[dave91]

Hey guys just wanting to get a few ideas about costs for bash plates/ roll cages/ any undercarriage protection for leafy's. Also wondering about steel bars under the sills to protect from bottoming out on rocks etc.
Dave

[TryHard]

there was a discussion about this somewhere forgot where
are u talkn about something like this is what your after ?

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... plate.html

[Gwagensteve]

Overrated.

Generally, underbody protection costs ground clearance which means lost capability.

Every time you bash or clang or whatever you put under there you'll think "that's saved some damage" but the reality is if you didn't have the plate/bar/whatever, you wouldn't have hung up on it in the first place.

Lift the transfer, rivet some sheet/angle (anything except chequerplate) on the sills and call it good.

Steve.

[TryHard]

Steve. i hate to say i think you are wrong ..,.

i always get hung on my Chassie Rail more then id like to admit
also because of this i have now done some small damage to my crossmember that the gearbox hangs off i think skidplates if done right are a great idea

yes u may not slide and still get hung up but it better then bashing the crap out of your chassie rails and exhust pipe also you may lose a little groundclearance... but when i run 33s .. who cares ?..


also Steve. you could lift the trans case and do a flat belly there for no lose in clearance ..

[Gwagensteve]

There's a few different issues there though Tryhard, and theyre not necessarily fixed with skidplates. Part of the reason I'm not a fan (except for the fuel tank) is that often what's getting covered isn't really hurt by being smacked on something ( like the rails - you're really not going to hurt them on a rock) or adding a plate over something that's in the wrong spot, or already hanging too low isn't really a gain.

The gearbox crossmember on 1.3 sierras is in a terrible position. Yes, it does get a bit rearranged. I'd challenge that that's really a big problem though under the gearbox - the real problem is on the driver's side where it sits below and outside of the rail. You can skidplate all you like over that, but it's still going to be an anchor. Removing that as an anchor is a fair fabrication job though, but it's really the answer.

Exhaust? The stock exhaust regularly gets knocked around on the crown of ruts, especially the cat and the leading edge of the stock muffler. That's an exhaust problem though, and is better fixed by building a more durable exhaust with better clearances than the stock exhaust.

I've built two cars with pans, and I'm not convinced that the gain comes from the pan - I think the gain is from moving everything up and cleaning up the underside of the rail so you can run a pan. The gain is in the prep, not the pan.

There's some disadvantages of a pan too - it's a huge surface area that will suction onto mud, and lots of junk will end up on top of the pan, making cleanup a nightmare.

I guess the point is that there's more gain by putting things in the right spot and cleaning up the anchors rather than putting steel over it.

Steve.

[SierraDan]

Having everything above the chassis rails is the best way to go. In my eyes the pan prevents that lone rock finding a a gap to fit in and get stuck.

[buzbox]

I like to think of bash plates kinda like a condom, You don't really need to have it, but it provides excellent protection against unwanted conciquences.

[SierraDan]

So you mean it's better without bashplates?

[Fatzook]

SierraDan wrote:

So you mean it's better without bashplates?

Yep. You can feel more

[Gwagensteve]

I think they are more like tough guy stickers - every scrape and clang reassures the owner that they're extreme.

For extreme rock work, or competition where you are on the clock, I'd be running a pan for sure, and I do understand the appeal, but make sure you're protecting something that was in the right spot before you plated over it.

Exhaust, and the 1.3 gearbox crossmember are both good examples.

Steve.

[SierraDan]

Fatzook wrote:

SierraDan wrote:

So you mean it's better without bashplates?

Yep. You can feel more

You might end up with more zooks!

[ajsr]

I like tough guy stickers

[SierraDan]

Are tough guy stickers the same as tough stickers?

[dave91]

So how do you lift everything up? I'd be worried about the sump, fuel tank and gearbox. I'm planning on making a slim line exhaust so that doesn't bother me too much.

[Gwagensteve]

Sump - Wow, you'd have to have terribly bad luck to damage a sump - it's very well protected behind the axle. I've never seen it happen.

Fuel tank - TSOR

Gearbox? Surely not - do you mean transfer? If so, yes, you could buy a cradle arrangement like the mighty kong, but it's pretty pointless unless you also run a lift like Just Cruzin's transfer lift, because then at least the plate isn't hanging down lower than the transfer case was before you fitted the protection, otherwise you're protecting something with an anchor. I've never been that fussed about the transfer - I haven't seen one break due to impact where I drive. There's other good reasons to lift the transfer though - like jackshaft angle.

The real anchor though is still the driver's end of the gearbox crossmember.

Steve.

[steak_knife]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Sump - Wow, you'd have to have terribly bad luck to damage a sump - it's very well protected behind the axle. I've never seen it happen.


Steve.

We used to jump 4age conversion's to make "Room" in the sump for the diff....

[canberramav]

If you mainly drive mud etc i agree with Gwagon. A belly plate will suck you down and fill up with shit.

Gearbox crossmember can be overcome with something like this: http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... ember.html

Im about to fit this up when my new motor and auto goes in so can give some feedback. It does away with the standard crossmember completely.

If your doing rockcrawling type stuff you will need a belly pan. I would even sacrifice clearance if need be although done properly you wont lose much if any clearance.

[boostedbrick]

That doesnt look much fun to me...




Transfer lift and a light bashing of the gearbox mount so the edge faces up abit will cover what most people drive.. Mine hits stuff often but doesnt get caught up, not the right terrain for it.

[Gwagensteve]

boostedbrick wrote:

That doesnt look much fun to me...

Proof that not everything Lowrange sells is good.

That's a terrible solution.

Steve.

[canberramav]

Its not the best i agree.

Pity my gearbox crossmember has already been cut out. (not by me) The transfer case mounts support the gearbox with the current setup as well as the transfer.

I want to go back to single transfer so its this lowrange option or make something similar or weld in a standard crossmember........

[boostedbrick]

If you could just weld the top section that the crossmember bolts to, to the chassis it would be sweet.

[steak_knife]

boostedbrick wrote:

If you could just weld the top section that the crossmember bolts to, to the chassis it would be sweet.

As long as you have B/l.....

Thought about similar before

[canberramav]

Without looking didnt Joeblow do something similar on the LJ?

[canberramav]

You could weld it to the outside of the chassis if you extended it around a bit

[Gwagensteve]

one of the things that concerns me about that gearbox crossmember replacement is that it's flat plate, so it's not very helpful as a crossmember.

There's very few crossmembers on the sierra chassis, and I'm always careful to ensure I'm not weakening any of them when I work on a chassis.

Steve.

[BlueSuzy]

My 1.3 lwb will be bash plated. Transfer lifted and crossmember has been modified to suit a full flat belly including all control arm mounts.

My 1.3 swb crossmember was the most common thing i got stuck on. Next spot was the spring hangar for the rear leaf springs.

[BlueSuzy]

Look for chris_mac bashplate that i welded up in fabrication section. He designed it, Looks neat and mostly d.i.y.

[TryHard]

getting some good info keep the ideas rolling :

[skyman]

Just a bit of info on that high clearance crossmember.

From that picture the cross member doesn't look the strongest and doesn't look like it attaches well, it has been trail proven to be stout and reliable.

In the states where we run SPOA more often than not, that crossmember solves the problem of the driveshaft hitting the crossmember in full droop. Because the driveshaft problem here is common, that specific high clearance crossmember has been used extensively and to date no one has had a problem with it's strength or reliability.

That crossmember may not be the solution for the way you guys build the rigs, but it works well here for rigs that see some pretty serious abuse.

Scott from rock4xfabrication has a bit of experience with the Samurai (Sierra for you guy), since he supports what he sells 100% he only sell stuff that works.

**

On the theory of a transfer skid, we generally run a 33" tire very low gearing. Although I don't recommend it most guys put all their gearing in the case, and so we have had a problem with transfer box reliability. To solve the exploding gear problem we run something similar to the rock toy ring.

If we are building or adding to a tcase cradle to keep the transfer intact, it just makes sense to add a skid while you are at it. we see a lot of rocks, and it only takes one sharp one to crack, or chip off a corner of the case.

I hope that explains some of the way we do things, and why.

I agree with Gwagen,that it makes no sense to skid the belly with a bunch of stuff sitting below the rails. Lift them, or design them up out of the way first, then possibly add a skid. Unfortunately for us lifting the transfer isn't always possible.

After being here on AZ for a while, I think the next Zook I build will be spring under, RUF, maybe a small body lift, and YJ's out back on 33's. If they won't clear, I'll do a little fender massage to make it happen neatly.

You guys have an excellent recipe for a low COG , and very capable Sierra. It shows me that over half of the Zooks built here would do just as well with a low COG and 31's as they do on 33's, given the same terrain.

[dave91]

what is the crossmember? what's it do? hahah