Progress pics of my DPG style Tcase skid...

My last time out at Rausch I was constantly concerned with landing the tcase on a rock. The gas tank doesn't quite scare me as much since it's plastic, and can give a little. The tcase being cast aluminum means that if it so much as touches a rock it could easily disinigrate. So it was time I fabbed a Tcase skid.

So I got myself some 1/4" plate. I wanted 3/16" but this peice of 1/4", 24"x55" was sitting on the ground at the steel yard. $37 later, for a rusty peice of steel ( ) I was in business.

I drew out what I needed cut and headed to my uncle's shop to play with the plasma...


I decided that instead of finding someone to bend the plate (my uncle hasn't gotten his press brake yet) I would just cut and weld the bends. It worked flawlessly. I cut about 3/16" the way through with a zip disc and bent with my hands or a pipe wrench.


I've talked enough, here's the pics.

Welding upside down is tough..


The cutout is for the cat. I think I need to enlarge it some as the fit is kinda close, it may rattle.




One side bent up and "tacked".


The plan is to slip the skid inbetween the rockrails and framerail on each side and 7 1/4-20 bolts tapped into the front of the Xmember.




Both sides bent up and sitting like it should..


Clearance to the tcase and exhaust..


The tie in to the crossmember tacked on...




Here's where im at now.




I still need to cut 1/4" out of my front rockrail arms, drill and tap the crossmember, and drill and crush sleeve the framerail.

Thoughts? Anyone think it needs to be braced at the bends? Maybe some vertical peices of plate cut to match the angle on the inside? If you need I can MS Paint em in so ya'll can see what I mean.


Holy **** this is a long post. :wave:

cant give you any advice on the welds, but if the strength is there that is a nice piece you've made

how much shipped to 71115

:laugh3:

Those welds are getting cut out when I do final welding. I was laying on my back in the heat getting slag all over me, I just needed to make sure it wasn't going to move while I was bending other parts.

why did you keep the stock cross member? why not lose the extra 2" and build the mount into the skid? Not bashing you just wondering if there was a reason cause I am planning on doing a flat skid straight across.

Looks good.

However, I'll make one correction here, just to be an ass.

It is like an XJNATION skid plate as he had the design out first.

Good job though, and it looks very stout.

Fergie

BUCKYXJ said:

why did you keep the stock cross member? why not lose the extra 2" and build the mount into the skid? Not bashing you just wondering if there was a reason cause I am planning on doing a flat skid straight across.

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Time. I will eventually ditch the beat up excuse for a crossmember in favor of something more fun. I also have 8k left on my warrenty, and I plan to use every bit of it. I'm sure a bellyup xmember isnt what they'd like to see if I brought it in for tranny issues. They don't seem to have a problem with the lift, but i'll have to see what they say about the SYE next time in. :wave:

Fergie said:

Looks good.

However, I'll make one correction here, just to be an ass.

It is like an XJNATION skid plate as he had the design out first.

Good job though, and it looks very stout.

Fergie

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:dunno: I have no idea where it came from, but lots of people know of the DPG style skid. Thanks for the correction though. :rattle:

I like it. Beefy. Good work!

Fergie said:

Looks good.

However, I'll make one correction here, just to be an ass.

It is like an XJNATION skid plate as he had the design out first.

Good job though, and it looks very stout.

Fergie

Click to expand...

Thanks Fergie, Ive been building that basic skid for over 4 years now.... have sold hundreds ...nice homemade unit

xjnation said:

Thanks Fergie, Ive been building that basic skid for over 4 years now.... have sold hundreds ...nice homemade unit

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Sweet, thanks for the idea then. :wave:

Looks good, I ran one of XJnations skid for awhile they work great.

I like that partial cut-through method for bending heavy material. I'll have to try that one some time. The skid looks good, but I'd have to wonder if 1/4" bolts can serve a useful purpose in a skid plate project.

I'm running 6 1/4" bolts per side on my rockrails, no issues. I actually forgot to fully install my driver's side before my last Rausch trip, only put 3 1/4" bolts back in, and I landed on it hard multiple times without a problem. Most of the force will be transmitted to the crossmember anyway. There is no gap between the skid and crossmember. Those bolts won't see much force, if any.

that was gonna be my comment as I thought "that looks just like XJNation's skid plate". He had donated one for the Moab raffle I was running a couple of years ago and I knew it looked similar. A great design for both of you!

Looks good. Any plans to add to it to protect the transmission pan?

Yep. I still have to look at possible mounting for that though. Not quite sure how I wanna do it. Anyone have pics of tranny skid mounting?

***UPDATE***

Today I drilled/tapped the crossmember for the 7 1/4" bolts. You can see that the crossmember is nice and twisted by seeing how the holes are straight and level.


Lots of welding in the hot weather.


So that calls for desperate measures, like gloves in the freezer. :laugh3:


Some weld pics.




I hate flux core. Not to mention the rusteel i'm welding.


Turned out good enough for me. I added a light coat of paint to keep rust away and i'll be finish welding the last two seams tomorrow. Then I gotta drill 4 holes and paint the rest of it.



This bend is almost seamless.


A little chamfering for rock deflection.

Very nice work

Dude that is just impressive work. Very good job How much would ya charge to make an identicle one? :wave:

I know know my next project. Looks good.

xjj33p3r said:

Dude that is just impressive work. Very good job How much would ya charge to make an identicle one? :wave:

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You're probably better off getting DPG's or Rocklizard's (same thing). I'd have to charge a good amount since I don't have a press brake available to me. But if you really want me to i'm sure we could work something out. :wave: