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Skid plate for a first gen?

TheFox88

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City, State
Flagstaff, Arizona
Year, Model & Trim Level
'92 Sport
Has anyone custom made a functional skid plate for a first gen? If so did it cover the front pumpkin or just the steering/suspension components? What were the lower mounting points used? Did it connect to the frame with the lower mounts? What thickness of plate did you use? What kind of additional support did you use? Has it seen any use and if so did it hold up well?

I have my front bumper off, cause it is all bent up from the lady who owned it before me. :rolleyes: Looking down there, i have noticed how relativley unprotected the whole area is. I will be making a custom tube bumper like a lot of us already have, but i would also like to add a little insurance, in the form of a skid plate.

Any advice or pointers or diminsions :D any one has would be of great use to me. I really apperciate anything you can throw at me.

Thanks
-Bryce
 



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It really couldn't attach to the diff and then frame. Unless some how you made the skid flexible. You could just do some plating on the diff if you wanted more protection for it. As far as a undercarriage skid goes I think it has been done before but on a 2nd gen. You might could take some plate and run it along the bottom of the frame rails or something to that affect. Not real sure....It will be a good project though.
 












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I have my bumper off and have noticed that there is some sort of bracket that has a hole pointed down. It doesn't look sturdy enough for me to attach a functional skid plate to it though. I was also thinking about fabbing up some mounts that would bolt directly to the frame and then be long enough to clear all the steering components.

Another possibility would be to run a full size skid plate up until a couple of inches of the front driveline and then dun a thinner (and stronger) piece back past the driveline and then thicken it back up after it clears. Of course i would leave at least a couple of inches of clearence below the driveline to take into account flex.
front
Something like this: \ /
\ /
-----l l---- driveline
/ \
rear
I tried to do a little computer sketch but it didn't come out the way i wanted. :(

I have been following the cutting board skidplate thread and have pretty much decided that i will use that kind of material. Probably with a 16-18 guage sheet metal backing for a little extra support.

Note: So far, This is just random brainstorming and i have not planned on any of this yet. I NEED help coming up with ideas, so if anyone has any, shoot them my way.

Thanks,
-Bryce
 






Goliath has a front pumpkin skid plate.
 






Is that just for the pumpkin or does it cover the steering components as well?
 












my um Superrunner steering hangs out even more then the stock inverted Y and with the BII nose I have not been able to hit it on anything, my approach angle clears the steering from like every angle, unless I was to drive right up to a very tall rock it wont get hurt, hopefully I am paying attention and put a tire on the rock instead of the steering.

I have a slider skid plate on my TTB diff to help it up and over rocks, which it needs desperatley, the beams are actually pretty tough as they are, mine have quite a few rock marks in them but the skid plate help get the beam up and over instead of stopping the truck dead.

I have thought about a skid plate for the steering as well, I have seen a few TTB skid setups over the year that do just that, it must attach to the frame rails, not the suspension however. I guess it would be there just in case you slipped a tire off a huge rock and the rock now heads for your steering....

I will get some pics of the plate I have, it is one of the original CO Explorer groups initial run of these plates, cannot remember who fabbed them but I purchased 3 of them from Perry at Moab last year when I found out he still had some. I still have two left, the best of the three is on my truck :)

Very similar to Kirby's pictured above.
 






410, what'cha go'in to do with the other two?
 






Well my friend Dave as gonna lift his ex so I gave him one, but now hes not lifting so I took it back, so I dunno? Moving them from shop to shop I guess, hahahaha

One of them I will likely modify a bit to protect the back of the diff better, and then swap em out....PM me if you want the other, I'll get you a pic...
 






Good, this is what i needed, pictures. :thumbsup: I will keep everyone updated as to what i have planned.
 






http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125858 scroll down torards the bottom of the first page and there are a few pictures of the one I made. It is now sitting on the side of the house with the rest of my dana 35. If someone is interested in it I would be willing to sell it. I could probably make up a few more as well if more people want some.
 






Ok, who's that guy that got stuck in the mud hole and they put a picture of it in Off Road Adventures? And now he's got a 6" lift and 35's, etc.? Well he has a really nice skid plate and I've been looking all over for his thread and can't find it.
 












Thanx for the compliments guys, I would be happy to answer any questions on my skidplate, I would also be willing to fabricate a couple more(improved) if anyone was interested. I have got some better mounting ideas and have a few things i would change to mine, but so far it has worked very well and is very strong.

Thanx
Jon
 












Autofab makes a skid plate that bolts to the bottom 4 bolts of the diff axle housing. I used one on my Explorer and recentlt put one on my Bronco. Sorry for the huge pic, it's all I could find.
m35kit1_12-18-98_11_45_AM.JPG
 



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