Homemade skid plates?

Saw your sig. I plan on front and rear ARBs and OME. Classic build. Can you really seal a tank with RTV?

 

Yeah shove somthing in the hole or crack and smear RTV all over. It probably won't hold forever but I just want to it hold long enough to get off the trail. heck even better you could ratchet strap a piece of rubber over all of that

 

Wonder if a tire patch would do the trick...

EDIT: I.E. -

$20 Slime 2033 Rubber Patch Kit, Patches with Glue, Storeage Box Included (56 Patches, scuffer, Glue)

https://www.amazon.com/Slime-2033-P...tire+patch&qid=1552102981&s=automotive&sr=1-7

 

I edited my post to include rubber before I seen yours. Yeah that and some rtv would work too

 

FYI. You can trail fix a metal tank with a small hole or crack by just rubbing some soap on it. there is no pressure so it doesn't take much

 

Also wise to keep a bag of oil dry or kitty litter (which is what I have) in the truck for spills. Want to keep our trails clean so they stay open!

 

that's only important if you ride with Jeeps

 

Looks like a crime scene.

 

Haha. All my local trails are closed indefinitely from the fires we had. Then the winter rains. As far as soap goes, just a bar of ivory soap? Never really thought about what gasoline would eat through. Wonder if the amazing flex seal would work lol.

 

I'm honestly not that worried about the gas tank. At least not yet. Do 2nd/3rd gens not have tank skids?? The stock tank skid on mine isn't *that* thick, but it's held up so far. You'd have to really be trying to poke a hole in the tank.

If you really want to, I've seen people just take the stock one off, and weld some steel to the outside of it and match the lines. Not too hard.

As others have said, if it comes to it, they aren't that hard to patch since they aren't under pressure.

 

Is first gen skid metal? Third gen has a plastic skid on transfer case too. Enough to slide over some dirt but that’s about it. I was more curious than anything.

 

3rd gens are plastic?! Yikes, yeah, make some steel ones! Even some 18ga steel that is easy to bend/work with is better than plastic. But if you’re going to make them, might as well go 3/16ths.

 

Only the Offroad trim has the tank skid on 2nd gens from factory. It's thick plastic and is strapped to the tank.

 

If you do the scoring on the inside you won't be able to bend 90° unless your using a really thick grinding wheel. Do it on the outside with a nice weld and clean it up with a flap wheel.

I simply just cut some leftover 3/16 from the skid and burned it in the same spot the chinsy oem strap was in. Not sure what the diff drop really has to do with it.

My tank is dented and it creased causing a crack. I think I used jb water weld to repair it. Seems to be holding up well. The tricky part is getting gas to stop leaking so things adhere. I don't believe rtv is gas resistant, might work for a short term fix if you can stop the bleeding.

 

That could work too. However, when you're like me you're more of a grinder, not a welder, so "nice welds" aren't really in my vocabulary, lol

Or just cut the notch at an angle on both sides so it's V shaped, or once you bend it far enough that the edges touch, run the cutting wheel down the seam again, and bend some more.

One of the bends on my trans skid plate will end up being exposed because I made the cutouts on the inside of the bend. I suppose I could have made that one cut on the outside of the bend but I didn't think of that until just now, lol.

 

Looking forward to seeing your measurements. Just cardboard fabbed the first skid tonight. Cheers!

 

I was working on the front skid last night. I am hoping for some good weather soon, so that I can get it finalized and welded up. Once I get the front skid on the truck I can start working on final measurements for mid and rear skids.

 

Family obligations and bad weather have held me up as well.

This weekend is finally looking nice, I'm hoping to finish up at least my bumper/winch (paint even), and get my front skid at least started. Got the trans skid started already, but need to get the rear mount for the front skid figured out first.

 

It's been a little bit since I have had time to work on my skids, but got this done over the past few days. Had to tweak some of the holes as they were just a bit off from my original design. All were close, but slightly off. When I have time I will make adjustments to the uploaded files.

 

Will a deep well socket reach in the front bolt mounts?