Trail Damage

[ARC]

I had a great weekend in the mountains but the 4Runner paid the price for it. I broke a rear upper link and am working on tracking down a used replacement. My Savage rear bumper also took a hard hit and will need a little fresh Rustoleum. It did make a little body contact just above the body seam, but nothing I am concerned about.

What I am concerned with is my Savage skids. The transfer case skid took a really hard hit and bent quite a bit. I'm glad I had it or it might have disastrous for the transfer case itself. The skid deflected to the point that it is resting against the transfer case.

Should I be worried about anything? And should I try to straighten the skid to get it away from the t-case?

PS I'll add pictures once I am back home.

 

[t4r4life]

i would leave the skid as is, once you bend it back the steel is weakened and will go back to the same shape when it's hit. upper link is no biggies since they take no weight and don't affect too much street driving.

 

[nevada]

see, I think just the opposite on the skid. it needs to be fixed.

if you leave it as is, and it takes another hit, all that shock will be sent directly into the tcase.

pull it, fix it, then add a brace so that cant happen again.

 

[Flatulento]

ARC,
Hopefully you made it out and back home safely. Did the broken link cause the rear axle to shift around while driving? By the way, did you have the rear sway bar attached when the upper link broke? I am planning on going by U-pull Denver today to look for LC coils. I will check for upper links on 3rd gens too.
Thanks for the report on the skid damage. I am planning to get these same skids. Maybe it would be a good idea to PM Roy over at Savage. He may need to add some structural support in the affected region of that skid design.

 

[KidVermicious]

see, I think just the opposite on the skid. it needs to be fixed.

if you leave it as is, and it takes another hit, all that shock will be sent directly into the tcase.

pull it, fix it, then add a brace so that cant happen again.

I'm no expert, but this is what I was going to say. If it were me I'd straighten it and then beef it up where it bent.

 

[ARC]

Thanks for the input guys. I was thinking it might be good to put some space back between the t-case and the skid in case of future hits. I would love to remove and brace it, but until Santa brings me a welder for Christmas that wont be a possibility for me.

As far the broken link: I have no sway bars. The link had no noticeable effect on handling. I'm not even sure when it broke to be honest, I only noticed once I got under the truck last night to pull the gas tank skid (which also has some fresh 'Customization'). I suspect I broke it on Poughkeepsie where the other damage occurred which means I drove Hurricane pass, Ophir pass twice, Black Bear pass and about 200 miles of highway in that condition and had no idea. felt the same on and offroad.

Metric Offroad a local Toyota only shop has a small inventory of salvage 3rd gens and quoted me $40 for a used link, but that seems a little steep to me. Waiting for a call back from Safari LTD as I know they have a couple as well.

 

[papapoopski]

I would love to remove and brace it, but until Santa brings me a welder for Christmas that wont be a possibility for me.

How about pounding it out, drilling holes and adding 2 or 3 strips of 1/4" steel bolted across the bend like a big band aid? Cheap and ghetto but for a temp fix it might work.

Then again I have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

[KidVermicious]

I dunno how you're fixed for junkyards, but check car-part.com.

[MENTION=62048]thardy[/MENTION], did you ever find a buyer for those beefy control arms of yours?

 

[MStudt]

If you need after market control arms let me know. Follow the link in my sig for more details.

 

[ARC]

Fixing/bracing the skid is on the list for the welder (I really am planning to get setup for Christmas) as well as trying to tackle some custom links.

Safari LTD came through and said they would pull one and put it in my hand this afternoon for $30. I'll take it to get back on the road.

Other than a BFH any ideas on how to straighten the skid? I have never tweaked anything that thick/large before.

 

[MStudt]

Fixing/bracing the skid is on the list for the welder (I really am planning to get setup for Christmas) as well as trying to tackle some custom links.

Safari LTD came through and said they would pull one and put it in my hand this afternoon for $30. I'll take it to get back on the road.

Other than a BFH any ideas on how to straighten the skid? I have never tweaked anything that thick/large before.

or find someone with a shop press.

 

[ARC]

Bend

Not the best photo but you can see it is tweaked especially where it attaches to the rear cross member. I think a press would make for a better final result, but it may prove difficult to find one.

 

[KidVermicious]

Fixing/bracing the skid is on the list for the welder (I really am planning to get setup for Christmas) as well as trying to tackle some custom links.

Safari LTD came through and said they would pull one and put it in my hand this afternoon for $30. I'll take it to get back on the road.

Other than a BFH any ideas on how to straighten the skid? I have never tweaked anything that thick/large before.

I would see about having somebody rack it on their shop press. The trouble you're going to run into is getting the mounting bolts to line up, so some precision will be necessary. And even then you might have to hog out the holes to get everything happy.

 

[ARC]

I would see about having somebody rack it on their shop press. The trouble you're going to run into is getting the mounting bolts to line up, so some precision will be necessary. And even then you might have to hog out the holes to get everything happy.

My thinking exactly. The front where the two skids meet is going to be more critical. The rear has some room to play with.

 

[snivilous]

i would leave the skid as is, once you bend it back the steel is weakened and will go back to the same shape when it's hit. upper link is no biggies since they take no weight and don't affect too much street driving.

None of the links "take weight", that's what the coil springs are for. Nonetheless, they still have a tremendously important role in locating the axle. If you break the second linkage (which now has double the forces on it) then your axle's position isn't properly located and will twist until either the track bar or U-joint binds.

I broke an upper link and it had terrible effects on the street handling as well as the fact I was scared shitless if the second link went out the rear suspension would collapse and any resulting crash/damage associated with that.
[MENTION=108751]ARC[/MENTION] you can just weld the link back together, that's what I did. Should take a minute to do. MStudt's stuff is top notch too and probably a good idea to upgrade to eventually.

 

[snivilous]

Fixing/bracing the skid is on the list for the welder (I really am planning to get setup for Christmas) as well as trying to tackle some custom links.

Also, if you can fit some kind of tube on top of the skid (like a length of 2" square tubing or something) it will be a ton stronger than just adding some layers. Material further from the center of the section exponentially increases its stiffness, which is why an I beam tries to get a lot of material at the very top and bottom of the section.

 

[ARC]

None of the links "take weight", that's what the coil springs are for. Nonetheless, they still have a tremendously important role in locating the axle. If you break the second linkage (which now has double the forces on it) then your axle's position isn't properly located and will twist until either the track bar or U-joint binds.

I broke an upper link and it had terrible effects on the street handling as well as the fact I was scared shitless if the second link went out the rear suspension would collapse and any resulting crash/damage associated with that.

[MENTION=108751]ARC[/MENTION] you can just weld the link back together, that's what I did. Should take a minute to do. MStudt's stuff is top notch too and probably a good idea to upgrade to eventually.

Definitely not driving it until the link is replaced. Probably would have never driven it home had I known the issue. I saved it to weld up as a spare/practice once I get a welder. As for now a salvage replacement should do.

 

[ARC]

Also, if you can fit some kind of tube on top of the skid (like a length of 2" square tubing or something) it will be a ton stronger than just adding some layers. Material further from the center of the section exponentially increases its stiffness, which is why an I beam tries to get a lot of material at the very top and bottom of the section.

I was thinking this too except that 2" will probably be too large for clearance purposes. Definitely on the to do list though.

 

[mountain mike]

Other than a BFH any ideas on how to straighten the skid? I have never tweaked anything that thick/large before.

Drive on it.

 

[ARC]

Drive on it.

Thought of that, but am doubtful that a single tire will create enough pressure to make a difference.