custom skid plate ideas

[gert]

Ok guys do you have any custom skid plate ideas? I have an 83 CJ7 I am looking at the frame and have 4 bolt holes in the bottom of the frame and am looking at running the angles I have 2.5 inches fwd of the front hole and 5 inches aft of the aft hole giving me a 25 inch long skid plate. I am looking at getting some 1.5 inch x .12 thick tubing and running 4 of them front to back with a flat plate front to back. This would make my skid plate 10 inches longer than stock. Has anyone gone this far? Let me know.

 

[AussieCJ7]

I have gone from spring hanger to spring hanger I have rhs I beam that hold my Transmission mount and mean the skid plate doesn't bear any weight

The good part is I can slide over rocks if I don't have the Clearance and don't have any risk of anything hitting my auto or Transfer Case

Also can drop the skid without having to jack up Transmission


The bad part it sucks in mud. Vacuums into sticky mud and a PITA to clean. My solution is avoid mud

It also reflects a lot of heat back up but some well placed heat shields fixes that

 

[CJ007]

I have gone from spring hanger to spring hanger I have rhs I beam that hold my Transmission mount and mean the skid plate doesn't bear any weight

that

Aussie, do you have any pics?

 

[Old Dog]

Aussie, do you have any pics?

Pics would be cool as I'm redoing mine too.

 

[AussieCJ7]

Pics would be cool as I'm redoing mine too.

since changed the 2 red polly mounts to a standard XJ Transmission mount as these didnt allow enough flex and destroyed the threads in the Transmission so take that as a lesson it is all the reason I dont like the suspension mounts on the chassis rail method you will see on the web

with the plate on



There is also a CJ7 with the same lift and tyre size behind it so you can see the extra clearance gained

 

[Old Dog]

How far do you have the tc. clocked?

 

[AussieCJ7]

How far do you have the tc. clocked?

To the 2nd highest set of holes on the Novak AW4 adapter ring

The highest had it too flat IMHO

The amount of clocking was mostly determined by required front drive shaft clearance to get around the AW4 pan

 

[Old Dog]

gert, there's a couple ideas mixed in at this link.Skid plating/undercarriage protection - JeepForum.com

 

[gert]

Thanks Old Dog found what Im making on page 3 from 1985jeep I am going to try and keep mine as high as possible I have some 1.5 inch tubing ready to pick up tomorrow from the shop.

 

[CJ007]

since changed the 2 red polly mounts to a standard XJ Transmission mount as these didnt allow enough flex and destroyed the threads in the Transmission so take that as a lesson it is all the reason I dont like the suspension mounts on the chassis rail method you will see on the web

with the plate on



There is also a CJ7 with the same lift and tyre size behind it so you can see the extra clearance gained

Looks good, I am going raise mine a little more, currently I only clocked one hole over and got rid of the 2" or so drop for the transfer. Which brings me to a question. Did you have to go with a front CV driveshaft?

 

[AussieCJ7]

Yes you need a CV style drive shaft for any of these sort of mods