how thick for skid plate?

[yellowxj]

Got to make a skids for the xj...how thick does the metal need to be under the fuel tank? thick plate or thin stuff w/ reinforcement?

trying to crawl on some rocks the other day and came down pretty hard on the tank...gauge went from 3/4 tank to full...hmm...

[Puma297]

3/16" is pretty manageable to work with

[ROBZ95Xj]

3/16 or a 1/4 inch

[AJsArmor]

You can get by with lighter material with reinforcement but I think 3/16" is a good compromise of weight/strength. Also a good idea to make sure there is a way for water and mud to drain out of the lowspots/corners.

[Puma297]

1/4" is overkill. if you can figure out some way to brace the 3/16" at the corners and stuff it'll actually be stronger than 1/4".

[Mr.OverKill]

if you want to be technical 1/8 would be fine and even stronger than 1/4 with the right bracing, heck you could get some .060 titanium LOL... j/k on the titanium, too expensive!!!!

[Weasel]

Gas tank really doesn't need to be more then 1/8" if you box the side in with a few 2-3" pieces. But on the other hand it wouldn't hurt to have a bit more weight in the rear so 3/16 would be fine.

[490Chaser]

just about all the commercially available stuff is 3/16, some stuff is 1/4 but yeah, that's kinda overkill. I think Collins Brothers does 1/4 because it only has a few mounting points (maybe to be more hitch friendly i dunno).
steagall9301's right, properly braced 1/8 would be ok, but then you're starting to get dent stretching... I would go with the 3/16 and think about how you can make it strong while designing it (any kind of triangle you can put in it)

[rockwerks]

I use 3/16" for all my skids

[DDCxj]

I think Okie Terry has the nicest gas tank skid I've seen. If you got a hitch, I'd do something similar to his. Not much clearance lost and it covers pretty much the whole tank. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32576&highlight=okie+gas+tank+skid

Dean

[yellowxj]

excellent...thanks for the advice all.... :wave: