Question about Factory Gas Skid

[PstrKd4BrthCntrll]

Got a gas tank skid plate from the junkyard for $10. The person before me took out the gas tank and I dont know if they bent the sides of the skid to get the gas tank out. The sides are angled out. Is that suppose to be like that?
Passenger side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/PassSide.jpg
Drivers Side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/DriversSide.jpg

[rockwerks]

That looks aboutright it boults to the underside of the unibody raol on both sides of the fuel tank.....you got the nut strips too right?

[dogtired]

what's up with the pink? :eek: :confused:

:viking:

[karstic]

Yeah the ears are a little tweaked, but its nothing a pipe wrench cant fix. The ears should be horizontal.

[Eagle]

The sides are angled out. Is that suppose to be like that?[/IMG]
No. They should be straight

[PstrKd4BrthCntrll]

what's up with the pink? :eek: :confused:

:viking:

Its Rustoleum Rust Primer. Its suppose to be red but the camera made it look pink.:-\

.....you got the nut strips too right?
yeah, I got a hitch chillin there now.

No. They should be straight
So I need to bend the sides so they are vertical? Thats gonna be a pain...

[Eagle]

Its Rustoleum Rust Primer. Its suppose to be red but the camera made it look pink.:-\


yeah, I got a hitch chillin there now.


So I need to bend the sides so they are vertical? Thats gonna be a pain...
You need to bend them in enough that the distance between the rows of bolt holes matches the distance between the bolt locations on the frame rails. Measure before you bend too much.

[Yucca-Man]

No - don't bend the sides so they're vertical. When you install it, only remove hte forward two bolts on each side (18mm socket) and leave the rear ones in place to hold the hitch. The two bolts on the passenger side are the ones holding the exhaust hanger.

Slide the tank skid up on the passenger side first to get it over the exhaust hanger, and lift the driver's side in place.

Reinstall the four bolts and drive away...

Oh yeah....PAINT THAT PINK THING FIRST ! ! ! ! http://www.yuccaman.com/icons/happyfinger.gif

[wascobi]

thread hack

do you remove the plastic sheild from the tank before you install the skid?

[Yucca-Man]

Yes, remove the shield. The easy way is to support the tank and undo ONE strap holding it up. It helps if you have a nearly empty tank so as to not put a lot of load on the remaining strap. The straps are attached at the front with a J-bolt into the body so once you have it sufficiently loosened it will lift off.

Use a sharp knife to start a cut/tear along the plastic shield, and remove it. Reattach the J-bolt and strap and repeat for the other side.

[PstrKd4BrthCntrll]

I believe ya have to get rid of the plastic or it wont fit. Besides, ya wont need it after ya install the skid anyway.
I measured the holes in the ears and compared it to the bolts in the frame. Ear to ear was 37 1/2in, and the bolts in the frame were 36in. So I'll try sliding it in like Yucca suggested.
Today I started painting it black with Rustoleum Semi gloss.

[Yucca-Man]

Really? The centers were 1.5" different? Hmmm...I'll have to go look again but I swear the sides looked like that on mine.

[Eagle]

Yes, remove the shield.
Unnecessary.

Use a packing knife and just trim a strip about 1-1/2" wide off each end. Much easier than messing around with the tank hangers and such.

[sidriptide]

Unnecessary.

Use a packing knife and just trim a strip about 1-1/2" wide off each end. Much easier than messing around with the tank hangers and such.

i will second that.. i only trimmed the plastic and it fit... be prepared to fight with it on the install.. it took 3 of us, a floor jack, and a few big prybars to get mine lined up.. and ironically my aftermarket hitch gave more clearance for it to fit that the OEM one i was going to use at first...

[Frank Z]

How about posting some pics of the install process for us? I just attempted to install this same skid yesterday and it was a fuster-cluck. My skid is too small (front to rear) so It's sitting in the garage until, well until I decide what to do with it. I'm guessing that it came out of an XJ with a smaller tank.

[PstrKd4BrthCntrll]

I'll post some pics when I install it today. I'm just waiting for the paint to dry on it...

[Frank Z]

Thanks, and another couple of questions. What year is your XJ? What plastic shield? I've got a '97 and there is not a plastic shield on it. All i've got as far as shields are concerned is a heat shield between the tank and the tail pipe.

[Wayne Sihler]

97 and up have a plastic gas tank,no need for a plastic shield on a plastic tank :) .Early model skids(84-96) will not fit on the later model tanks,bolt pattern is the same but tank is different.
Wayne

[PstrKd4BrthCntrll]

Got it installed and took pics.

Tools Needed.
Floor Jack
Utility Knife[box cutter]
18mm socket
1/2" Ratchet.
6" Extention
13mm socket


Skid all Painted and spiffy lookin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Painted.jpg
Yucca suggested to keep the hitch on but when I pushed up the skid, the edges of the skid interfered with the edges of the hitch. So that wasnt gonna work. When I installed the hitch I didnt Anti-Seize the bolts. So I figured I'd do that when I install the bolts.

So I removed the hitch. 4 18mm bolts on each side held it in place and 1 in the very front of the each nut strip.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Removed.jpg

Trimmed off about 1 1/2 Inch of the plastic stuff. Found a couple small dents int he tank but nothing major.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Plastic2.jpg

I used a floor jack to push up the skid. The rear of the skid did push up against the plastic shied a little but it didnt cause any trouble. The holes didnt line up well on the passenger side. I tried pushing and pulling the skid but they didnt want to line up. The exhaust hanger was in the way. Used the knife to cut the rubber in half and got the 13mm on the bolts and took it off. I didnt need it cause I dont have a tailpipe anymore. Lined up the holes and bolted the most foward bolts on each side. The rear bolt holes on the skid didnt match up well with holes in the frame. So I skipped them and decided to drill them out later cause I had company coming over for mothers day.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Skid1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/skid2.jpg

Then I installed the hitch back into place. This was the hard part. I had to pound the sides of the hitch over the sides of the skid. I started bolting the rear bolts of the hitch and made my way forward.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Hitch.jpg

Completed
Drivers side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/finished1.jpg

Passenger side as you can see the scrap marks of when I pounded the hitch over the skid
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Finished2.jpg

Rear
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/Pstrkd4brthcntrll/Complete.jpg

I think thats bout it... All I need to do is realign the holes that dont match up and I'll be good to go.
This is on a 93 Sport 4.0 with a 15 gallon tank..
Questions?

[cykaaro]

Looks good. Have never come across a factory one at all in my travels. Curious though as forementioned and yours are for the smaller tank. [dealer shows it as a 13.xgal tank] I've always had the larger 20gal tank and replaced my leaking one with same. Did they ever make a skid for the larger tank?

[Eagle]

Looks good. Have never come across a factory one at all in my travels. Curious though as forementioned and yours are for the smaller tank. [dealer shows it as a 13.xgal tank] I've always had the larger 20gal tank and replaced my leaking one with same. Did they ever make a skid for the larger tank?
The 13 gallon tank was discontinued by Chrysler around 1990. Only size avaioable after that was the 20-gallon. Both are the same size physically. The smaller one had an internal baffle to limit how much fuel could be put into it. Same skid plate fits both.

[Yucca-Man]

Pounding the hitch over the skid? It wouldn't fit at all with the hitch between the frame and skid? Sounds like one of us has a non-OEM hitch then? I need to get a pic of my finished install...

[cykaaro]

The 13 gallon tank was discontinued by Chrysler around 1990. Only size avaioable after that was the 20-gallon. Both are the same size physically. The smaller one had an internal baffle to limit how much fuel could be put into it. Same skid plate fits both.

Thanks Eagle. Didn't know that at all. Good to know if I come across the skid in my travels. Managed to get the front one so far.

[PstrKd4BrthCntrll]

I can get about 16 gallons in my tank.

Sounds like one of us has a non-OEM hitch then?

Yup, Got me a Reese

[aardvark4x4]

I fitted a factory skid for a plastic tanked '97 on XJ to my '92 steel tank. it fits but you have to carefully bend the welded flanges on the sides of the tank flat or the tank is too wide. I trimmed the sides off the plastic tank cover too.

[ILLXJ]

I fitted a factory skid for a plastic tanked '97 on XJ to my '92 steel tank.
I've done this on 2 96's, but I cut the skids & added about a 1/4". JIM.

[Yucca-Man]

I can get about 16 gallons in my tank. That's all my 20-gallon tank holds as well...after pulling off that worthless plastic shield it's pretty easy to see why. I've got a few gallons worth of dents in the underside...

Thanks for clearing up the question about the hitch not fitting between the skid and frame.