New Skid Plate

MStudt

MStudt

official vendor
Over the weekend I starting making my skids. The basis for this is not wanting to spend $500 plus shipping on Savage Skids. For some reason, when I first saw the Savage Skids I knew I was going to get one.

This is how theirs looks.


This is how mine turned out. Not quite finished, but you get the idea.





My question is this; how do I measure for the bolt holes? I do have my template (below) that I could try to mock up, and then transfer the holes. Would this be the best way to go about this? I'd like to be able to get it right the first time.
 
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You planning on building the remainder of the front engine/front diff skid as well?
They use a 2 piece design for the front half of their skids.

First half looks like you have it heading in the right direction.
 
looks good, i see on the 1st picture the savage skid does not cover the radiator, i would be a little scared about that, smashing it on a rock. but i think yours might actually cover it.

so for the holes question; why not measure it all up, then trace it onto the cardboard, start with small holes, then slowly enlarge in the direction you need.
by doing this if you are a bit off to the right, you can enlarge more to the left and then round out the hole. all is good.
 
shootmymime said:
looks good, i see on the 1st picture the savage skid does not cover the radiator, i would be a little scared about that, smashing it on a rock. but i think yours might actually cover it.

so for the holes question; why not measure it all up, then trace it onto the cardboard, start with small holes, then slowly enlarge in the direction you need.
by doing this if you are a bit off to the right, you can enlarge more to the left and then round out the hole. all is good.
Click to expand...

That's the ac condenser not covered.
 
As the person with likely the most usage out of their Savage skids here, i have some insight to help in the construction of yours. Roy has a few shortcomings that have shown up under heavy use on my own truck.

The front mounting location lip needs some serious bracing on the sides, exactly how your cardboard template is layed out, i would even add another triangle in the center to keep everything straight. I have come down on mine a few times and mine is noticeably bent there from the lack of reinforcement or triangulation.

Dont put speed holes or any cutouts in that front face, mine is also bent visibly through the huge SAVAGE cutout in front. IMO it needs to be seriously reduced in size because he is just removing too much material to keep things strong.

The front holes can be easily marked with the grill out and looking down into the thin crossmember than runs in front of the radiator. You will see the nuts welded in there that the factory skids bolt to. Regarding the rear holes, you could put some grease or paint on the truck frame where it bolts together and see if fitting the skid up to it will leave you some transfered paint/grease to locate where your holes need drilled.

Good luck:thumb:

Every aftermarket skid bolts to the same front crossmember, which covers the radiator as well as the AC Condenser. No worries there.
 
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BigRogers said:
You planning on building the remainder of the front engine/front diff skid as well?
They use a 2 piece design for the front half of their skids.

First half looks like you have it heading in the right direction.
Click to expand...

This is just the first step. I do plan on making the next two sections.

shootmymime said:
looks good, i see on the 1st picture the savage skid does not cover the radiator, i would be a little scared about that, smashing it on a rock. but i think yours might actually cover it.

so for the holes question; why not measure it all up, then trace it onto the cardboard, start with small holes, then slowly enlarge in the direction you need.
by doing this if you are a bit off to the right, you can enlarge more to the left and then round out the hole. all is good.
Click to expand...

The radiator is completely covered by the front section. You can see a little of it through the first hole on the side. I think measuring it all up like you said will be the best option.

NateMob said:
As the person with likely the most usage out of their Savage skids here, i have some insight to help in the construction of yours. Roy has a few shortcomings that have shown up under heavy use on my own truck.

The front mounting location lip needs some serious bracing on the sides, exactly how your cardboard template is layed out, i would even add another triangle in the center to keep everything straight. I have come down on mine a few times and mine is noticeably bent there from the lack of reinforcement or triangulation.

Dont put speed holes or any cutouts in that front face, mine is also bent visibly through the huge SAVAGE cutout in front. IMO it needs to be seriously reduced in size because he is just removing too much material to keep things strong.

The front holes can be easily marked with the grill out and looking down into the thin crossmember than runs in front of the radiator. You will see the nuts welded in there that the factory skids bolt to. Regarding the rear holes, you could put some grease or paint on the truck frame where it bolts together and see if fitting the skid up to it will leave you some transfered paint/grease to locate where your holes need drilled.

Good luck:thumb:
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. I do not plan on cutting anything out of the front like Savage does. I also plan on putting some small gussets, most likely one on each side of the three bolts; six all together. I never thought about removing the grill, might have to do that.
 
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You can mark those holes in the front by removing the center grill only. No need in removing the radiator.

Skid plate looks good so far
 
NateMob said:
This is what i said, not sure where the radiator removal came from.:loco:
Click to expand...

Yeah I see he edited his post. I think it got mixed up with what shoots said about not covering the radiator. But my comment was directed at what MStudt posted about radiator removal.
 
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cj80cruiser said:
Yeah I see he edited his post. I think it got mixed up with what shoots said about not covering the radiator. But my comment was directed at what MStudt posted about radiator removal.
Click to expand...

Thats what i figured, just didnt want the OP confused. :cowboy:
 
cj80cruiser said:
Yeah I see he edited his post. I think it got mixed up with what shoots said about not covering the radiator. But my comment was directed at what MStudt posted about radiator removal.
Click to expand...

NateMob said:
Thats what i figured, just didnt want the OP confused. :cowboy:
Click to expand...

Yeah I changed it. I'm not sure why I put radiator on there when I clearly didn't mean it.

I'll put up some pictures when I get the holes done and painted.
 
Finally got around to getting the first section mounted last night. I drilled some 1-1/2 holes in the sides, primed it, and sprayed it. I've got the template for the next section finished, and will be working on that section this weekend.



 
Kanger328 said:
Nice! Mind revealing how much this ran you?
Click to expand...

I'm using 3/16" hot rolled to built this. The first section cost me $36 for a 20"x34" piece. I then cut about 95% of the way through the sheet so I could bend it. After doing this, I realized it would have been better to have them cut it to the sizes I needed, and then weld it together. This time I have my local supplier cutting me three pieces for the second piece. The three pieces for the second section was $30.

So far I'm at $66 for all the metal. I already had cutting wheels, flap wheels, and my welding supplies.
 
Wow! Only 66$ in? Looks like I'll be building my own skidplates, thought that the price would be quite a bit higher.
 
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