making skid plate, any advice?

bradze

bradze

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Joined
May 27, 2012
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85
Location
yelm, wa
acquired two 35"x85" aluminum signs from my father-in-law. 1 should be thick enough since im not that hardcore. anyway, any tips or things i should plan into my design?
 
pretty happy with my design for now, just not sure about what i wanna do with the middle. i mean an opening for draining the oil.
 
Gidday Brad

Copy the way the original polycarbonate does it. You could even cut a hole to match in your alloy design, then use the swinging cover plate from the OEM guard.

Do be aware that fitting a non-air bag compliant sump guard may void your road worthiness and/or insurance, depending on where you live.

Speaking of which, it is much easier for people to help/inform/advise you if they know roughly where you live.
Good thinking to add this to your user profile :) :cool:.
 
No worries, Brad.

Now that I can see that you are in the USA, I can tell easily that you do not have to be overly concerned about breaching the ADRs (Australian Design Rules), :rotfl::raz:.
 
you don't want it too thick that it transfers the shock to the chassis. Ideally the guard should absorb and crumple before the car does :)
 
I had a hole in mine for oil drain access but I obtrude it because all the mud was going in it when offroading.
 
i decided to leave it one solid piece. it won't bother me too much to remove a few bolts when i change the oil. just have to drill holes.
 
have it on now, i cut away too much on the sides but it should hold up for a while at least.
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is vibration normal? i think its cuz its so close to the exhaust downpipe or whatever cuz the vibration is when i step on the accelerator. hopefully some washers take care of it. too cold right now and i'm getting my hair cut in an hour.
 
it'll vibrate if it isn't very rigid. but some vibrate is better than mine, mine taps on the headers when i start the engine and stop the engine haha
 
Nice, but I think its not thick enough for big stones, I'd still be careful off road !
 
bradze said:
i put quik roof tape on it and the vibration is gone.
Click to expand...

Interesting, Bradze. Did you put the roof tape on top or underside? And for the entire surface area of the plate? Or only part of it?
 
Dont be afriad to put some bends in it. With sheet metal, bends actually makes it stronger and more rigid. It will also reduce/eliminate any vibration from wind or road speed.
 
Ratbag said:
No worries, Brad.

Now that I can see that you are in the USA, I can tell easily that you do not have to be overly concerned about breaching the ADRs (Australian Design Rules), :rotfl::raz:.
Click to expand...

Hey Ratbag, what are the ADRs in victoria regarding skid plates and sump guards? I was thinking of swapping my plastic one out for metal.
 
i don't do hardcore stuff, its good enough for me, i might put another sheet on the bottom. i only used half of what i started with. so far its proven effective. i put the quik roof on the subframe on the bottom of the car, and on the top of the skid plate where it touches the car. if i have my radio very low or off i can here a slight vibration sometimes, so ill put another roll of quik roof on bringing my grand total to $56.
 
the plate got pretty bashed up so i took it off for a while. i massaged it to a flat piece again but this time will double the thickness with another piece of scrap aluminum. what type of adhesive should i use to hold the two together?
 
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