Tranny skid.

[crazy jerry]

yes i already have a idea for bracing the end of the beams in all directions that will be better than how the factory did it. next week and the week after i have a few 4day weekends so should have plenty of time to finish it up. when its done im planing to clean the inside of the tube and probly pour a bunch of truck bed coating or rustoleum paint in there and tilt it back and forth. ill spray can something on the outside

 

[crazy jerry]

finally skid plate arrived. some how got lost for a month in the postal system i guess. but ya its not ***** **** like you see on other lesser trucks . i had them leave out the coating because im not sure yet what im doing with the rear crossmember so ill just put coating on myself when its all buttoned up

 

[crazy jerry]

these crossmembers were on hold for a while as it was far to cold outside to mess with this **** buts its warming and im back at it . probly have the first one done in next couple day. made a new heavy duty tcase plate while i was at it as well

 

[crazy jerry]

its not finished quit yet but i got the bottom pieces done and bolted it on for a test fit

 

[crazy jerry]

finished the first crossmember and painted it with truckbed coating and installed on the truck

 

[crazy jerry]

got it done. tomorow im planning to drive without any skidplates and check under carriage temps with a thermal gun in various locations, mostly the tcase housing. then drive with all skids installed and see if any difference is there. i dont expect anything significant but im curious to see for the hell of it

 

[G. Mcpherson]

Any idea on as to what it weight's. Looks Stout.

 

[crazy jerry]

very close to 35lb. its no problem for one person to install or remove in less than 5min. soon as two bolts are in its piece cake

 

[crazy jerry]

ya buddy its under the truck for the first time . couple things still to do but the worst is over. unless i screwed up and driveshaft clearance isnt right

 

[crazy jerry]

its mostly finished other than welding on a couple brackets for the skidplates to bolt to .hopefully do that tomorrow.
with wood blocks under the framerails and axle drooped down theres 5/16 clearance on the bottom so all is well there but not suprising i overlooked something. the axle and driveshaft swings to the passenger side 4mm or so when its fully dropped. just by dumb luck i made the beam cutout plenty wide enough so side clearance is still ok. just alittle extra clearance on driver side. oh well.
while i was at it i figure put a point load on the center with a floor jack. its only for curiosity as applying that type of load is meaningless in the real world since the skid plates will carry and distribute the loads. so there was right about 1/4" deflection with tires off the ground. basically the driveshaft was just kissing the beam which matches up with the 5/16 gap i observed earlier and i measure from the beam to the bed underside and verified the 1/4" deflection as well .im happy with those results all things considered. not being a engineer or professional welder ill consider it a win.
i dont think i reported back on the front crossmember from a couple months ago. i put a floor jack under it as well. obviously it had a much higher load on it as its much further toward the front of the truck. but its a full beam with no cutouts and was 1/2" taller. along with having reinforcement welded in the top center portion. almost no deflection was measured. so its quit strong even with no supporting skidplates. anyway here some photo

 

[4xdad]

this is what I did 3/16s plate attached to my homemade rock sliders.they run front to back cut down the gas tank skid to attach to the plate 2x2 1/4 inch wall cross bars with 1/2 inch u bolts x 12havent drug them over any thing yet but they should be pretty tough

 

[crazy jerry]

after crawling around under the truck 100 times in the last couple months working on skidplates and such i was noticing after driving for a good distance the side of the tcase was well over 200f where the cataletic converter passes by. since my trans never gets beyond 170 i was certain that wasnt the cause. decided to do a small experiment by making a heat sheild and sure enough, radiant heat from the converter was going into the tcase like a magnet. with the sheild in place the measured temp on the tcase housing nearest the converter went down drastically over 50degree. without sheild its over 200. whats all this meen? maybe nothing except housing is barely 155ish now instead of 220

 

[Rlaf75]

after crawling around under the truck 100 times in the last couple months working on skidplates and such i was noticing after driving for a good distance the side of the tcase was well over 200f where the cataletic converter passes by. since my trans never gets beyond 170 i was certain that wasnt the cause. decided to do a small experiment by making a heat sheild and sure enough, radiant heat from the converter was going into the tcase like a magnet. with the sheild in place the measured temp on the tcase housing nearest the converter went down drastically over 50degree. without sheild its over 200. whats all this meen? maybe nothing except housing is barely 155ish now instead of 220

View attachment 465757

What did you use to make the shield and how did you mount it.

 

[crazy jerry]

i just went to a local metal warehouse and they had some scrap pieces of .063 5052 for like 5$. i welded some L bracket to it and theres a empty bolt hole on the side of the tcase i just bolted it there

 

[crazy jerry]

made this to pull vehicles out of the ditch or the unlikely event im in a ditch and cant get myself out