Ok.. so I forgot to grab the skid plate the guy was going to give me with that lift kit I got for my truck. It arrived yesterday, and I have no clue how he mounted this...



I got under my truck, to take a gander at how I might mount this guy.. and this is the front cross member. (and yes this is how its supposed to be... )



Wonderful... reminds me of the round peg in a square hole thing... Well after pondering on it, I can only see 2 points where I could get a "flush" surface to mount it on. And this skid plate being 1/4" aluminum... I'm going to beat this thing to death... so I figure I better reinforce it, at the same time figure something to mount it too... and here's what I came up with...

1 4' Peice 1 1/4" wide 1/4" thick steel
1 4' Peice 3/4" 3/16" thick steel angle

Some nuts and bolts and those sorta things...



Lotta drilling.... oh... just as a tip... if you gotta do a lotta drilling like this into steel.. grab a few self tapper's (the good kind) culley / fastenal ... best starter bits ever... completely disposable, drill's thru 1/2" plate steel! :thumb:

Almost finished drilling and all... finished pics coming soon.. just figured I'd get any idea's opinions on this... Maybe I should get it welded too? Couldn't hurt?

 

Yeah id get some of that reinforcement welded. Not a bad idea. No such thing as overkill

 

You will not be able to get the steel, and alum welded together, bc alum melts before steel and you will only burn holes in the alum. Another thing to be concerened with is the two different metals being in direct contact with one another will only cause oxidation and corrosion faster. I would recomend either painting or using a polymer sheeting to go between the two to avoid this problem. We do it on all of our aggregate trailers at work.
Either way keep the pics comming it will look sweet on there!

 

Well yea... IIRC someone once told me it's possible.. but meh.. I kinda doubt it.. but the welding I was reffering to was on the steel. I got it all bolted thru so once the frame is rigid.. I figure the plate will be too. Gotta test fit it real quick, and do a little touch up with the grinder on the angles, but I'll be done here in a few.. Then its time to polish!

 

Oh, well then that would make a lot more sense. And ya if you are bending the plate after that bracing is added, I think you will have bigger fish to fry! Cant wait to see it done!

 

She still needs a polish job.. but more or less.. I think it's where its gunna be for a long time.

 

One 19.2 Volt battery worth of buffing..

 

It would bolt from the bottom of a bull bar or such down to the bumper or just below if you were wondering, but your way looks good too.

Not sure how much skidding it could take there, is that a bent core support?

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