A New Tranny Skid

jason thompson · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:40 pm

OK folks I talked with the guys a Searchers 4wd ,the owner
he said the same thing that I have been saying about the KJ after market
"why build/stock it if no one buys it?"

How ever there is some great news in this he will build ANYTHING we want for a KJ
all he needs is a "test" rig
we talked about the tranny skid and when he did mine IIRC it was $120 or so but I had to do a lot of work my self
all he did was cut and weld the steel if he has to drill holes and make "out riggers" the price will probably go to around $225-$250
my guess
He also said that he wants 5 for the first "bach" then he would build to order
same would apply to any thing else

so now the big question
who wants one? and is $250 to much money?
You will still need to paint it your self ,sorry

let me know

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:06 pm

I'd be interested in a wider tranny skidplate tht was just as strong as the Superskid II. $250 seems reasonable but, I would like to see some plans or pics of it, first. What are you talking about with "outriggers"?

jason thompson · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:33 pm

Dje Ryu wrote:

I'd be interested in a wider tranny skidplate tht was just as strong as the Superskid II. $250 seems reasonable but, I would like to see some plans or pics of it, first. What are you talking about with "outriggers"?

By out riggers I mean something like a little leg that goes from the skid to the unibody
I do not know if they are realy needed or not
I do know that as far as breakover on hills they are NOT needed but if you were to come down hard on a log or rock you WILL need them

I have a pic of the prototype that is on our KJ
it will basicaly look like this but with the kick stands or legs

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:44 pm

Ahh, then the outrigger style is exactly what I've been looking for, I think. Would those be plates of steel along the sides, or just bars to add reinforcement? I'd really like some plates, as the rocks around here are pretty darn sharp and unforgiving, not to mention, rather large. Also, would the outriggers interfere with any of the current sliders on the market, do you think? Particularly, RL's skinks?

jason thompson · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:58 pm

Dje Ryu wrote:

Ahh, then the outrigger style is exactly what I've been looking for, I think. Would those be plates of steel along the sides, or just bars to add reinforcement? I'd really like some plates, as the rocks around here are pretty darn sharp and unforgiving, not to mention, rather large. Also, would the outriggers interfere with any of the current sliders on the market, do you think? Particularly, RL's skinks?

The steel on the sides and center are 1/4 X 1" angle for strength
as far as the out riggers and sliders I could not say

If you look at the first pic you you can see the tranny pan and the Y pipe for the muffler in the back ground but the unibody is close to you
I think that the sliders mount to the out side of the unibody the out riggers will be a 1/4" thick 1"X2" C chanle that will go from left to right under the tranny
I may NOT go all the way across to avoid a sharp pressure point under the tranny
That is how it is now
My Idea is that if you do hit is so hard that you point load it and bend it to the tranny you MAY or MAY NOT damage the tranny
but it SHOULD NOT get a hole in the pan or suffer damage beyond a bent pan and skid

Remember that that skid as it sits now is stronger than the OE and has held up the front tires on a dirt hill due to lack of breakover
also there are almost NO scraches from the front cross member to just under the pipe
now the area near the X-fer case is a whole nother story

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:11 pm

Oh, I understand what you're saying, completely. It seems to be a very capable skid, as you have it but, I tend to go off-road when there's snow covering the rocks, so I've really been looking for something that could cover a LOT of area. Although from what you're describing, I could always weld a couple of plates to the outriggers and achieve what I'm looking for... probably cheaper that way than having them made that way, anyway. Thanks, put me down for one, if you can get the deal together. I'll have the $$ next month so, just let me know. I'm ordering skids one way or another... whatever I can find. A Detours Backbone and rear hitch(for now :twisted:

) too, hopefully.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:38 pm

Dje Ryu wrote:

Oh, I understand what you're saying, completely. It seems to be a very capable skid, as you have it but, I tend to go off-road when there's snow covering the rocks, so I've really been looking for something that could cover a LOT of area. Although from what you're describing, I could always weld a couple of plates to the outriggers and achieve what I'm looking for... probably cheaper that way than having them made that way, anyway. Thanks, put me down for one, if you can get the deal together. I'll have the $$ next month so, just let me know. I'm ordering skids one way or another... whatever I can find. A Detours Backbone and rear hitch(for now :twisted:

) too, hopefully.

problem that we see with covering all that area is heat build up
and if you box in the exuast pipes that will get HOT

I have a heat issue on my TJ and all I did was raise the X-fer case skid up 2" closer to the body but this moved EVERY thing closer
now the air does not flow as well as it should and the inside of the TJ get HOT

jeepskate · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 2:37 am

What's wrong with this one?

http://www.skidplates.com/Engine_02_KJ.asp

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 9:45 am

jason thompson wrote:

Dje Ryu wrote:

Oh, I understand what you're saying, completely. It seems to be a very capable skid, as you have it but, I tend to go off-road when there's snow covering the rocks, so I've really been looking for something that could cover a LOT of area. Although from what you're describing, I could always weld a couple of plates to the outriggers and achieve what I'm looking for... probably cheaper that way than having them made that way, anyway. Thanks, put me down for one, if you can get the deal together. I'll have the $$ next month so, just let me know. I'm ordering skids one way or another... whatever I can find. A Detours Backbone and rear hitch(for now :twisted:

) too, hopefully.

problem that we see with covering all that area is heat build up
and if you box in the exuast pipes that will get HOT

I have a heat issue on my TJ and all I did was raise the X-fer case skid up 2" closer to the body but this moved EVERY thing closer
now the air does not flow as well as it should and the inside of the TJ get HOT

I have plans to put louvers in my hood to help with the heat issue. Also, this is Wyoming... If there's snow on the ground, chances are that nothing is going to get very warm. I could make the cover plates bolt-on so they could be removed in the summer, when the rocks are not hiding under snow.

CD · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:18 am

I like the skid plate jason but really want it to be wider like the Skid Row one or the SS1 & 2, heat is an issue & I wonder if any of the owners of those mentioned skids has any problems with heat?

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:50 am

Ya'll keep saying wider
I can not see how to make it wider and still function as a skid
I made this one cover from lower A-arm to lower A-arm
then at the cross member to the rear it is between the sloted hols on each side
there is NO exposed tranny and NO way to get it unless some how a log gets in sideways but even then it would do some real damage to
the bottom of the jeep besides the tranny

If you make it any wider it will cover the exaust pipes and the cat.
this will make the inside of the KJ unbearably HOT
Like I said about the TJ all I did was move the exaust closer to the tub and it gets very hot now out on the trails
My experance tells me that if I make it wider then heat will be an issue

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:12 am

jason thompson wrote:

Ya'll keep saying wider
I can not see how to make it wider and still function as a skid
I made this one cover from lower A-arm to lower A-arm
then at the cross member to the rear it is between the sloted hols on each side
there is NO exposed tranny and NO way to get it unless some how a log gets in sideways but even then it would do some real damage to
the bottom of the jeep besides the tranny

If you make it any wider it will cover the exaust pipes and the cat.
this will make the inside of the KJ unbearably HOT
Like I said about the TJ all I did was move the exaust closer to the tub and it gets very hot now out on the trails
My experance tells me that if I make it wider then heat will be an issue

My experience says if you go against what people want you won't make money

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:01 am

BeepBeepJeepJeep wrote:

jason thompson wrote:

Ya'll keep saying wider
I can not see how to make it wider and still function as a skid
I made this one cover from lower A-arm to lower A-arm
then at the cross member to the rear it is between the sloted hols on each side
there is NO exposed tranny and NO way to get it unless some how a log gets in sideways but even then it would do some real damage to
the bottom of the jeep besides the tranny

If you make it any wider it will cover the exaust pipes and the cat.
this will make the inside of the KJ unbearably HOT
Like I said about the TJ all I did was move the exaust closer to the tub and it gets very hot now out on the trails
My experance tells me that if I make it wider then heat will be an issue

My experience says if you go against what people want you won't make money

I could care less about making money on this skid
I wont make a dime
besides I have one I am trying to help others that dont

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:06 am

Gotta remember that what people sometimes "want" and what will "work" are two different things.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:51 pm

Okay, T-skids, rear bumpers, front bumpers, diff covers....covered pretty well. How about the stuff we don't have yet or currently have lame products?

How about a better front skid? We already have a great T-skid.

If everybody won't build something because they say people won't buy it, how can they know if people won't buy what they won't build if nobody has built it to find out that people won't buy what they built that didn't get bought?

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:26 pm

Tokyojoe wrote:

Okay, T-skids, rear bumpers, front bumpers, diff covers....covered pretty well. How about the stuff we don't have yet or currently have lame products?

How about a better front skid? We already have a great T-skid.

If everybody won't build something because they say people won't buy it, how can they know if people won't buy what they won't build if nobody has built it to find out that people won't buy what they built that didn't get bought?

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:34 pm

Tokyojoe wrote:

Okay, T-skids, rear bumpers, front bumpers, diff covers....covered pretty well. How about the stuff we don't have yet or currently have lame products?

How about a better front skid? We already have a great T-skid.

If everybody won't build something because they say people won't buy it, how can they know if people won't buy what they won't build if nobody has built it to find out that people won't buy what they built that didn't get bought?

You tried way too hard there...

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:19 pm

No trying. Old age. :lol:

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:35 pm

I will have him build what ever you want
all I need is 5 FIRM commitments on them
even if I dont want one that does not mean that it can not be built

I think a new front skid would be great ,one that goes up higher and is wider and not so steep so it "slides" up stuff insted of diging in?

CD · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:11 pm

jason thompson wrote:

Ya'll keep saying wider
I can not see how to make it wider and still function as a skid
I made this one cover from lower A-arm to lower A-arm
then at the cross member to the rear it is between the sloted hols on each side
there is NO exposed tranny and NO way to get it unless some how a log gets in sideways but even then it would do some real damage to
the bottom of the jeep besides the tranny

If you make it any wider it will cover the exaust pipes and the cat.
this will make the inside of the KJ unbearably HOT
Like I said about the TJ all I did was move the exaust closer to the tub and it gets very hot now out on the trails
My experance tells me that if I make it wider then heat will be an issue

That's exactly what I want to cover, I'm concerned that a nice rock will cause some damage to the exaust when comming down on it. I do however think that the concerns you raise are valid. So how do you get both?? Air holes in the plate down each side. OK it will reduce some of the strenght but it's still better than no protection. What do you think.

A New Tranny Skid

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