TOTM: Underside Protection

[ashmanjeepXJ]

Welcome to the next contribution to the
The Official Pirate4x4.com Jeep Talk Bible

Topic of the Month Underside Protection

Give use some tips and tricks of your underside protection.
This includes belly skids, steering skids, drive shaft protection. diff covers, and gas tank skids, .

This does not include frame rail plating protection,rocker protection, sliders, step bars, boat sides, bumpers, or gas tank relocation.

[whitneyj]

I have an abortion of a bellypan/xmember. This whole Jeep was my first ever fab project so be kind. . .

The abortion sits even with the bottom of the rails and covers the entire tranny and all but 1" of the tcase


I didn't skid the oil pan with the reasoning that the links should eat the rocks before the oil pan does. Haven't had any close calls yet, but can't wait until this winter when that thing gets tossed.

[blackglass]

Yeah I know it's only on a 30. I think I used 3" channel, 6" long and cut at a 45* for control arm skids. Then welded to the flare of the stock mount. I drilled 2 holes in the middle to mount some small pieces of uhmw. It's simple but does a decent job of keeping the mount straight and protecting the end of arm.

Here is the best pic I could find.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...d/IMG_5074.jpg

[sandman503]

nothing too extereme here, in the pirate4x4 world im a beginner, but this is what ive got

its a ZJ, just swapped over to a np231, crustys crossmember and skid row skid.





excuse the bling factor. and the drop is now gone.

[hadfield4wd]

Here is my gas tank skid. I have tabs on the bumper that it's bolted to. And it has self tapping bolts in the "frame" holds up great. Obstacles don't get ung up on anything.











Here is a rear shot.

[hadfield4wd]

Here is my traction bar that helps protect my driveshaft and the GLO yoke guard. It does get caught on stuff and hangs up, but I have yet to break a joint or yoke with it. Someday I may trim it.





This is my belly skid. 1/4". Bolts to the front crossmember and is welded to a piece of 2x2 that also doubles as a mounting point for my traction bar.

[nennam]

That GLO yoke guard looks sweet hadfield4wd. Never seen one before. Not a bad investment i`d recon. Need to get me one of those.

[vetteboy79]

Naked:



Covered:



Doesn't get much better than this.

[R.DesJardin]

Vetteboy,
Can you give specs on your slider material and tube steel brackets. You've built exactly what I had imagined in my brain,(yes it was full when I was doing that).

[SirFuego]

My ZJ's belly skid is just the Clayton's one. It's made of 1/4" steel and comes with a tubular rear crossmember for mounting. It's bent along the sides for additional strength and also protects the cat.

One thing I don't like about it is that the middle isn't reinforced, so it has been bent upwards almost to where it's touching the transfer case. If you get the Clayton's skid, you might want to reinforce it with some angle iron or tubing since it's not bulletproof.

It's not custom, but I figured I would pass it along in case anyone else was curious about this particular skid.

Click to make the following pics bigger...

Here is a pic before it was wheeled with the skid on:


Here is a pic of how the skid plate has bowed with what I would consider "normal" use:

[vetteboy79]

Originally Posted by R.DesJardin

Vetteboy,
Can you give specs on your slider material and tube steel brackets. You've built exactly what I had imagined in my brain,(yes it was full when I was doing that).

The plastic material is UHMW-PE, 3/8" thick.

The cross tubes above it are 2" x .25 DOM, crossmembers are 2x5x.25 box, and the sides are bolted thru nuts that are welded in the frame plating.

[JayH]

Hey Vette, what's your rig weigh in at?

[Dirt-Fab]

Here is my diff skid I build for my 9" on the Jeepspeed.

[vetteboy79]

Originally Posted by JayH

Hey Vette, what's your rig weigh in at?

A lot.

In quasi-race-ready trim, w/spare tire and 16 gallons of fuel, it's right around 5k.

[Goatman]

I made a flat crossmember by cutting the bottom off a stock crossmember and welding 1/4" plate across it, then adding some tube reinforcement on the top. It's strong and flat, and bolts to the stock holes. The cut is just below the seam in the stock crossmember.






This is a simple idea that doesn't take much fab work, yet it's strong and flat. It's been on the XJ for countless hardcore trails. The t-case skid is the original Tomken one that's been on the XJ from the beginning when it was first locked and lifted, which now is about 13 years, it gets removed and pounded flat now and then.



You can't talk about underbody protection without emphasizing that high clearance is a priority. Hitting underneath the rig stops you more often than a lack of traction, so keeping things flat and tucked up to the frame is important to trail performance.

[BrassMunkey4]

Originally Posted by vetteboy79

A lot.

In quasi-race-ready trim, w/spare tire and 16 gallons of fuel, it's right around 5k.

5k pounds? I thought it was closer to 6k pounds?? If urs is 5k, mind cant be anymore thant 4500, ballin.

Obligatory undercarriage shot. Plate is just 3/16ths bolted to the subframe and x-member. How its still working is beyond me (i've got like 5 years on it)

[bobfortier]

Here is what I did when the stock crossmember went away.



New crossmember built with a 4 x 1 3/4 channel



Belly pan added to that. Bolts in the front and through the "frame" at the back



And a tranny pan. It is not supported in the front other than at the crossmember, but with it being 3D it will be solid enough, and better this than landing on the tranny pan itself

[bobfortier]

Also here is the gas tank skid, bolts in the hitch at the back and I used the long bolts that hold the strap on the gas tank at the front

[Weasel]

Mine:







Skid is completely flat, center is raised ~1". Been on about a year and work great. Only changes I would make would be to spend more time bending the section on the frame rails to follow the contours better. The square break has caught a few rocks. I'd say it's held up well as the frame rails have all sort of dents in them since, but nothing on the skid. I will be adding one behind for the t-case and one in front for the tranny at some point.

[Action Fab]

Here is my ZJ

[jdbwrx]

I recently made up my own version of the Currie/JKS crossmember. I reused some plate I had, hence the slight "patchwork" look on the flat t-case cover. I have since covered the cross memeber/t-case skid with a piece of 3/8" HDPE.

[98ZJ]

anyone on here got pics of a transfer case skid plate they made for a stock ZJ? Mine is a 318 and I swapped out the shitty all wheel drive 249 for a 242 but the case hangs down a tad low so a flat piece of steal wouldnt work. Just trying to get some ideas here. Maybe if someone has a nice one they've made, down the road I could give you some cash to make a copy of it. I don't have any tools or anything to really do any metal work. Keep the pics coming, I'm getting all sorts of ideas guys.

[DutchVDub]

Here is mine, its just a TNT/TREKS Belly pan thats part of their Y-link/Radius arm LA setup. Makes tranny maint a pain, luckily I have a manual and don't need to get to any filters.

[ashmanjeepXJ]

My belly skid I made in 2003, its ugly small pieces of 1/4in plate. On the back side 1in 120wall box tube adds strength.
My transmission and T-case mount to an independent cross member.

I like the idea of the mounting bolts on the side. I would do that again.
I really should make a nicer one but it still works.


I should be running a simple skid like this, with an independent cross-member for the trans/tcase.


On Steve's cherokee we had this to work with and will add some 1/4in plate to protect the atlas 4 speed, It is the trans/tcase and skid all in one.

[Goatman]

Oh, so this is a picture thread.....not a discussion thread?

I'll post another picture, then.


This is the crossmember/belly skid on the XJ buggy. Personally, I like crossmembers and skid plates to be as flat as possible for better ground clearance, and the resulting better trail performance.