On the truck!
This is the plate mounted, as seen from the front of the truck. There's actually more clearance between the sway bar and the plate, the angle makes it look smaller.
Front half of the plate (tranny protection) as seen from the drivers side. You can see it extends quite a bit forward.
View from the rear passengers side. You can see the t-case hanging down slightly.
Here's a shot where you can see how close the t-case is to the skid plate. I initially thought that I would be losing approx 1/2" to 1" of clearance from the factory skid plate position. I estimate I've actually gained about half an inch under the t-case.
Shot of the mounts on the driver's side. Sharp eyes will notice that these are different from the passenger's side. This is entirely due to my slightly off measurements that resulted in the passenger's side being short approx one half of an inch.
Knoll0351--who did most of the welding/cutting--does an excellent job at both. Any booger welds are entirely my fault for making him weld with the plate positioned on the truck (held up via a floor jack). Upside down. In the dark. With poor lighting. (He was even good enough to do some cuts with his plasma torch at the same time.
)
Close up of the access hole for the t-case drain. We cut it quite a bit larger than just for the drain as the t-case actually was touching the plate with it mounted. Additionally, when starting or in 4 low, the t-case tends to move around a lot, so we wanted to provide plenty of room for it.
I am considering making a cover plate for that hole for that extra bit of protection. Theoretically a pointy rock
could hit it. I haven't decided one way or the other yet.
And just to make it easy for people to find, you can click on the link below to see dimensions:
http://forum.ih8mud.com/3737427-post74.html
Final thoughts
Over all I am
extremely pleased with the results. Huge props to Knoll0351 for his experience with his skid plate (and telling me everything he did wrong), and his skill with his welder and torch. Without him this would have never have worked (my welder can only get about 20% penetration on 4 gauge
).
There have been some questions on the weight. I haven't weighed it, but I am estimating the weight at around 75 lbs. The initial metal was 108 lbs, and we cut off about a fifth of it right away (the sheet was the right width, but way too long). Then of course we had to trim off the sides, cut holes, etc. There is no difference in ride height with it installed compared to it off the truck.
Cost Breakdown
Here's a rough cost breakdown.
Steel: ~$100
Mounting hardware (bolts/washers/etc): ~$10
There were some other misc costs (gas, buying lunch, etc). (I still owe Knoll0351 a
.
)
I estimate that it took about 20 hours (+-2). Now that it's done, I could use the existing skid plate as a template, and have a new one done in about 2-3 hours.
Future plans 
And of course I'm not finished with it!
As mentioned above, I'm considering adding a plate to cover the t-case access hole.
I will eventually be mounting tabs on the top of the plate (in the hole between the frame rail and the t-case) to mount an air tank. It's the perfect size for one, and will be VERY well protected!
I also have an idea bouncing around in my head for tabs for some rock lights along the edges.
And of course, who knows what else the future might hold?
