Fairly cheap front skidplate options.
Light weight, cost effective, durability and ease of fabrication were are all qualities I was looking for when I decided to increase the effectiveness of the OEM skidplates. There are several options, ways of looking at design and fabrication. Deciding what is most important will guide how you purchase or make your own equipment.
I could have bought a 4x8 sheet of 3/16s or ¼ inch flat plate and built a really durable skidplate, in fact I have seen very few dents in ¼ or 3/8s inch skids even on Suburbans that are driven hard on trails! Its the industry standard for mild steel, but it would have weighed an arm an a leg, ie about 10lbs per square foot for ¼ inch, or about 310-20sh lbs for the whole sheet!
I have a D-cab that tips the scales at 3700lbs stock, by time I get my tool box loaded, sliders, front receiver mount, and solid skidplates, winch, I would be in well over 4K easily. Even if I leave most of my tools, winch at home, I would still be right around 4K not including me or my family. Since its my daily driver, gas mileage is important to me and thus lightest weight with decent durability were the goals I was shooting for in my design.
I do believe my design or ideas offer at least twice the protection of the OEM skidplates but there is a rule in physics that says there never is a free lunch. If the amount of steel is decreased then durability will suffer, if the thickness and amount of steel increases the weight will suffer. HOWEVER, if the same level of protection can be achieved with less steel ie lighter weight, almost all of us but those with the hardcore trail dedicated rigs would benefit from a modest upgrade that would be more than sufficent. What I am saying is that unless your plan is to spend hours every weekend draging your trucks belly over rocks, a modest upgrade is usually sufficient.
Secondly , if I do tear a hole in my skid plate because it is somewhat thinner than 1/4 flat plate, owning welder I can bang if flat and weld it back up, grind it smooth, put some more black rattle can on it and viola good as new.
I considered cutting the brackets off of the what would be the bottom part to the front skidplate, drilled holes in the top one and then putting them togather and tack welded it. This method would have created an OEM skidplate that would be at least twice as strong as the original, and still fairly light weight. When two thin pieces of metal are attached, the sum of the strength is greater than each piece by itself, at least thats what a mechanical engineer told me, even if this was a phalacy the minimum would be twice the strength and if it is true then its over twice as strong and durable as the original OEM.
I decided to go a different route for the front skidplate, I cut shaped and welded in 1/8inch flat plate, My rational for going this route was that it would be even stronger than two OEM skids welded together, less welding time, less fabrication time and it still looks OEM. The front skid is the one that is going to take the brunt of the getting up on a big rock, or dragging over a big rock.
Thus I used 1/8 inch by 3 inche flat bar and I welded the flatbar to the brackets on the sides and to the sheetmetal and each other in the middle.
I have mixed feelings about doing it this way, after I finished. I wasn’t easy to pound the 1/8 flat plate into the shape of the skid, in fact it required more hammering, and pounding on me than I would have liked. And cutting out the round holes required lots of drilling to punch out the circle and then dremmeling to make the holes round again. A plasma torch, or a blowtorch may be faster, or other methods to consider for this part but neither were available to me thus the drilling it out process was my method.
I do believe it is quite a bit stronger than the OEM or the clamshelled/doubled up front skid since its 1/8 inch + the thickness of the heavy guage sheet metal. I originally weighed it in at 19lbs, however once it was completely finished it weighed in at 23.5lbs.
My last concern, although untested, is the strength of the OEM brackets, while there are three up front and two in the back, I had little trouble fitting the new skidplate with a few swift wacks with the hammer. Thus the ease in bending the brackets into place leads me to believe that they may not tolerate a lot of heavy rock bashing, I guess I will find out the hardway and will report back.
This method for increasing the protetion of the front skidplate cost me $30 in 1/8 flatbar plus about $20 in a second front skidplate, I think if I had went to the steel warehouse it would bought my flat bar much cheaper, but it was closed when I had time to buy steel, so I bought it at TSC and paid through the nose.
Comments, opinions, suggestions appreciated.
I have some pics I can e-mail if anybody is interested in viewing them.
Light weight, cost effective, durability and ease of fabrication were are all qualities I was looking for when I decided to increase the effectiveness of the OEM skidplates. There are several options, ways of looking at design and fabrication. Deciding what is most important will guide how you purchase or make your own equipment.
I could have bought a 4x8 sheet of 3/16s or ¼ inch flat plate and built a really durable skidplate, in fact I have seen very few dents in ¼ or 3/8s inch skids even on Suburbans that are driven hard on trails! Its the industry standard for mild steel, but it would have weighed an arm an a leg, ie about 10lbs per square foot for ¼ inch, or about 310-20sh lbs for the whole sheet!
I have a D-cab that tips the scales at 3700lbs stock, by time I get my tool box loaded, sliders, front receiver mount, and solid skidplates, winch, I would be in well over 4K easily. Even if I leave most of my tools, winch at home, I would still be right around 4K not including me or my family. Since its my daily driver, gas mileage is important to me and thus lightest weight with decent durability were the goals I was shooting for in my design.
I do believe my design or ideas offer at least twice the protection of the OEM skidplates but there is a rule in physics that says there never is a free lunch. If the amount of steel is decreased then durability will suffer, if the thickness and amount of steel increases the weight will suffer. HOWEVER, if the same level of protection can be achieved with less steel ie lighter weight, almost all of us but those with the hardcore trail dedicated rigs would benefit from a modest upgrade that would be more than sufficent. What I am saying is that unless your plan is to spend hours every weekend draging your trucks belly over rocks, a modest upgrade is usually sufficient.
Secondly , if I do tear a hole in my skid plate because it is somewhat thinner than 1/4 flat plate, owning welder I can bang if flat and weld it back up, grind it smooth, put some more black rattle can on it and viola good as new.
I considered cutting the brackets off of the what would be the bottom part to the front skidplate, drilled holes in the top one and then putting them togather and tack welded it. This method would have created an OEM skidplate that would be at least twice as strong as the original, and still fairly light weight. When two thin pieces of metal are attached, the sum of the strength is greater than each piece by itself, at least thats what a mechanical engineer told me, even if this was a phalacy the minimum would be twice the strength and if it is true then its over twice as strong and durable as the original OEM.
I decided to go a different route for the front skidplate, I cut shaped and welded in 1/8inch flat plate, My rational for going this route was that it would be even stronger than two OEM skids welded together, less welding time, less fabrication time and it still looks OEM. The front skid is the one that is going to take the brunt of the getting up on a big rock, or dragging over a big rock.
Thus I used 1/8 inch by 3 inche flat bar and I welded the flatbar to the brackets on the sides and to the sheetmetal and each other in the middle.
I have mixed feelings about doing it this way, after I finished. I wasn’t easy to pound the 1/8 flat plate into the shape of the skid, in fact it required more hammering, and pounding on me than I would have liked. And cutting out the round holes required lots of drilling to punch out the circle and then dremmeling to make the holes round again. A plasma torch, or a blowtorch may be faster, or other methods to consider for this part but neither were available to me thus the drilling it out process was my method.
I do believe it is quite a bit stronger than the OEM or the clamshelled/doubled up front skid since its 1/8 inch + the thickness of the heavy guage sheet metal. I originally weighed it in at 19lbs, however once it was completely finished it weighed in at 23.5lbs.
My last concern, although untested, is the strength of the OEM brackets, while there are three up front and two in the back, I had little trouble fitting the new skidplate with a few swift wacks with the hammer. Thus the ease in bending the brackets into place leads me to believe that they may not tolerate a lot of heavy rock bashing, I guess I will find out the hardway and will report back.
This method for increasing the protetion of the front skidplate cost me $30 in 1/8 flatbar plus about $20 in a second front skidplate, I think if I had went to the steel warehouse it would bought my flat bar much cheaper, but it was closed when I had time to buy steel, so I bought it at TSC and paid through the nose.
Comments, opinions, suggestions appreciated.
I have some pics I can e-mail if anybody is interested in viewing them.
