making skid plates

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turbo4wd

Moderator
A little word about aluminum skid plates vs. steel skid plates courtesy of skidplates.com:

Q: Why not make skid plates from lighter weight aluminum?
A:If you're building a competition vehicle where every pound counts, aluminum makes sense. Unfortunately, aluminum tends to gouge more easily than steel, and from our experience doesn't hold up as well in the long run. Quite of few of our customers have replaced their aluminum skid plates with steel ones because the aluminum skids didn't last. Why not buy steel skids to begin with?

Taken from here: http://www.skidplates.com/SkidPlatesQA.asp
 
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l00k0v3rth3r3

New member
mafix i think that the protection gained by 3mm aluminum vs the protection from a harder metal stainless steel at 1mm would be equivalent and the thicker the aluminum the heavier it gets, best bet would be the stainless, thoughts?
 
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turbo4wd

Moderator
l00k0v3rth3r3":2b8qkdcx said:
mafix i think that the protection gained by 3mm aluminum vs the protection from a harder metal stainless steel at 1mm would be equivalent and the thicker the aluminum the heavier it gets, best bet would be the stainless, thoughts?
Click to expand...

Even at 3mm, the aluminum may still be lighter than the stainless, but only just..

Another consideration which is just as important is the cost of the raw material:

Will 3mm aluminum plate cost as much as 1mm stainless? less? more?

Even if it the cost of aluminum was equal or less to stainless, then the question of weight comes into play - is it lighter? less? more?

Lets say the aluminum is slightly lighter, how does the long term durability compare to stainless? Well according to off-roaders who have more experience than me, aluminum will not last as long as steel..

The only clear cut area where aluminum wins out is in corrosion resistance.. Depending on the grade of stainless, theres still a slight possibility it may experience some corrosion.
 
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stevo27

New member
304l stainless steel will rust over about 6 months 316l 324l and higher grade stainless will not rust unless you burn out the chromium ie welding to hot useing a torch on the material ect ect
higher the grade of stainless the heavier it is (very small amounts)
3/64" plate will puncture very easily and tear

high grade stainless is NOT cheap

and 3mm aluminum 6061 is lighter than 1mm 316 plate

food for thought :shrug:
 
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darthripley

Moderator
turbo4wd":3vjo3xzp said:
Another consideration which is just as important is the cost of the raw material:

Will 3mm aluminum plate cost as much as 1mm stainless? less? more?
Click to expand...

metals are quite expensive right now so you need to really look into the cost before even thinking of producing more than one for yourself imho.
then you can get a price ballpark & see if others are still interested at that point in time.

it's a great idea, you just need to research a ton.
 
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l00k0v3rth3r3

New member
i agree, give me a little less than a week for research and fab. and ill be back with that info, until then keep discussing what would be good to implement in the design, i like the vents, im working that in, should i put in a hole for easy oil changes? things like that, thanks guys
 
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turbo4wd

Moderator
I'm of the opinion that if you're building a skid plate, it should not have any holes or vents period.. The objective is to cover and protect. Anytime any openings are introduced, it only presents a potential "weak spot".

If you want to do an oil change, remove the skid plate, and do it..
 
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Balagast

New member
A word on cost of materials ... I was looking at the cost of sheet at work today (we deal with all sorts of metal plate) and 316L SS at 1mm thickness is at least 30% more expensive that 3mm thick 6061-T6 Aluminum.

Just some food for thought.
 
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l00k0v3rth3r3

New member
the vents i came up with would put two holes up by the front lip where the plate would connect to the lip. off to the sides, so on the corners, and from there you could use them kind of like a snorkel design, and use some type of ducting like the samco stuff to put the air where you wanted it. with this design i figured the structural integrity would not be compromised. the oil change hole was just a thought i threw out there because i found a question about it on a FAQ at skidplates website, but i agree take it off if you want to do anything under the car.
 
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darthripley

Moderator
you could always something like a vented "street" version for those who want some sort of underbody protection without doing any real rally/rally-x activities & then make a "race" version which would be possibly thicker metal with no holes/as few as possible that would be for those who do use their cars for rally on a regular basis.

just throwing out some more ideas to think about.
 
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Mafix

New member
woo hoo i done good!

seriously though i would think to make the lowers have scoops similar to passats to keep thing cool. like one at the oil pan, one to the diff on the trans and on to the downpipe.
 
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WideFNopen

New member
How are you planning to attatch the plates to the car?

I have a full skid plate setup on my 165 that I could take a few pics of next time I get a chance. The plates are made from al and are fairly thick. I am considering doing some modifications to the main plates and also adding additional smaller plates made out of stone guard for my fuel and brake lines.

My major complaint about my setup is that it is a pita to remove the front plate. It is attached with six bolts and it difficult to do without an extra hand. My plan is to incorporate a socket and pin (like a drawtight but smaller and round holes) design to hold the front plate in place. That way it will be tool free and much quicker during service if we need to inspect the undercarriage.
 
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syko says

Active member
turbo4wd":3s4gq2lq said:
I'm of the opinion that if you're building a skid plate, it should not have any holes or vents period.. The objective is to cover and protect. Anytime any openings are introduced, it only presents a potential "weak spot".

If you want to do an oil change, remove the skid plate, and do it..
Click to expand...

TTE did some vents.

Gary ST165":3s4gq2lq said:
TTE ST165 from Goodwood Festival of Speed 2007

click on the thumbnails for high res versions:



Click to expand...


There is some real skid plates to take some ideas off of. It would be great it you could make something very similar. :)
 
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l00k0v3rth3r3

New member
im in the middle of one of my last semesters so i've just been doing some planning and drawings for these, but when summer hits ill be back in the shop
 
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