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Post by mmagnumpi9 on Oct 18, 2006 23:05:22 GMT -3
I thought I would bring some tech in for a change. After looking at some comp buggies and some of the new lift kits by fab tech and such you will see plastic skid plates on them. I wanted to know what it was, and where to get it so I could incorporate some of it into my own skids. Heres what I found, there are two kinds of this stuff sold by McMaster Carr ( www.mcmaster.com), they are Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW) and a UV stabilized Very High Molecular Weight (VHMW) Polyethylene. Search for UHMW or VHMW and you can select the thickness and size of the cuts you want. I thought it was cool stuff. |
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Post by rockdaleTJ on Oct 18, 2006 23:22:28 GMT -3
i think its a great idea. i love how fabtech uses it on their longarm kits, and I have seen a few rigs in writeups in various magazines with homemade poly skids.
I dont see any reason not to do it, with a good solid tube mounting surface for the actual crossmember.
lets bring the tech back to tech talk
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Post by caseyl on Oct 19, 2006 0:12:58 GMT -3
Have any pictures of the rock rigs? What is the advantage of the "plastic" skidplates? Is it weight or is it the ability to bend a little bit to lessen the blow on the body?
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Post by mmagnumpi9 on Oct 19, 2006 0:35:38 GMT -3
They're supposed to help you save on weight a bit and slide over things easier. Plus they're cool. I thought I would give it a shot on a skid and see if I like it.
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Post by Tooch on Oct 19, 2006 9:12:01 GMT -3
They help you slide and if you flip your jeep over you have a cutting board and a hot stove top right there.
The "hard plastic" is the same stuff used in a cutting board. Just thought I would share that with you.
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Post by ayoung on Oct 19, 2006 11:19:49 GMT -3
yeah, i would def run those, but i got all my steel for free so i had no need to spend money on plastic, and you cant weld to plastic which is no fun
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Post by jps4jeep on Oct 19, 2006 13:32:33 GMT -3
for a comp rig where weight is so critical, and the COG is low to begin with, I say F-Ya... for a trail rig that see's the wheeling we do, I would say no to this. I would prefer to have a heavy skid on my rig to help keep the COG a bit lower. If you loose weight under the vehicle, your COG will go up.
I would also be suspect of 3000lb jeep coming down on thwe poly as opposed to a 1500lb tube chassis
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Post by mmagnumpi9 on Oct 19, 2006 16:21:31 GMT -3
In all seriousness i doubt the weight savings is noticable. Considering you would have to make a solid sub frame to hold the material. If building your own skid out of plate, im sure you would design an equally strong sub frame. a piece of 1/4 plate extended the width of the entire vehicle would bend pretty easy with no reinforcement behind it.
I think the real gains would be in the fact that you could have a completely flat surface that has the potential to slide over things with less friction. It also would be much easier to cut and shape it then cutting plate with a cutting torch, and an angle grinder.
I would leave cog arguments to your suspension design.
Anyways I thought it was an intresting idea and I think I am going to give it a try.
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Post by ayoung on Oct 19, 2006 17:35:17 GMT -3
sweet, ill lend a hand if available
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Post by jps4jeep on Oct 19, 2006 20:27:21 GMT -3
I would leave cog arguments to your suspension design. I agree, I am a huge believer in little lift, large tire set ups. But.. the COG is something to be considered especially when you have the opertunity to keep it as low as possible. Also, Rockrig over on NEOW has a aluminum flat skid that he raves about. I think that would be another consideration. I agree that the poly would slide over the rocks better, but I would also want to look into how much the material will gouge and if that effects the integrity. I am by no means saying don't do, hell do it, I would love to see how it works. |
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Post by mmagnumpi9 on Oct 19, 2006 22:15:07 GMT -3
Yeah, i hear what your saying. Some things you just gotta learn from experience.
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Post by 2000Cherokee on Oct 19, 2006 22:19:53 GMT -3
there is a guy in one of my newer off road mags who has a skid plate built out of that stuff.
seems like a good idea in theory. not sure if it would be worth the effort
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Post by jps4jeep on Oct 20, 2006 15:53:27 GMT -3
Yeah, i hear what your saying. Some things you just gotta learn from experience. Like masturbation? |
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Post by mmagnumpi9 on Oct 20, 2006 16:46:53 GMT -3
seems like a good idea in theory. not sure if it would be worth the effort Yes building a skid plate to replace one that has been bent beyond recognition by YEARS of 4 wheeling is completely not worth the effort. Regardless of the material its a complete waste of time. |
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Post by mmagnumpi9 on Oct 20, 2006 16:48:13 GMT -3
hey guys how can i 4 link my tj?? anyone want to help me do it??
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