rear QP mod conclusion

[robselina]

A while back I cut off my rear quarter pannels and welded in some 3/16" steel to cover up the hole. I was always hitting these things and they where getting pretty ragged.
Anyway, after cutting them I hadn't had any real problems. The additional clearance pretty much made the 3/16" plate rather unecessary. I never hit anythign hard with them until last weekend. I came down full force on the drivers side skid comming off a rock ledge. The whole back end of the vehicle was resting on this skid. It left a good scrape mark on the skid but I had no body deformation, which is somethign I had been worried about. Anyway, just thought I'd pass on the info since it's one of those things that's worked out rather well for me. [img]smile.gif[/img]

For those of you who have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, here's a pic of the skids:



[ October 28, 2003, 09:18 PM: Message edited by: rselina ]

[rockjeep44]

That's pretty bling. I did something similiar with some bars that attatched to my rear bumper and wrapped around. They were great rock protectors and supported the weight of the vehicle like you said. Nice work.
-Andrew

[blt2krl]

Welcome to the club.

[Will Morris]

So were those skids welded to the body only, or were they somehow tied into the frame? Am I correct in understanding that you just cut your 1/4 panels, then welded a 3/16" plate to the bottom, then beat the hell out of them and they survived with no body deformation? If so, I know what one of my first mods when I get home will be.

Will

[robselina]

Originally posted by Will Morris:
Am I correct in understanding that you just cut your 1/4 panels, then welded a 3/16" plate to the bottom, then beat the hell out of them and they survived with no body deformation?

Damn straight!

[Will Morris]

Originally posted by rselina:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Will Morris:
Am I correct in understanding that you just cut your 1/4 panels, then welded a 3/16" plate to the bottom, then beat the hell out of them and they survived with no body deformation?

Damn straight! </font>[/QUOTE]Well then, guess I know what I'm doing over Christmas break, among other things.

Will

[Merc69]

I was thinking about what to do in that area. Thanks for the pic and the idea...Another thing stolen from this board.

Thanks.

PS. Got any more pics?

[youngjeeper]

ah thanks man! been looking for a good way to get rid of those holes!

[scotty]

i mainly clicked on this one cause i couldnt figure out what you meant by "QP"

nice work,tho. id do somethin like that if i still had any of my quarters

[bvibert]

Originally posted by scotty:
i mainly clicked on this one cause i couldnt figure out what you meant by "QP"

At least I wasn't the only one, I feel better now [img]smile.gif[/img]

Cool looking mod! Glad to hear it works good I would have thought the body would buckle...

[ October 30, 2003, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: bvibert ]

[robselina]

Thanks guys!

Merc - I'll try to take a couple more pictures of the area this weekend for ya.

As for QP, I could have sworn I'd seen the abreviation before! I'm probably just making this up as I go like usual

One note to those of you who try this, I made one significant mistake - I cut the panels as high as I could and just did a 90 degree weld to the 3/16" plate. It would probably be a lot stronger to leave 1" and fold it back and then weld it.

[River Beast]

VERY NICE!!! very clean looking as well... nice job...

I would caution you on something I noticed on the above pic.... STRAIGHTEN OUT THAT LEAF on the the rear left!! I have seen tires shreaded like that... just giving you a haeads up...

[robselina]

Originally posted by River Beast:

I would caution you on something I noticed on the above pic.... STRAIGHTEN OUT THAT LEAF on the the rear left!! I have seen tires shreaded like that... just giving you a haeads up...

Thanks Todd. The overload spring moves every damn time I drive the truck. I'll loosen the u-bolts, move it back to straight position, re-torque u-bolts and 10 minutes later it's like that again. I don't think I"m torquing to spec, I broke my torque wrench and need another to make sure it's not loose u-bolts.

[Bob Barry]

You need to torque-down that center-bolt, and maybe add some spring-clamps! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[River Beast]

what he said... spring clamps are the way to go... and also tighten the centerpin... TIGHT