Roll Pan

[PUR PONY]

i hate playing with fiberglass... lol... i just finished my fiberglass spare tire sub box for my mustang.... came out good but drove me nuts.


Im guessing we could use the stock bumper as a start to a mold.....

 

[nnnick]

going off of what was done with the shortened bumper, i would think you could just shorten the bumper, then weld steel over where the license plate box is, smooth it out, and voila, a roll pan.

But for the fiberglass, that sounds like a good idea. That way the curves look factory and not out of place. IT may need a little modification, but sounds like it will work.

 

[rokke17]

Originally posted by PUR PONY
you can have this link....

Dead Link Removed ...

I am guessing thats the roll pan he was talking about.... its really nice but look at the custom work involved... its not that bad but would take a little while to build in the garage.
If I could get the end caps all bent (anyone know where?) then the rest shouldnt be to bad.

You're correct, thats the link.

Chris

 

[rokke17]

Originally posted by nnnick
that just looks like a custom made roll pan, not one that you can buy and they mass produce.

That is correct, I never said they mass produce them. That is a one off custom.



Im not really all that against a fiberglass roll pan, but steel would be more durable, and for the guys going even lower (or bagged) steel is even more important....

I agree.



A fiberglass one shouldnt be that hard to make should it?

 

[james t]

while i agree, a steel pan would be nice, i dont think you guys understand how much extra work is involved in welding in a pan on the explorer. you are correct, you cant mold in a 'glass pan without fear of it eventually cracking around the corners. as far as wanting a steel one for seriously lowered X's, a steel pan is very, very thin guage. if it ever hits something, its screwed just like a glass pan. also, a glass pan can be repaired much easier than trying to straighten a thin steel one. also, to weld in a pan, you will have to get rid of the splashguards. the lower rear quarter's (whats under the guards) are a bit higher up than the guard itself, and will look alittle funny. you will also have to have this area of the truck painted, and blended in with stock paint. a "bolt on" glass pan can be painted seperate. also, you will have to weld in all the junk underneath the guards, as they are anything but smooth...

 

[nnnick]

well youve got me convinced glass is fine!

 

[james t]

not trying to discourage you from welded in steel, as i think this is by far the best look. however, am i going to spend about 100 hrs. on the rear of a truck worth $6k, to make it look 100% cool? or am i going to spend 20hrs. to make it look 90% cool? ill take 10% less coolness for 80 hrs. less work anyday.

 

[Black Magic]

I agree with the wanting the pan to be Fiber too!

 

[blackdiamond]

Hey James

Are you at the air base. That looks like base house. I just retired from there. Don

 

[james t]

you mean the pic like 5 posts up? naw, that was at the car wash. im in Texarkana. we have no air base that i know of... unless you consider our 10 acre airport a "base"lol.

EDIT- is there really a "Deliverance" Arkansas??? if so, God help us.

 

[merc97]

I know a bodyman that is going to make a roll pan out of sheet metal. All this will take place next month and I will let you all know how it turns up. Am going to speak to him about producing more after mine is made.

 

[jssong]

another "plan" to make the rollpan... hopefully u will actually make one merc..

 

[merc97]

He said he's going to take measurements and than roll a piece of sheet metal and than make the bends for the coners. I also want him to brace the inside with some sort of metal tubing. We work together and he does a lot of custom work for show cars. We will be taking some pictures of the making of the roll pan and I will be posting them.

 

[Ryan1]

Did any of you guys ask CoryL, Im pretty sure he can make about anything.

Couldnt hurt.

Ryan

 

[Hartman]

I have asked him many times, LOL. He's more of a tube guy, not sheetmetal.

 

[Ryan1]

How bout Perry, he's the fiberglass chief.

Ryan

 

[james t]

i have been doing some minor checking, and it appears as though the 97-up F150 pan can be made to work easier than i imagined. it appears as though the endcaps are the same "roundness" that we need, and im guessing that basically the pan just needs to be cut down to length to work. if you start with a pan with no taper (same height from driver to passenger side) it will be even easier to cut down.

 

[X24]

It would work great for the 98-01 explorers if the length of the licence plate part is more than the amount that needs to be cut out. That way you could just cut out the middle and it would match up perfect when you put it back together. Know what I mean? You could do it for the older X's but you would have to find another place to put your plate.

 

[rokke17]

It appears to me that if you wanted to use the F150 pan, and slice it down the center and then mold it back together, you would have to begin with a fiberglass pan, because the only F150 pans I found that were steel were a steel center section with urethane end caps on them to match the bed contours. I feel this would only complicate things and you obviously couldnt weld it in, so it kind of defeats the purpose of an all steel pan.

So question for anyone cosidering this, if you cut the 'glass pan down the center to make it fit better, how are you going to reattach it to itself, or essentially how are you going to fill in the cut you made?????????

Also I would assume that the mounting points/etc would not match up to the Ex, how would one work around this?? I havent pulled a bumper off an F150 before so I'm not sure how things look back there.

Chris

 

[james t]

i have no intentions of cutting out a single section of the center. i plan on cutting out the neccesary amount on both sides, as in the pic below. maybe not exactly, but something like this...

i plan on using a steel pan so i can weld it back together. any further modifications for fitment can be done with fiberglass. the actual mounting (after it is made) will be the easiest part of the job.