Skid Row Front Skid Plate Mod

Any of you with the Skid Row skid pates have probally run into the same problem that I have.
Snapping the bolt heads off the bottom of the front skid plate.
Well today I finally removed the bolts threads and started thinking about a better mounting system.

Here is what I'm going to do:

Weld two strips of metal to the top (inside) of the front skid plate (1) where it joins the main skid plate (2). Each peice will be about 1" 1/2 wide and 3" long. To mount the plate you will slide the strips on top of skid plate 2 and then do up the two bolts at the front of the truck.


I don't think that the plate needs bolts at the bottom, they just need a way to secure them and take some of the weight off the front bolts.
With this desgin you will not have to worry about snapping bolts.

Well what do you guys think?

Only concern I have is if there would be play in the front plate, meaning it would bang around...? The bolts that are there effectively hold the bottom edge to the frame crossmember (well, the second skid has those U-bolts around the frame, and then the first plate bolts to that.) Without the bolts there it might need some shims or something???

Otherwise a very cool idea. Only other idea I had was to use very small U-bolts, the same way the other plate does, only to attach one plate to the other. That way there wouldn't really be a bolt head to snap, just the edge of a U-bolt (which I think would be harder to break, esp. if you could find Grade 8 U-bolts.)

Yeah I banged up my bolts pretty bad in Moab too. I was wondering if there was a way to keep the bolts but protect them from the blunt side impacts you get on rocks.

My idea was what if you could weld a piece of angled steel in front of the bolts. I'm not near my truck so I don't know if there would be room for the rear angled part, but most of the impacts come from the front anyway.

Goth-
I also thought about the using u-bolts, but really would like to have nothing to hit since this is a really common place to scrap (well for those of us with out a lift :) ).

I think that if the strips are long enough and you add a small strip of foam or something for the vibration you would be ok.

If the skid was thicker then the holes (groves) for the bolts could be counter sinked (sp). This would hide them from the rocks.

Schuld-
I also thought about this but was thinking that I would like to limit what is there to be hit. That is why I started thinking about doing stuff from the inside so that there is nothing to hit.

I'm still not 100% on an idea so let's keep the idea going...

Welding a donut around the bolt head seems to work for this sort of thing....its rounded, so it doen't catch, its easy to build, and repair if needed, it doesn't change the attachment/vibration aspects, and it does not require you to take the plate off to install, its light, and it's all but free.

Building out & Filing the outer edges of the donut weld to slope down (up?) to the skid plate, to skid even more smoothly, makes it even slicker.

:)

A longer Grade 8 Bolt and a thick enough plate (Thicker than the protruding head) with a bolt hole in it, shaped the same way as the welded donut/ramped donut, work to protect your head - w/o a welder too.

:)

I plan on purchasing some Skid Row plates soon, but wonder if the plates are thick enough to support countersunk fasteners? This would place the fastener head just below the surface of the plate, thus avoiding it being torn off by rocks or whatever you strike. If you don't think the fastenrs aren't strong enough could you put in a few more fasteners to help share the load and stress of the plates making contact with rocks, etc????

Just my .02, since I work for Boeing....everything that is subjected to an air flow has countersunk fasteners. Don't have a picture but hope you all understand what I am saying!

This is a picture of what we're talking about.
http://www.beatdriven.com/xterra/4x4lo_mirror/skid_bolts.jpg

re: countersinking--I would be a bit hesitant, just because the plates are only (heh, only...) 3/16" thick. Schlud's idea seems pretty reasonable though, but I think I'm having a hard time visualizing rhombus's idea in action. (Even with the diagram...:()

I haven't had a problem snapping them since I switched to grade 8 hardware, btw...the heads get a bit mangled but I can still get a socket on them. Might just be I haven't hit them right though.

Ok I will try a color pic :-)

From that picture it looks like it would work to me.
Let us know how it turns out if you go ahead with it...:)

Today was the first nice sunny weekend, so I installed my front and engine Skid Row plates. Anyone need a factory skid, fasteners included? So, I put the engine one using the floor jack! This not fun to do on a driveway that is sloped 10 degrees toward the street!!!! The skid fits good! Installing the front plate I had to take off my Fabritron skid, which I modified in another post, to drill the two forward holes. Took me about three hours by myself! I see now what you are all talking about the three bolts that attach the rear of the front skid! They stick up way to high!!!

I too wondered why they wern't counter-sunk. I think the real problem would be the 3/16". However I think it would work because it would still lower the overall height plus if you use an Allen head bolt you won't have to worry about mangeling it. No spell checking today! Counter sinking bits for metal can be bought at Sears. Skid row could weld a small 1"x 1" plate where the bolt needs to be then counter sink that. This would give you the 'ramp' effect and the allen head bolts. My .02!

can't you guys use carriage bolts instead of hex head bolts. or do you need to tighten them up from the bottom side so a carriage bolt won't work. you will need to "square out" the bolt holes with a square rat tail file and the heads will still get worn from rocks, but they will last longer and not catch and hang you up. :bloated:

I was thinking the same thing, carriage bolts would be ideal, assuming you can get to the threads on the other side.

Brent

I don't have skids yet, but wouldn't this work??????

The red box is a piece of steal the width of the skid, 1/4" or 3/16" high by 2" deep. Drill out the current hole in the skid so the bolt head will go thru it and drill a hole in the new piece of steal so the threads of the bolt go thru it and into the frame cross members.

Part of the problem is that the three holes are slotted on the front skid that connects the front to the engine skid. The engine skid uses three nuts welded to the upper surface of the engine skid. It's just like the center hole on your stock skid plate.

I shoulda taken pictures when I was doing the assembly:(

I get the point about using counter sunk or alan head bolts in order to avoid them being sheared off. My concern is if you use a counter sunk bolt or an alan head bolt, and it gets damaged, how will you remove it. On a standard bolt if it shears off or if it is mangled you can still grab on with some vice grips and remove it. If it is an alan head or if it is countersunk you won't be able to grab it to remove it. At that point you will have to drill off the head which could be a pain to do.

What happens if you just upgrade to grade 8 bolts. Will they resist damage.

We sheared off the passenger and driver's side stock Skid Row bolt heads. While replacing I upgraded all three of the front fasteners with grade-8 hardware. I then sheared off the driver's side while playing at WestX 2001.

I am going to go with Lance's suggestion of the "donut". A stout piece of metal to protect and deflect nasty rocks sounds like the best way to go.

Originally posted by accasbel
We sheared off the passenger and driver's side stock Skid Row bolt heads. While replacing I upgraded all three of the front fasteners with grade-8 hardware. I then sheared off the driver's side while playing at WestX 2001.

I am going to go with Lance's suggestion of the "donut". A stout piece of metal to protect and deflect nasty rocks sounds like the best way to go.

A donut or a small skid in front of the bolts sounds like the right approach. The donut might have to be trimmed to fit the bends of the front skid and it's short end after the bolt holes, but someone could make it work.

After my next oil change I'm taking the skid off and working with the shop that reworked my bumper to see what they can do.

My skid is off now too and going to my welder this week. I am going to have him build a horse shoe of weld around the bolt.