The new skid plate was needed as the stock plate no longer fit very well with the fuel
tank raised like it is. While I could have made it work by hacking the mounts for it
and making new ones, I felt it would be much better to build a much sturdier one after the
tank was finished.
To this end, I had planned ahead and installed 3 mounting points on the new cross-member
for the front of the skid plate to bolt to.What you see here is the center mount being
made. The two pins sticking out are the upper mounts for the rear
shocks.
The mounting points consist of a ½" nut welded to a piece of ¼" steel and the
whole thing in turn is welded over a hole drilled into the cross-member.
The angled piece was made to fit the cross-member and bolt to the new mounting
points.
After installation of the cross-member and shocks, I made the skid plate to match up
with these angled pieces. When all was done, it was pretty easy to tack them on
while under the truck, then unbolt them and pull the whole thing out for final welding.
This is a shot showing the front legs being positioned just prior to being tack-welded to
the angle brackets on the cross-member.
The first skid plate frame member is on the left. The one next to it is being bent
to shape to match it.
This is the initial frame with 3 legs on front and 2 on back. I may eventually add a
3rd leg on back, but this will do for now.
This is a trial fitting after adding the rear cross-member to the skid plate frame.
I ended up using 1/8" steel to plate the frame with. I had wanted to use
3/16", but I would have to cut it in 3 pieces and weld them up rather than just bend
it. Turns out welding the 3 pieces would have been easier I think.
I can always re-do the plating if I find it's too thin. It could pretty easily
be cut off and the frame cleaned up for new, thicker plating if I have to.
Bending the plate wasn't quite as easy as I had anticipated. I ended up enlisting
the weight of my truck to do the job, but even then it took a couple hours. A
bending break would be really nice for this job. Lacking one, I think I'd to the
3-plate route and weld the segments on individually.
Here's a shot after the final welding. I decided to add the two additional center
members since I was using thinner plate than I had planned. The frame seems to be
extremely strong and the 1/8" plating is not nearly as heavy as the thicker stuff so
this actually turned out pretty good. It's light enough for me to handle alone while
bolting it in.
The finished assemble after cleaning it up and spraying with POR-15.
And finally, another shot of the finished installation.
Created by: Dan Houlton
This page was last updated on 14 Apr 2004
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