Homemade skid plates?

I've started thinking about making (designing mostly; I have a drafting degree) my own skids for my truck. I have a couple shops I'd talk to about making them. Namely the IFS, trans, transfer case, and gas tank ones. I'd more than likely buy the rear diff diaper and LCA ones depending on how well making the others goes.

So onto what I'd like to know:
1. Has anyone made their own before? IIRC pAP made a trans skid
2. What material? 1/4" steel seems the most common from my searching
3. Where would/should I bolt them to the truck? And what size hardware should be used?

Thanks for any input you may have

 

Do you think you will see a savings over just buying a proven brand ?

 

On shipping alone I think it'd be worth it. I'd get prices from the shop to see what I would save but I really belive the savings would be really good

 

Interested to see what you find out

 

I have been thinking about the same (also largely due to exorbitant shipping costs). My thought is that I would like to build them out of a lighter material. As you mentioned most guys seem to be building skids out of 1/4" plate, but that is incredibly heavy.

In my opinion armor is there to protect the truck from something unavoidable, not protect from an idiot behind the wheel. So if I am on a trail that has a boulder that is just that extra inch too tall and it ends up getting into a skid, I shouldn't need 1/4" plate. 1/8" will hold the static weight of the truck and even handle a decent impact (it will probably dent from impact however).

With all the stuff I load in my truck I don't want to give up 100lbs just to skid plates alone.

 

Got 60$ into my IFS skid.

 

PICS when you get the drafts done.

 

Thanks for the link! I wonder what kind of weight difference there would be between 3/16" over the 1/4"? Obviously it would weigh 25% less but as far as actual poundage I'm not sure. I'm also not sure though how well they would hold up to a hit.

I'm gonna start working on my drawings this morning, it'll take me a few days I'm sure cause I take a lot of time to make sure my measurments are exactly what I want and I'll be taking notes as well

 

a lot haha

id do 3/16s up front as it has shit behind it to keep it strait. Then 1/4 for the belly skid as it tends to bend.

thats my plan anyways.

 

Quoted from Raush Creek meet discussion as it is more than relevant:

 

Home made is absolutely cheaper than buying a proven brand. I spent a total of $100 on all three of my skids...IFS, trans, T-case. They are stronger than Budbuilts because of the extra bracing. You can find tons of posts from people showing their Bud Built belly skids all bent because they didn't add extra bracing. Bud Builts are good skid plates, don't get me wrong but they need some extra beef to keep them from bending.

3/16" is more than adequate if you incorporate some proper bracing to the plates. In fact most of the "proven" skids out there like BudBuilt, Skid Row, AllPro, TG etc all use 3/16". Some tricks are to have some vertical or angled edges on the sides to keep the edges from beding, and then add a few peices of bracing through the middle to help distribute load when you take big hits.

I have beat the snot out of my skid plates and they are still straight and doing their job perfectly for a fraction of the cost of something you could buy from other vendors.









here they are all clean......

 

^^This is exactly the type of information I was looking for! Thanks

 

Hey did you have a template to work with?
Other than cardboard you threw out afterwards.

 

No templates for me. Just a tape measure. Didn't even use cardboard.

 

Nice. Looks good.

 

So you just used a wheel, hammer, welder and a drill? Plasma cutter?

 

I have a very basic set of tools. All of my fab work is done with the following list of tools.

Dewalt Chop saw with abrasive wheel
Dewalt 4" angle grinder with cutoff wheels.
Dewalt 12v drill
Hobart Handler 180 Welder
HF Pipe Bender

So for the skid plates all cuts were made with the 4" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. For the bends I used the "whiskey bend" method of using a cutoff wheel to cut most of the way through the plate where the bend will be and then bending the plate along the cut and rewelding the seam.

One day I would love to add a plasma cutter, press brake, real tubing bender, drill press, etc to my list of tools but I just make do with what I have.

 

I am thinking of making some at work soon

 

I believe 1/4 carbon steel weighs around 9lbs/ sq ft. I don't know about the 3/16 though