I decided to make a heavy duty skid plate for my heep. After searching this forum, I didn't see a lot about making your own skid plate. After lots of reading about "light duty" aftermarket skid plates, or problems with hard knocks transferring the shock to the tranny (and actually cracking the case), seeing what's out there on the market, and figuring the cost of a full length skid plate, I decided to make my own. I had the scrap metal laying around, so the biggest cost was the paint and the use of my welder.
Yeah, it's overkill, but get over it. It's still lighter than either of my bumpers, my rock sliders, or even my spare tire. So there. ;)
Starting off, I took a piece of 3/8" plate, 32" x 16", and cut 1-1/2" holes to mount it to the factory t-case skid plate. Then I measured the thickness of the full frontal lip of the t-case skid, and built up enough metal to equal this thickness with more scrap metal to make a backing plate. I drilled 17/16" holes through this, centered the 17/16" bolt holes in the 1-1/2" holes, and welded it all around to the skid plate.
The result is a countersunk bolt head and washer that is flush with the surface of the skid plate.
Next, beefing up the factory t-case skid plate. I knew the front lip of this plate was going to have to support part of the weight of the engine skid plate, plus withstand the shock of contact with trail rocks. First, a piece of 3/4" x 1/4" DOM tube fit the curl of the factory plate perfectly. With some heat from a cutting torch and some clamps, I made the bends to fit the shape of the t-case skid.
Next, I beefed up the other side of the t-case plate, adding 1/4" material to even things out and stiffen that part of the plate.
This was further strengthened by adding 1" x 1/8" square tube, and gave me a flat surface to add the 1/4" mounting brackets for the engine skid. Yeah, I had make it two rows of tube wide, but upon further (read, better) measuring, I found making the mounting brackets go all the way back two rows was too close to contacting the tranny and the exhaust support arm for my tastes. This will have to do.
I had been thinking to myself, "how the hell am I going to lift this thing up, hold it in place, and insert bolts into holes, add the nuts, and do all this by myself without dropping this thing on my head? or having it slide off a floor jack?"
Answer: Notice in the above pic, there are two brackets extending from the factory skid plate, and one tab extending from the engine plate. This tab allows me to simply hold the rear end of the skid plate, fit it to the t-case skid, and lets it support itself without any bolts at all. Then I could easily lift the front of the skid plate to bolts things together later. But as it worked out, the rear edge of the engine skid rests against the DOM tube I welded to the t-cast skid, and this tab creates a locking feature like a pair of channel lock pliers. It will support the full weight of the entire skid plate by itself. I can fit the engine skid to the t-case skid and let it hang free. :thumbsup:
Yeah, it's overkill, but get over it. It's still lighter than either of my bumpers, my rock sliders, or even my spare tire. So there. ;)
Starting off, I took a piece of 3/8" plate, 32" x 16", and cut 1-1/2" holes to mount it to the factory t-case skid plate. Then I measured the thickness of the full frontal lip of the t-case skid, and built up enough metal to equal this thickness with more scrap metal to make a backing plate. I drilled 17/16" holes through this, centered the 17/16" bolt holes in the 1-1/2" holes, and welded it all around to the skid plate.
The result is a countersunk bolt head and washer that is flush with the surface of the skid plate.
Next, beefing up the factory t-case skid plate. I knew the front lip of this plate was going to have to support part of the weight of the engine skid plate, plus withstand the shock of contact with trail rocks. First, a piece of 3/4" x 1/4" DOM tube fit the curl of the factory plate perfectly. With some heat from a cutting torch and some clamps, I made the bends to fit the shape of the t-case skid.
Next, I beefed up the other side of the t-case plate, adding 1/4" material to even things out and stiffen that part of the plate.
This was further strengthened by adding 1" x 1/8" square tube, and gave me a flat surface to add the 1/4" mounting brackets for the engine skid. Yeah, I had make it two rows of tube wide, but upon further (read, better) measuring, I found making the mounting brackets go all the way back two rows was too close to contacting the tranny and the exhaust support arm for my tastes. This will have to do.
I had been thinking to myself, "how the hell am I going to lift this thing up, hold it in place, and insert bolts into holes, add the nuts, and do all this by myself without dropping this thing on my head? or having it slide off a floor jack?"
Answer: Notice in the above pic, there are two brackets extending from the factory skid plate, and one tab extending from the engine plate. This tab allows me to simply hold the rear end of the skid plate, fit it to the t-case skid, and lets it support itself without any bolts at all. Then I could easily lift the front of the skid plate to bolts things together later. But as it worked out, the rear edge of the engine skid rests against the DOM tube I welded to the t-cast skid, and this tab creates a locking feature like a pair of channel lock pliers. It will support the full weight of the entire skid plate by itself. I can fit the engine skid to the t-case skid and let it hang free. :thumbsup:
Home-made oil pan & tranny skid plate
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