Weekend work turned PITA.

[HawkZero]

Ok...so I bought a pre97 gas tank skid and read about how to mod it to fit my 2000. A hacksaw, some grinding and a little bending and it should fit over my plastic tank right?

Well...about 8 hours over two days later and its all back together. I think my major problem was that I bought a jeep with an aftermarket hitch. The driver side of the hitch was installed with carriage bolts that the installer had fished in somehow. Anyway, after braking all those loose, the skid fit very nicely. However, when I went to raise the hitch, it turns out the skid is about 1/2 too wide!

So no problem, I jack the hitch up onto the skid which bends the sideplate in and now the holes don't line up. So down the whole thing comes again for some more grinding. Up it goes...hmm...not enough grinding. Long story short, it fits. Unfortunately now the exhaust pipe clamp slight rubs the passenger side of the skid. I think a little action from a BFH should take care of this.

So 20 bucks for the skid and 14 bucks for new hardware to replace the rusted stuff. Whatever my hobby labor is worth and now my plastic tank is slightly more protected from sticks and stones that may lead to people calling me names.

So thats how I spent my Labor Day weekend "free time".

Hope everyone else had a good time.

[cal]

Glad to hear you got it working! :)

A ZJ gas tank skid would have gone in a lot easier though :)

[HawkZero]

Glad to hear you got it working! :)

A ZJ gas tank skid would have gone in a lot easier though :)

Couldn't find one of them!

Drove it to work this AM and was glad that the exhaust didn't rattle against the skid.

[jeeperjohn]

I did the same mod on Danwho's rig a couple of weeks ago. What a PITA! We both decided from now on just get the right skid. Glad you got it on. Cal, thanks for the tip on the ZJ skid. Is it a bolt on or does it require mods?

[cal]

I've never done it myself, but i understand it requires some minimal grinding

[HawkZero]

I've never done it myself, but i understand it requires some minimal grinding

You have to cut out about 4-5 square inches of the side panels and then bend back that portion so it fits around the tank. If you aren't running a hitch of some kind than thats it...really not a big deal.

If you are running a hitch, the rear bolt holes must be enlarged so that when its squeezed together the holes line up with the body. If you simply DOUBLE the width of the holes than you probably will be okay. I didn't do that much my first or second time I fitted it to the jeep, but that is what I would reccomend. It would have also been much easier if I had drive side nut strips.