Aluminum or Steel Gas Tank Skid??

[SeaRubi]

mine is dented so bad it only holds about 17 gallons.

to say people dont wheel them hard enough to damage the tanks is pretty short sighted and to simple say a used tank is cheap is really short sighted...what happens when it pouring out fuel on the trail from being punctured?

depends on your intended use for the truck.

Just a thought - this theme here is ExpeditionPortal.com - not wheel-the-living-piss-out-ofmytruck-onweekends-Portal.com Do people really need sliders, huge front bumper, diff gaurds, gas-tank skid, huge rear bumpers to go see some country and remote places? My answer to this, firmly, is no.

In any case, the aluminum is the way to go to keep the weight down. you do not need any more steel affixed to a land-rover than is absolutely necessary.

I have yet to know anyone first-hand that was ever stranded by a damaged fuel tank, or had one that ruptured from impact. Others' experience might be different than mine on rockier trails in the SW'ish portions of the US.

cheers
-ike

 

[lwg]

depends on your intended use for the truck.

Just a thought - this theme here is ExpeditionPortal.com - not wheel-the-living-piss-out-ofmytruck-onweekends-Portal.com Do people really need sliders, huge front bumper, diff gaurds, gas-tank skid, huge rear bumpers to go see some country and remote places? My answer to this, firmly, is no.

In any case, the aluminum is the way to go to keep the weight down. you do not need any more steel affixed to a land-rover than is absolutely necessary.

I have yet to know anyone first-hand that was ever stranded by a damaged fuel tank, or had one that ruptured from impact. Others' experience might be different than mine on rockier trails in the SW'ish portions of the US.

cheers
-ike

The wheeling/overlanding up here in the PNW is very mild compared to the SW for sure. I have hit mine a few times coming off of ledges and such. I can't say that I've ever heard of a punctured tank stranding anyone either.

I think if your planning on wheeling your D2 much, get a tank guard. The ******** of the D2 is quite large and very easy to drag off of things. Enough of that and it's possible you'll damage your tank. That being said the tanks are pretty durable as others have noted. The plastic tanks tend to bend as opposed to cracking as one would initially expect.

 

[timmy!!!!!!!]

I bought a Safari Gard rear bumper for my D1. Came with a steel skid plate which is HUGE. I had already bought an aluminum one from Larry.

I kept the AL one on because of weight and design. I like it. So the $G just sits in the shop.......

Sad

 

[LandyAndy]

At the end of the day it all depends on where you go, here in BC, it's prudent to carry a small chain saw as it's not uncommon to find a tree down along the FSR stopping your progress. For the fairly low cost and small weight gain an aluminium guard is peace of mind.

And you don't need to be travelling 1000km's to be an expedition..... but that would be nice.... their are plenty of deactivated FSR's around us that I intend to explore this summer to get the truck sorted, so..... next year were ready to head north to Alaska for a few weeks... that will be an expedition !

:smiley_drive:

 

[michaels]

depends on your intended use for the truck.

Just a thought - this theme here is ExpeditionPortal.com - not wheel-the-living-piss-out-ofmytruck-onweekends-Portal.com Do people really need sliders, huge front bumper, diff gaurds, gas-tank skid, huge rear bumpers to go see some country and remote places? My answer to this, firmly, is no.

In any case, the aluminum is the way to go to keep the weight down. you do not need any more steel affixed to a land-rover than is absolutely necessary.

I have yet to know anyone first-hand that was ever stranded by a damaged fuel tank, or had one that ruptured from impact. Others' experience might be different than mine on rockier trails in the SW'ish portions of the US.

cheers
-ike

you don't have to wheel the piss out of your truck to still warrant these items. many easy trails have drop offs that leave you hanging on your door sills or slapping the ***** out of your rear end. one of the easiest trails i do on a regular basis has now gotten far more eroded to where i landed hard on the sliders and gas tank skid, and this is EXCLUSIVELY with a group from EXPO. it didn't involve any hard core wheel. just a slow drop that made me glad to have the armour. hell, that trail is 100% doable with open diffs, but it still is necessary to have the protection.

 

[yubert]

1 dent in 7 years? I rest my case :snorkel:

I like your logic. I haven't had an accident in 15 years so I guess I should forgo auto insurance.

 

[SeaRubi]

I like your logic. I haven't had an accident in 15 years so I guess I should forgo auto insurance.

And your straw man counter-argument isn't logic at all. Do you buy lotto tickets, too? Pick one up for both of us - check's in the mail, friend. :sombrero:

 

[SeaRubi]

The wheeling/overlanding up here in the PNW is very mild compared to the SW for sure. I have hit mine a few times coming off of ledges and such. I can't say that I've ever heard of a punctured tank stranding anyone either.

you haven't met the flip-coin of the wheelers in the PNW. because the trails are so impossibly narrow in the trees, it's sort of pointless to take a big rover down in there. unless you bring an 88 to clean up :ylsmoke:

I think if your planning on wheeling your D2 much, get a tank guard. The ******** of the D2 is quite large and very easy to drag off of things. Enough of that and it's possible you'll damage your tank. That being said the tanks are pretty durable as others have noted. The plastic tanks tend to bend as opposed to cracking as one would initially expect.

my tank had a 4" depression in the center and would hold about 17 gallons. it never showed any signs of cracking or leaking but it did make me a little nervous.

I missed your earlier post, but at 17lbs that for sure is "insurance" I could live with. I only wish I could get a front and rear bumper made in aluminum as well ... wink wink, nudge nudge :elkgrin:

for the rest of you, welcome to another SeaRubi ********-stirring thread. it's been fun goading all of you on. As for wheeling your rigs: somebody find me what armor would have prevented this:

I had dents all over my truck, but the worst carnage suffered couldn't have been prevented with all the "armor" that everybody is so intent in decking their trucks out with. You can keep bolting that stuff onto your rigs until a toyota could be substituted for the rover within for all I care ... my general stance is to not put it on if all it's going to see is scratches. I'm not waxing my rig up for the field meet, either. ymmv. my .05 and all that.

cheers,
-ike

 

[revor]

I have one of each.. The 3/8" Aluminum is bent, The 3/16" steel is gouged.. The steel one is on the truck that gets wheeled harder.
The Aluminum one definitely saved the fuel tank.
I will probably live with the extra 5 pounds and go steel next time.

 

[lwg]

I missed your earlier post, but at 17lbs that for sure is "insurance" I could live with. I only wish I could get a front and rear bumper made in aluminum as well ... wink wink, nudge nudge :elkgrin:

cheers,
-ike

I could build all of our stuff out of AL, problem is nobody would want to pay for it. It would be 2-3x more expensive at the very least.

 

[Riflman]

aluminum or none. most people aren't going to wheel their rigs hard enough in the rocks to really warrant a tank skid. how much is a used gas tank? i hate the approach of sagging down an already heavy vehicle with so much more metal. just turns them into a huge pig that can't get out of it's own way and the fuel mileage - ohh the horrors! In my opinion you shouldn't buy *any* kind of armor until you've had to repair something at least twice.

fwiw.

What's this about a tank recall? Going to have to look into that.... Reading the rest of this long thread now. :coffeedrink: As for repairing twice...been there...done that. Not necessarily on this rig, but I've broken enough to know that putting on that GD with the sliders is going to make even more cocky (AHEM!)...I mean confident at taking tough lines. I've dropped onto rocks and crushed my fenders and ripped off bumpers. I don't need a big hole in my tank after coming down hard on the rear end/bumper. We have some pretty pointy rock up here. :elkgrin:

 

[Riflman]

K. Finally got through all of this. Yes the reason I finally buckled in for the Greg Davis bumper is because I ripped mine off coming down off a ledge. This was AFTER smashing the crap out of it and crushing the left rear quarter panel when I was climbing a ledge and a huge chunk of it broke off and peeled back to swallow my tire. Owee. I have diff guards, sliders and front bumper with skid. I suppose I could live without a tank skid for a while, but I figure it's cheap insurance. With that GD bumper on and the fenders trimmed, it looks pretty ugly under there. The skid should clean it up and make look nice (I mean slide better) too. :victory:

 

[jrose609]

Sad

dude, I wrote you and wrote you.......you never write back!

If you still want the LWG, maybe we can work something out.........

 

[timmy!!!!!!!]

dude, I wrote you and wrote you.......you never write back!

If you still want the LWG, maybe we can work something out.........

Hmmm odd I thought I sent something. Probably got mixed up in my move down to New Orleans. (Who DAT!) If you still want to work something out I can once I get a job down here.

Hijack on: Did I ever tell you I have a friend in huntsville that just moved in from pocatello, idaho

 

[LandyAndy]

I like your logic. I haven't had an accident in 15 years so I guess I should forgo auto insurance.

My friend used to think that.... then his wife totalled his truck (2002 Tacoma) on a FSR. She escaped with just a sore neck... he ended up with a $6k bill to fix his truck as he only had 3rd party and he owed money on it still. That was just the parts.... used cab, box, rad, bumpers, rear springs.... lots of other bits.... I rebuilt it for him.... for free.