8.8 axle/driveshaft skid plate

[Nedwreck]

I'm just saying it looks like it could be mass produced pretty cheaply. Long ago I worked for a trailer manufacturer. Massive presses would stamp and and cut metal into mounts, brackets and things at a rate of about 10 a minute. It took that long because we had to place the steel in there and retrieve the stamped part. Had a friend loose 3 fingers from those damn machines.

your right, One off'ing this thing would take a long time. But if you built a die, you could press out several dozen an hour, significantly reducing production costs. Look... its got a few bends and 3 "U" bolts. I can get a armored diff cover for under $100. I'm just not impressed for that money is all.

I do industrial machine maintenance at a factory that stamps Ford body panels (Yes, we used to do 91-94 explorer bodysides, hatches, hoods, roofs.. etc.. but we have nothing for them now).

You could prob'ly do that in one or two hits at 16spm (strokes per minute) in the right press, robot loaded and auto-ejected, but would it be cost effective? lol
8.8's are pretty common tho...

However, a motivated fab shop with a BiG metal brake should be able to do the first one of these in an hour (or two TOPS), and any more after that get faster... (measurements, angles, weld-ons, all that stuff pre-engineered).

anyway... back to topic (and sorry for the ramble)...

 

[acchan]

so something like this?

http://www.kevinsoffroad.com/cart/ford-88-diff-skid-p-1631/?gclid=CPT6i8Wq2LgCFRRk7AodH2MAYw

 

[obie]

**** yeah! I thought I was gonna hafta get one fabbed from scratch! Just ordered even though I know I can't quite afford it but at least I'm only buying one... I can just swap them between the trucks as needed

How did you find out about that? I've spent hours searching Google to find an 8.8 skid plate. Thanks man!

 

[Brian1]

Do they have a prototype yet? It looks big, I would like to see the actual skid on the diff. Making a 8.8 skid is still on my to-do list but so far I haven't been able to get a cheap 8.8 housing to work from. I also looked at my Explorer and there isn't a lot of room between the pinion and gas tank with minimal lift. That is why I would like to see a picture of the skid installed on the diff to see how far it does stick out.

Let us know how it works out Obie!

 

[mounty71]

I'm swapping another 8.8 in my truck soon and was thinking this would be a good time to start making one, but that one looks pretty well-designed. I was thinking of attaching it at a 3rd point to the 3 holes where the 5th shock attaches on the side of the pinion. Hmm...that just gave me another idea. I'll report back soon!

 

[obie]

Well, they just updated their website to say its in pre-production right now with a expected September 30th ship date.

 

[whitetrash96]

Heres what I saw on the trail for an 8.8

This is Willy Worthy's old grand cherokee, he installed it for an issue of Fourhwheeler. It's made of 1/8" material formed in a garage using hand tools. I couldn't find the article online but I know its out there. There was a series of articles on his jeep, 'Ain't it grand' and later 'ain't it grander'.

 

[ricky8587]

Any updates on the Kevins offroad skid plate? They still list it as in pre-production??

A friend of mine is getting the AEV rear skid for his dana 44 and he offered to let me see if and how close it would be to fitting a 8.8

 

[Flip4ford]

James Duff used to make one with an "axle truss" I bought mine on Ebay for $75 and through the truss away. I bought my diff cover from a company called SOLID - it is tough and works great.