Homemade skid plates?

Are you going to plate the tubes? Those gaps will be a perfect anchor to hang you up on obstacles. .

 

gaps are gonna be filled with polyethylene plate

 

Yup, 1" UHMW Polyethylene will be used to fill the "gaps".

 

Just curious, how does this compare clearance wise to a regular 3/16 plate skid?

 

The bottom of the skid will be 1-1/4" below the transmission cross member. Some plate skids tuck up against the cross member and some are spaced away from it.

Here's bud builts with a spacer, but I think you can install it without the spacer as well. This looks to be 3/4" to 1" below the cross member.



Here's All Pro's transfer case skid with the exhaust crossover protection. Without the crossover protection it looks like this one will hang down about the same as bud's.



ATO's bolts to the bottom of the cross member, but has two pieces sandwiched there as well as the bolt heads sticking down. With the bolts it looks the be about 3/4".




There are more skids out there, and all of them decrease your clearance at the cross member by at least the thickness of the plate. Take a look here for other skids.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/307109-aftermarket-skid-plate-reviews.html

 

What ever works for you I guess. Not my style ..

 

No worries, it's definitely different than what you're used to seeing. I'll give it a shot in the rocks and see how it performs.

 

Update us on how it works for you.once you have it on some rocks

 

UHMW is a nice touch. You'll save weight.

 

Not really. In order to get the same strength as 3/16" steel plate you have to use 5/8" or 3/4" UHMW which is about the same weight as the steel. In this case with 1" it's probably heavier than steel plate.

It's still a good material for skids when done correctly. It's slippery. It can get gouged and chunked easily especially on exposed edges. This particular design is actually a really good way to use it. The tubing will protect the edges and take the brunt of the abuse while the UHMW will protect the stuff between the tubes and slide well.

It's different but it's well executed. Nice work.

 

The pipe frame currently weighs 40lbs. I'm guessing with the UHMW, attachment plates, and weld I'll be around 60lbs all in. For comparison the all pro transfer case skid weighs 90lbs and you still need another plate to protect the transmission.

 

^ So if I understand right, by incorporating UHMW into your design you'll save about 30 lbs +more? If so, that's very smart IMO.

I've avoided steel skids for a long time because mine is DD.

 

There are two things that have helped me save weight. The first is the use of UHMW instead of steel plate, and the second is the width of the skid. The skid is only 13.5" wide. Most steel plate skids are at least 24 inches wide due to the designers using the cross member bolts as mounting points. There really isn't any need for the skids to be that wide, in terms of protecting the transmission and transfer case.

Another way to combat weight is to us a much thinner steel skin and then skin that with a thin UHMW. You could use 1/8" steel or 1/4" aluminum and then skin it with 1/4" UHMW.

 

Thanks Adam.

I must have skipped over your post when Crom posted about saving weight. I agree that the exposed edges can catch and chunk. The way to avoid that is to make sure the edges are radiused or coped, or recessed into the skid like I did.

They're about as close to being perfectly flush with the bottom of the pipe as one could hope for.



As for the 1" UHMW being heavier than 3/16", that's another question. I had to look up the numbers for UHMW since I don't use this material everyday like I use steel. I really didn't know if it was going to be heavier or not.

Turns out it's lighter than the steel.

UHMW - 58lb/cubic foot

(1" x 34" x 4.5")/12cubed = 0.0885 cubic feet
Weight = 0.0885cubic ft * 58lb/cubic ft = 5.135lbs

Steel - 490lb/cubic foot

(3/16" x 34" x 4.5")/12cubed = 0.0166 cubic feet
Weight = 0.0166cubic ft * 490lb/cubic ft = 8.134lbs

 

Cool. Might be some differences in UHMW in terms of weight. If you've got something that's lighter, all the better. Nice work.

 

Figured I'd post the finished product in here as well since we were talking about it earlier.

 

I love that. I would love something like that for my 1st gen.

 

Been thinking of making my own skids as of late but was held up how to bend everything. Thanks box rocket for the whiskey method and everyone else who has posted there skids! Can't wait to get started!

 

Hey there, all of you aspiring skid plate, fabbers! Don't forget about us lowly 5 lug 2wd. owners. There are NO available plates for us. Please take that into consideration. There's a completely untapped market out there... Good luck, & we're all counting on you.