HD Skid Plate

[4x4Poet]

Awesome!

How was the bending done? The corners are welded and grinded smooth?

80-85 lbs is a bit much. How would a 1/4 plate skid made in the same fashion hold up to belly strikes and crossover perching?

One nitpick. It seems from the photos that the front of the skid with the three crescent cut-outs is a little steep. Like it wouldn't foster slide overs. I think the sharp bend also makes me think that. In fact, is the skid plate lower than the OEM plate? Opinions?

EDIT: nevermind that last paragraph. The first pic answers all.

 

[bsevans]

Skid Plate Depth

The skid plate had to be slightly lower than the stock skid plate to accommodate the emergency brake clearance. As you can see from the photo, the emergency brake is exposed on the factory skid and for good reason. When crawling over rocks the gage of the factory skid flexes and presses against the transfer case allowing maximum exposure of the emergency brake drum. I’ve got two bent and distorted factory skids that are a testament to their flexibility. One of the purposes of this skid design is to completely protect the emergency brake with a skid that was as unyielding as possible. The inside depth of the skid is 2.75”, which is a clearance of ¼” between the drum and the skid plate. I’ve yet to get enough flex in the drive train to cause the drum to strike the skid. If I do, I will remove material from the inside of the skid directly below the drum. The reason I did not use ¼” plate was the fact that I wanted to maximize the stiffness. If you look at my factory skids, you will see that one of the main areas of permanent distortion is the transition zone from the skid plate to its two mounting flanges. This skid plate is not something the average fabrication shop can do. Cutting and bending 3/8” steel plate with an accuracy of 1/32” is not something you will find in your average machine shop. The CNC precision plasma cutter used to cut out all the features on the sheet leaves a smooth cut edge that is so smooth it requires no secondary grinding. Bending compound angles in 3/8” steel plate with precision requires a robust knife edge brake. There are welds at the three corners and a gusset is welded in at the other corner. There is no major grinding on the welds - only to remove the minor slag. The welds on the inside and outside of the skid are done by a certified welder. The angle between the front and side slopes of the skid and the ground are equal to or less than the factory skid. The bend radius used are equal to or larger than those used on the factory skid. The angle on the back of the skid except where the exhaust comes out gives a stiffness and departure angle the factory skid just does not have. Finally, yes there has been a minor loss of high center ground clearance, which I willingly gave up for piece of mind knowing I can hammer this skid on anything without concern for damage to the tranny, transfer or emergency brake. The loss of 5/8" of clearance won't stop me from taking the same line as I would have taken with the factory skid.

 

[4x4Poet]

...Cutting and bending 3/8” steel plate with an accuracy of 1/32” is not something you will find in your average machine shop. The CNC precision plasma cutter used to cut out all the features on the sheet leaves a smooth cut edge that is so smooth it requires no secondary grinding. Bending compound angles in 3/8” steel plate with precision requires a robust knife edge brake....

No doubt! It's an impressive feat compared to my little world of home fabbin'.

Finally, yes there has been a minor loss of high center ground clearance, which I willingly gave up for piece of mind knowing I can hammer this skid on anything without concern for damage to the tranny, transfer or emergency brake. The loss of 5/8" of clearance won't stop me from taking the same line as I would have taken with the factory skid.

Providing complete protection for the E-brake is a great design improvement. I like that while using stiff, 3/8" plate, you copied the OEM design shape and overall look, save the superior extention underneath the E-brake, but I wonder why the skid plate needs to extend below the frame to the left of the T-case instead of being flat with the frame except for a pocket around the T-case & E-brake?

Probably no matter, really. I think I'd go with that product since I have enough lift to make the slightly lower, flat belly of little consequence off-road.

Great effort and well thought out.

 

[bsevans]

Skid Plate depth on driver's side

The depth of the skid plate on the driver's side is similar to the factory skid plate which accommodates the PTO winch attachment. That is why there is a pocket formed in the factory skid and the third access hole to reach the PTO gear case. To do what you are talking about would entail far more labor, as there is a big difference in straight line bending on a brake versus forming a pocket for the transfer case by welding elements together or a very large hydraulic press. In either case, it would not work for me as my exhaust system needs the space that was provided by the factory skid - see photos. This skid is considerable stiffer than a flat plate due to the geometry of construction. I'm sure you understand the difference in stiffness between a flat plate and a piece of angle iron both of the same material thickness and width.

 

[bandy rooster]

all in all how long did it take you to design that?

 

[4x4Poet]

The depth of the skid plate on the driver's side is similar to the factory skid plate which accommodates the PTO winch attachment. That is why there is a pocket formed in the factory skid and the third access hole to reach the PTO gear case.
...This skid is considerable stiffer than a flat plate due to the geometry of construction. I'm sure you understand the difference in stiffness between a flat plate and a piece of angle iron both of the same material thickness and width.

I forgot about PTO clearance needs since I don't have one.

Thanks for all the detailed info. I appreciate it.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

The skid plate had to be slightly lower than the stock skid plate to accommodate the emergency brake clearance. As you can see from the photo, the emergency brake is exposed on the factory skid and for good reason. When crawling over rocks the gage of the factory skid flexes and presses against the transfer case allowing maximum exposure of the emergency brake drum. I’ve got two bent and distorted factory skids that are a testament to their flexibility. One of the purposes of this skid design is to completely protect the emergency brake with a skid that was as unyielding as possible. The inside depth of the skid is 2.75”, which is a clearance of ¼” between the drum and the skid plate. I’ve yet to get enough flex in the drive train to cause the drum to strike the skid. If I do, I will remove material from the inside of the skid directly below the drum. The reason I did not use ¼” plate was the fact that I wanted to maximize the stiffness. If you look at my factory skids, you will see that one of the main areas of permanent distortion is the transition zone from the skid plate to its two mounting flanges. This skid plate is not something the average fabrication shop can do. Cutting and bending 3/8” steel plate with an accuracy of 1/32” is not something you will find in your average machine shop. The CNC precision plasma cutter used to cut out all the features on the sheet leaves a smooth cut edge that is so smooth it requires no secondary grinding. Bending compound angles in 3/8” steel plate with precision requires a robust knife edge brake. There are welds at the three corners and a gusset is welded in at the other corner. There is no major grinding on the welds - only to remove the minor slag. The welds on the inside and outside of the skid are done by a certified welder. The angle between the front and side slopes of the skid and the ground are equal to or less than the factory skid. The bend radius used are equal to or larger than those used on the factory skid. The angle on the back of the skid except where the exhaust comes out gives a stiffness and departure angle the factory skid just does not have. Finally, yes there has been a minor loss of high center ground clearance, which I willingly gave up for piece of mind knowing I can hammer this skid on anything without concern for damage to the tranny, transfer or emergency brake. The loss of 5/8" of clearance won't stop me from taking the same line as I would have taken with the factory skid.

I am envious, although this skid plate might not be for everybody I really can appreciate the time it took to draw it up, cut it, bend it, weld it.......

Pretty much a piece of art which protects the cruisers under belly.

Some of the viewing audience has prolly been looking for such a skid plate at a good price.

Rob

 

[bsevans]

Design Time

Well, that would be 18 years of thinking about what I wanted after seeing the damage upon returning home after playing on the rocks here in Arizona and three weeks of design time (including a mockup that went through two iterations) with the engineer at Caid Industries. Once he could find the window between some large jobs, he ran the plate through the CNC cutter and had it bent up and welded ready for pickup in less than a week.
I thought you might like to see what this skid plate is attached to.

 

[REZARF]

What a nice looking unit. Very Very beefy. Would another "run" of these skids be a bit more cost effective if we had a group run? Very nice piece. I would cross post in the 40 section as you may stir up a bit more buisness.

Rezarf <><

 

[rusty_tlc]

Would your engineer friend be interested in a slightly longer version for those of us with Toy Boxes?

Off Topic: What kind of dog is that in your rig?

 

[bsevans]

Additional Builds

Dave Watson, the engineer at Caid Industries said that duplicates, especially multiple orders together would definitely be discounted in price.
They can build any variation on the theme that you would want. I must say that the mockup turned out to be an essential element for fitment.
Abby, the dog in the picture, is a 65 lb. poodle that can not get enough wheeling.
Just how do I cross post this thread into another group so others might see it?

 

[rusty_tlc]

Copy and paste this
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=93447
to link.
Most forum software will have a link button that looks somethink like this

just copy the URL from the page you want to link to, click the link icon and paste the url into the window.


Is Abby a Phantom? I have a Black Std, his Mom was a Phantom. Jake is 65# as well. He likes rabbits and birds so he loves going with me, not so much to ride but just to run around wherever we wind up.

 

[Blue77FJ40]

Have you ever tried adjusting the parking brake with the skidplate on? The stock skidplate has the slot for a 10m wrench. I guess a slot would need to be cut.

Do you think the skidplate hangs low enough for the Orion tcase? It's ~ 1/2" lower than stock.

Quality work.

 

[Nomis]

I am always amazed at what the LC crowd is capable of planning, designing and executing. Awesome work - let us know how much they would be offered at. Better still - I would potentially be interested in buying the plans so I could have my local shop fab it up for me.

 

[bsevans]

Skid Plate Depth

Have you ever tried adjusting the parking brake with the skidplate on? The stock skidplate has the slot for a 10m wrench. I guess a slot would need to be cut.

Do you think the skidplate hangs low enough for the Orion tcase? It's ~ 1/2" lower than stock.

Quality work.

It would be very easy for them to change the depth. Adding a slot would be straight forward, however, I would not want to compromise the flange in the back too much as it is part of the strategy to maintain as much stiffness as possible around the emergency brake. I rebuilt my emergency brake 8 years ago (the two brake pads delaminated) and have not adjusted it since and it still holds a good incline. I've already compromised the back of the skid with the outlet for the exhaust pipe. The only reason that location does not concern me as much is that it is on the opposite side of the skid from the emergency brake and would have little impact. The truth is, I do not think I will ever bend this skid unless I take the big staircase in the sky and go off a cliff.

 

[bsevans]

Skid Plate Plans

I am always amazed at what the LC crowd is capable of planning, designing and executing. Awesome work - let us know how much they would be offered at. Better still - I would potentially be interested in buying the plans so I could have my local shop fab it up for me.

The prototype which included the cost of making a mockup with two iterations was $365. The engineer at Caid Industries said the cost would be less for additional builds since they already had the programming for the CNC precision plasma cutter. I assume the final cost would be driven by the number of units they build at one time. If you do not live close to Tucson, you need to consider the cost of shipping 85 pounds and how long the UPS guy is going to hold it against you for his broken toe.
The digital drawing and CNC database are the property of Caid Industries. The culmination of my original sketches and Excel spreadsheet. All the tweaks to get it just right were penciled in on the mockup and therefore I do not have possession of the final drawing dimensions. I told Caid that there would be other cruiser heads that have wanted similar protection and that they should be prepared to make more. He just smiled and said "no problem, we'll build as many as they want". In all honesty, this skid plate was a no brainer for them. You should see their fabrication facilities. They have one that specializes in sheet steel and Aluminum and another that specializes in precision industrial fabrication and engineering. Both are very large. I should also add that the people I dealt with were very easy to work with.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

So do we go through you ro contact these folks directly? Is there a list going for a group puchase? I'm interested.

I suppose a more basic question would be - I have a 1971 FJ40 with a later model 4-speed and its transfer case. I would think this skidplate would not have any issues clearing them.

And yes, I do have a V-8, but it's single exhaust, nearly duplicating the factory exhaust routing. And it uses a Mark's of Australia kit, so the tranny, transfer and Toyota bellhousing are in the original locations.

 

[bsevans]

So do we go through you ro contact these folks directly? Is there a list going for a group puchase? I'm interested.

I suppose a more basic question would be - I have a 1971 FJ40 with a later model 4-speed and its transfer case. I would think this skidplate would not have any issues clearing them.

And yes, I do have a V-8, but it's single exhaust, nearly duplicating the factory exhaust routing. And it uses a Mark's of Australia kit, so the tranny, transfer and Toyota bellhousing are in the original locations.

I listed the contact, Dave Watson (see earlier post, this thread), so that those interested could call him direct. I'm not sure about your clearance requirements. My setup is factory with the four speed and non-split transfer case. If in fact the tranny and transfer are in the same location as my stock 78, then it should fit. As far as a group buy - I'm not sure how to go about organizing a group buy with different shipping needs. Would a poll thread need to be started to get an idea of who wants to be included in any discount a group buy would offer? I think what will have to happen is this. All those that would like to purchase one will need to organize and call Dave the same day/week and place an order. I am having Caid Industries modify a mounting bracket for my 4x4 turbo diesel and will see him today. I'll ask him about a group buy. I'll post the results of the conversation later today. Also, I could give Dave a list of members that want to be apart of a group buy. Heck, I do not know what kind of discount they would be willing to offer. I just know what I paid for mine.

 

[orangefj45]

back to the internal pressure/vent question. the transmissions themselves do not have a vent like the t-cases; they're vented thru the shifter assy.

 

[bsevans]

back to the internal pressure/vent question. the transmissions themselves do not have a vent like the t-cases; they're vented thru the shifter assy.

That may be true, until the seal between the tranny and transfer case goes out. The front tranny input shaft seal then becomes a very good vent for pressure and gear oil.