Builds The Guzzler - 2009 LX570 (2 Viewers)

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More transfer skid

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Belly pan
used the jack as a third hand.
had one fitment issue With one bolt on Transfer skid. It nearly cleared, but I had make a 1” by 1/2” notcnright at the back edge. Very easy hacksaw and a crescent wrench to bend it off.
with the Transfer skid under at The crossmember and the skid washers the bolts are too short. The larger of the two spacers is also a bit short due to the transfer skid thickness. When I get longer bolts I’ll use fender washers to fix this.
Otherwise apart from being awkward it bolts right up.

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Love the red! Looking good boss.
Thanks. I’ve gone back and forth on red vs something more practical like black or grey. it turns out that it’ll be mostly hidden unless I rollover, so red ftw! I eventually will have bronze rims, if I’d really been on it I would have used bronze for This and that would I think look pretty cool. Can always repaint after they get some scratches I guess.
 
I’m a little biased because black and red is one of my favorite color combinations. I think the only thing I like more is a certain shade of grey.

If my LX was black I’d go red too, but everyone has their own taste. As long as you like it that’s all that matters boss. To me it looks... just perfect. Absolutely love it!
 
In other news I have coolant spatters under the engine. I suspect water pump is starting to go

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Looks great. Any concerns about the location of that crossmember and compatibility with your new fuel tank skid?

I also discovered the pink crust when working on the suspension, and now have a water pump job teed up. It was small enough volume that the liquid vaporized and telltale pink water never made it's way to the ground. Having the front skid off and my head right there gave me an opportunity to see it before it becomes a larger issue. That's okay, my radiator has the typical crack forming too, so I'll fix it all in one fell swoop.
 
Looks great. Any concerns about the location of that crossmember and compatibility with your new fuel tank skid?
No. Asfir actually provided a different frame rail bracket for the right side that is flat in profile to go with an aftermarket fuel skid. It should bolt right up. I was interested to discover that the bottom of the stock fuel tank shield is below the level of my frame rails a 1/2" or so. I knew the transfer case was lower, but hadn't looked closely at the fuel tank.

It will all have to come off though to put the fuel skid on! I'll use that opportunity to drill out the left side of the brace for that new vertical hole to fit with the slider.
 
Skid plate weights (measured on a non certified bathroom type scale using the subtraction method)
All are made of 1/4" aluminum, include coating but not fasteners

Asfir Transfer Case Skid - Bracket and skid total - 18.8 lb
Total Chaos Front Skid - 24.6 lb
Total Chaos Belly / Gear Skid - 18.8 lb

Total Front to back - 62.2 lb
 
I've left my aluminum (Budbuilt) skids unpainted. I don't know if that was a good idea. Time will tell.
 
Dang, impressive.

Dumb question - but could you have left the aluminum unpainted?
Yeah, I sure could have. And it probably would have been fine. There were some minor marks from the presses used to shape them, and some welding beads on the Asfir skid that I worry about corroding, perfect, but they are skid plates after all . . . they won't look new for long I hope. I have a small piece of aluminum trim on my rear bumper that is nearing two years in the elements. I just polished and waxed it at install. It looks fine, if a bit dingy, so for the PNW not coating isn't a big deal.

I did consider just sanding/polishing/waxing and rolling with that. However it seemed about as much work (excluding paint dry time) as just painting it would be, and I wanted some color on the truck. So I went with some paint. The paint and primer I used was inexpensive (but time expensive).
 
That's an incredibly low weight for all those skids. Great stuff!
Was my number one priority! Well, weight followed very closely by cost.
 
Was my number one priority! Well, weight followed very closely by cost.

Those would be my priorities, too.

I had skids on my Tacoma and I believe they were all all from 3/16" steel. Front, mid, transfer case and gas tank skids added up to around 200-250lbs. Wouldn't do that again.
 
Stock 'protection' weights (quite a few bolts excluded from weight)
Transfer Case pipes and heat shields - 4.4 lb
Front Skid - 16.6 lb
Front Skid trim and lower support pieces - 4.4 lb
Belly Skid (composite) - 5.6 lb
Gear Skid - 5.8 lb
Total weight removed - 32.4 lb

Total weight added = 62.2 - 32.4 = 29.8 lb
 
TC has provided instructions.
Note that the middle bolts will be too short and you should get some M8x1.25 35mm+ to replace. If you do a transfer skid and overlap at the back you'll need M10x1.25 60mm+ otherwise the provided will be ok.
 

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I've left my aluminum (Budbuilt) skids unpainted. I don't know if that was a good idea. Time will tell.
Someone who knows more can correct me, but my understanding is that aluminum very quickly forms an oxidized surface (aluminum oxide?) that is very durable. I only know a little bit about it from welding because you need to mechanically remove it, if not the heat required to burn through it will vaporize the underlying material.
 
Someone who knows more can correct me, but my understanding is that aluminum very quickly forms an oxidized surface (aluminum oxide?) that is very durable. I only know a little bit about it from welding because you need to mechanically remove it, if not the heat required to burn through it will vaporize the underlying material.
I was just going off what I see with 10+ year old painted aluminum wheels vs polished. I agree that aluminum wouldn't need to be finished for the vast majority of undercar needs. It was a choice to get some color going. Broing it up!
 

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