love it ! nice work.
Redneck Enginuitive Belly Pan finished!!!
- Thread starter CreeperSleeper
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Looks awesome, Chad!!!!
- Thread starter
- #23
LandTank: That was considered, but with the 1/4" wings, the brace is not needed.
- Thread starter
- #24
Thanks for all the kind words on it!
it wasn't the wings that I thought would flex.
spdwaver
Formerly Kalifornistanian
I think I see what landtank is talking about: since there is only one mounting location to the frame, a direct hit to only the transfer side (most exposed) would cause twisting at the cross-brace. Take a star wrench and hold it at direct opposite ends, then apply even the slightest amount of force to one of the ends that are not being held, and it will move; support one of the other ends, and none of it moves.
CreeperSleeper: Have you jacked the truck up by the transfer case side yet? I would imagine that if you see any movement when jacking it up, it would be much worse when landing the entire weight of the truck in the same spot, on a rock.
Finally reading this thread. Once again, beautiful work.
It's hard to tell from the pics, but I still think it might not be quite wide enough. One thing I love about mine is that there is no way I can hit my t-case on a rock, regardless of how off camber I am, and further more it's virtually impossible to get a pesky tree branch or brush up in there to rip out wiring.
But for pure rock crawling, I think yours will work wonderfully.
Using 1/4" for the Tranny protection is way overkill. You only need to protect it from brush/gravel, really. 10 gauge would work just fine, and even if you did manage to hit it on a rock you'll only dent/bend it, not break through it. (Will save weight and cut down on cost as well.) A local club member has all his FJC skid plates made out of 10 gauge, and wheels probably as hard as you. He's bent them until they're..."custom molded".....but they're still holding up and going strong. Those have taken 1000x more abuse than your tranny skid will ever take. (T-case is, of course, a whole different ball game.)
I've actually managed to bend my 1/4" skidplate at the one corner that is notched for the exhaust. Considering it's much closer to the mounting point (on the frame rail) than yours will be, I can see Landtank's point. Granted, mine is just barely bent, but I don't wheel as hard as you, and that spot has a lot more support than the end of your skid plate will. That's a rather large lever you got there, and you have 6k lbs to hit the end of it with.
It's hard to tell from the pics, but I still think it might not be quite wide enough. One thing I love about mine is that there is no way I can hit my t-case on a rock, regardless of how off camber I am, and further more it's virtually impossible to get a pesky tree branch or brush up in there to rip out wiring.
But for pure rock crawling, I think yours will work wonderfully.
Using 1/4" for the Tranny protection is way overkill. You only need to protect it from brush/gravel, really. 10 gauge would work just fine, and even if you did manage to hit it on a rock you'll only dent/bend it, not break through it. (Will save weight and cut down on cost as well.) A local club member has all his FJC skid plates made out of 10 gauge, and wheels probably as hard as you. He's bent them until they're..."custom molded".....but they're still holding up and going strong. Those have taken 1000x more abuse than your tranny skid will ever take. (T-case is, of course, a whole different ball game.)
I've actually managed to bend my 1/4" skidplate at the one corner that is notched for the exhaust. Considering it's much closer to the mounting point (on the frame rail) than yours will be, I can see Landtank's point. Granted, mine is just barely bent, but I don't wheel as hard as you, and that spot has a lot more support than the end of your skid plate will. That's a rather large lever you got there, and you have 6k lbs to hit the end of it with.
- Thread starter
- #28
I see what you are getting at, LandTank. However, with the way the t/c plate is formed and how it is welded, there is enough triangulation on the wings for it not to twist. But just for you, I will make sure to drop my truck onto the t/c skid next time I go up! LOL
I'd recommend going easy on the first couple of runs but that's probably a waste of time. My comcern is that with the wings so rigid the force of an impact will transfer directlt to the cross member and given the leverage of the wing it would twist and possibly contact the t-case.
As a test you might try a belly flop onto a rock garden at 5 or 6 feet. Just be sure to be wearing youyr Greg Luganus speedos.
As a test you might try a belly flop onto a rock garden at 5 or 6 feet. Just be sure to be wearing youyr Greg Luganus speedos.
- Thread starter
- #30
Bwahahahahaha! That's a horrible visual...
I completely see what you are saying, but we took that into account when designing them. I really don't think it will happen. If it does, it would just be a deflection into the t/c. By that time it would not have the force to do any damage. Even with that possibility, it is highly unlikely. Of course, I would be the one to make it happen...
Wait. Are you claiming you have unbendable skid plate? 
- Thread starter
- #32
Wait. Are you claiming you have unbendable skid plate?
Nope! I'm saying that it's improbable that it will bend enough to damage anything.
Im hearing lots of talking---and not enough testing (with pics) on this puppy---> get out and put some gouges in this baby!
- Thread starter
- #34
Oh I will! I just need to save up some gas $$... 
Really nice work I might PM you if I do not build my own.
- Thread starter
- #36
I figure that I will be working on some testing this month and getting some good pics. At that point I will see if building a jig is worth the time. If only a few people want them, I will just build them off of my truck. It takes a bit more time this way, but I don't want to invest them money on a jig if I can't get it back out! Either way, pics and testing will be on it's way...
- Thread starter
- #37
Well, I managed to drop the truck on the trans side of the skidplate on the front this last weekend. I will hopefully have pics up tomorrow. Needless to say, everything worked exactly as planned. I didn't get to plant it on the T/C side, but when I do there will be pics of that as well. So far I'm extreamly pleased and think that LandTank is just being overly OCD!
Chad, I like your skid plate/crossmember idea and have been lurking on this thead. In your opinion, can you remove tranny oil pan for service with your skid plate on or do you need to pull it off first? Just curious - I know tranny pan not serviced often, but I'd want to know ahead of time if putting your skid plate on. Thanks, Tom.
- Thread starter
- #39
I have never removed my trans pan, so I'm not sure how far it needs to drop down. It is possible that you could get the pan off without removing the skidplate, but it takes 4 bolts, 2 nuts and 5 minutes to remove the skidplate if you are going slow so I would remove it just to cut down in the aggervation!
Sorry, should have asked in previous post. When taking skidplate/crossmember loose, is it necessary to support tranny/TC or will it just hang & be ok?
