Custom skid plates

Vranes17 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:23 pm

I have someone who is willing to fab up some custom skids for me. He says custom "For the differential I can do a skid that wraps around it. and I could do a trans and gas tank skid plate. All powder coated for $400.00"

Am i better off ordering all the skids or does someone have a good design we could use to cut down on the cost? Im thinking we could do a full underbody skid the vertical length of the truck, i think i saw someone on the site with one like that.

riptricket · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:34 pm

i think for less than half that price i'd just buy the stock skid plates.. they are great!

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:48 pm

MOPAR skids are awesome for on-pavement diving without a doubt.

dgeist · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:12 pm

It really does depend on what you're going to do with it. If you're talking about 1/4" steel, custom fab work, and so forth, then that's a killer deal. I'd be surprised if they can do a full set the same quality as other aftermarket shops for that price, but you never know until you see. As mentioned, the Mopar skids do offer pretty solid protection unless you're using them as actual skids offroad (and then, they might just bend and you can bend them back).

Did they offer any specs/drawings/cardboard mock-ups with the quote?

P.S. a full body skid would most likely be WAY heavy and probably WAY overkill unless you're really hardcore, in which case you may just want to use the lib to pull a TJ to the trailhead

Some of the SFA conversion guys have gone that route, but they kinda fall into the hard-core bucket.

Dan

Vranes17 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:20 pm

Well I thought about mopar skids but they seem kinda flimsy, i would rather spend a little extra and get something I can dig around and not have any worries. I offered to do some website designing in return for a discount on the skids, well see how that goes. Im thinking I may just keep the stock engine skid and get the tranny, diff cover and maybe just go with the mopar gas skid, or maybe a sweet front engine skid with a cutout of something

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:07 pm

the rustys tank skid is pretty dang nice

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:38 pm

If you can find a Kilby gas tank skid can't beat it , or build one like it :wink:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:50 pm

Vranes17 wrote:

I have someone who is willing to fab up some custom skids for me. He says custom "For the differential I can do a skid that wraps around it. and I could do a trans and gas tank skid plate. All powder coated for $400.00"

Am i better off ordering all the skids or does someone have a good design we could use to cut down on the cost? Im thinking we could do a full underbody skid the vertical length of the truck, i think i saw someone on the site with one like that.

What thickness is the steel being used? I know the 2 pieces of 1/4" steel used for my bellypan cost $130 just for the steel,about the same amount of steel needed for the front skid and t-case skid only.

Boiler · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:32 pm

tommudd wrote:

If you can find a Kilby gas tank skid can't beat it , or build one like it :wink:

Check my sig...

The skid pictured looks like a dirty mess, they don't look like that normally. That is after driving 12 hours with rain and grime and having not painted it first. They actually ship clean.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:35 pm

Boiler wrote:

tommudd wrote:

If you can find a Kilby gas tank skid can't beat it , or build one like it :wink:

Check my sig...

Can you jack up your KJ from only the gas tank skid without even making it bow?

I know you can with a Kilby gas tank skid(I know since I had to when doing my SFA swap),and we're not talking about a stock(or anything close to it) KJ either.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:52 pm

can with the rustys as well, i'm not sure what the cost difference is between the kilby and the rusty but it's not in the thickness of the steel

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:55 pm

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

can with the rustys as well, i'm not sure what the cost difference is between the kilby and the rusty but it's not in the thickness of the steel

I got my Kilby for $200 shipped right from Kilby in Dec of '07,pretty good for a 72lbs chunk of steel.I think they are built to order now.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:03 am

i think i gave about 175 for my rustys last year during a sale, think they're a bit more now, weights right at the same too

Boiler · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:06 am

tjkj2002 wrote:

Boiler wrote:

tommudd wrote:

If you can find a Kilby gas tank skid can't beat it , or build one like it :wink:

Check my sig...

Can you jack up your KJ from only the gas tank skid without even making it bow?

I know you can with a Kilby gas tank skid(I know since I had to when doing my SFA swap),and we're not talking about a stock(or anything close to it) KJ either.

I can't believe we're still having this argument :roll:

I'm not making this stuff up or using rules of thumb, or repeating what some welder or wheeler told me. I'm a degreed engineer who has been designing machinery out of aluminum and steel for 12 years. I do the strenth analysis, functional design, hydraulic and electrical design, testing, and fabrication support for said machines. One of my latest designs was an aluminum scissor lift, aluminum chain-driven platform and aluminum roll-out extension for Bell Aerospace, which is sold and shipped with every V22 helicopter to the military. It has passed all of their testing, including life-cycle tests (40,000 cycles with full capacity). This was the first aluminum scissor for lifting personnel that I've ever seen. The point is, if you need it to do a job, and design it accordingly, aluminum is a safe material to use, like steel. I've seen my share of parts that fail that were made from steel...

Anyway, in reply to your question. Long answer:

All metal "bows" (read: deflects elastically) when a load is applied, even if is a tiny amount. One structure made from steel might bow 0.002", while the exact same sized structure made of aluminum would bow about 0.006". Thats not a random number. Steel has a modulus of elasticity of 2.9 x 10^6 while aluminum's is 1.0 x 10^6. So it is 3x more springy under the same load.

But so what? Small amounts of elastic deflection would be good in a skid plate, and thats what it is, small. You might not even see it unless you're measuring it.

My skid is thicker, more completely covering of the gas tank, has diagonal gussets that increase rigidity, and since it is completely welded higher up the side, it has more resistance to "bowing" as a whole due to increased beam cross section. It also weighs less than half of the kilby (32 lbs vs 72 lbs). Plus I'm still making mine. Everywhere I go to look at the Kilby says they are discontinued.

Short answer:

Yes. You can see the wet spot on my tire where it was sitting on the ground. They were spinning freely (open diff confirmed! :lol:

). I took pictures of the deflection using the level but you can't see anything. In the back where the radius is, there is nothing visible to the level. In the center of the skid, where it is unsupported, it was about 1/16" deflected. Once I lowered it back down the deflection went away, like deflections do.

Vranes17 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:44 am

only problem is the 340$

Boiler · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:44 am

I'm not going to argue about the price, its definitely more expensive than I wanted it to be. But I'll argue all day if you try to tell me Rusty's or Kilby is better.

InCommando · **Posted:** Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:23 am

Although I don't own one, I have checked it out in person. That skid is necely done.

So how cheap is a skid that you can't get? :mrgreen:

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:57 pm

With respect to engineering for military use, my wife does work for C130s (avionics, not airframe, but still...) but if you rely on a material to drop as many tons of stuff as one of those does AND keep on truckin' 15/20 years past your expected service lifetime, then "Al" is good enough for me. Chances are the body panels will die before that skid. Also, the "Al" makes it look trick.

Silly question, but your prototype looks to be missing the drain holes from the CAD design. Are those in the production models?

Dan

Boiler · **Posted:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 6:54 pm

dgeist wrote:

With respect to engineering for military use, my wife does work for C130s (avionics, not airframe, but still...) but if you rely on a material to drop as many tons of stuff as one of those does AND keep on truckin' 15/20 years past your expected service lifetime, then "Al" is good enough for me. Chances are the body panels will die before that skid. Also, the "Al" makes it look trick.

Silly question, but your prototype looks to be missing the drain holes from the CAD design. Are those in the production models?

Dan

The one in the picture is my skid and the drain holes are a little small. We are increasing the drain holes in size. They are now half circles that have a 1.25" diameter. So they are 5/8 tall and 1.25" long. One in each corner on the bottom of the end plates.

Custom skid plates

Who is online