crossmember... Did ya'll see the 1/4" think one we made for Troy that we ruined the first time out??? If you are using 1/4" or 3/16", you better have lots of bracing.

[davido]

I haven't made mine yet, so this thread is interesting. I have a piece of 3' x 4' 3/8" steel at home. It's HEAVY. Really heavy. I'm not going to be using all of it, but it's still going to be a beast (and I'm not happy about that). The main reason I'm using it is because the belly is flat on the Cruiser. If I had humps to go over, I think I would build something more along the lines of what Scott has on the Patrota. A mixing of tubing and flat plate.

~dso

[Krawler68]

Aluminum has a lot of friction to it... I don't think I'd want an aluminum skid... ask Lee N. he's running an aluminum skid... 6061 maybe... I think he had talked about a titanium skid, but for some reason i think he may have gone aluminum for some reason... says it's not exactly a slick metal to drag, but he hasn't had enough time with it to know one way or the other...

I think steel is an OK choice, but the plastic isn't an expensive option like all you sandy vaginas are complaining.


Doug

[davido]

Mine doesn't need to support any running gear, but the exhaust is going to be close to it. With a flat skid plate and no body lift, there's no way around that. I don't mind spending the money (what's another $200 at this point), but I also don't want to end up between waterfalls with a melted skid plate.

Since I have the steel, I'll probably start with it. I'm interested in hearing more though. Maybe once I get out and about on the trail again, I'll learn more.


For now, it's back to work....

~dso