Body Armor Aluminum vs. Metal

[CoronaKJ]

I have searched (quickly and not very diligently, but enough for my alotted time spent here) and I am looking for some opinions on body armor for my Jeep. I'ts a 95 yj which I love and plan on keeping for a very long time. So aluminum or steel or hybrid mix. I currently have steel rocker guards and steel bumpers but going to soon get a fuel tank, tube fenders and rear corner protection..This not an hard core rock buggy but i do enjoy the big bear trail and Johnson valley rock everynow and then.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Ask the right questions(or search properly) and you will likely receive the right answers. As for comparing the 2, steel all the way. FYI, aluminum is a metal....

 

[Dgurley2000]

I have the same question but have not asked it. Especially after envying the Aluminess offerings!

 

[bldeagle10]

5 points to Black_ZJ

its kind of give and take, and really all comes down to common sense, steel will offer better protection, but is heavier, aluminum is lighter but will offer the least protection, it can potentially be more expensive as well, not sure on pricing as i have not researched it. in my case, I do NOT plan on doing any rock crawling type trails, but I do want the added protection, in a need or want to keep the rig light I will want to go the aluminum route (some protection is better than none) but in my case i will go with an aluminum alloy that will offer good protection but be lighter still than steel...just google around for a bit and see what alloys you feel would offer good protection for your application. I have what alloy I want to use written down somewhere in my pile of junk (aka jeep plans)

 

[MOAK]

Aluminum body corners, but everything underneath the jeep is steel. Aluminum rock slider on the trailer. 7075-T6 is a fairly strong alloy, and will bend a bit as well, at 1/8", it is plenty strong enough to slide a trailer (that will never weigh more than 600 lbs GVW) up and over any large rocks. The jeep weighs a whole lot more than the trailer, so steel down below...

 

[Bad Karma]

i'm running steel skids, bumpers and rock rails on my Scrambler. I went with 3/16" aluminum full crusher corners from Poison Spyder. was only $60 more for the aluminum corners than the steel ones. I did it to save weight. They will be plenty strong for the wheeling i do.

 

[rjcj-8]

Nice scrambler, cool decal you got there.

 

[BigAl]

For the DIY'r or if you want to modify, steel is easier/cheaper to build with.

 

[CoronaKJ]

For the DIY'r or if you want to modify, steel is easier/cheaper to build with.

This is what I was thinking was that in the long run the steel would be easier.....Just seem to notice a lot more aluminum on the market now days.

Appreciate the reply's thanks

 

[Jp90Talon]

If you live out West with your nice dry heat I wouldnt hesitate with going with aluminum but living up in New England with the nasty winters and salts on the roads. I would never lay aluminum corners over a steel body. Just read up on steel/aluminum galvanic corrosion and you will understand why.

 

[JPK]

I wanted protection but not the weight, so 1/4" aluminum was my choice for skids. They have held up well to some hard landings and scraping the belly. The tranny skid was slightly deformed on one hard landing - to call it dented would be an overstatement. It defititely saved the pan, maybe the whole transmission. The aluminum skids saved ~150lbs over a comparable set of steel skids, that is significant.

The corner guards I have are steel and relatively small, weight savings from going with aluminum wouldn't have been much.

Some more serious rock crawlers view skids as a tool to be used to get over rocks and ledges, I just want the protection and view whacking a skids as my error. For frequent use as a tool, steel would be the choice I think, but for protection from occasional errors, aluminum works fine. Some serious rock crawler prefer the ultra high density plastic covered aluminum for weight savings, gouge protection and slickness.

Here is a photo of the belly of my JKU showing the skids, taken just after they were installed, along with a couple showing why. FYI the "un-shiny" skid to the rear right as you look at the photo is the skid over an auxilliary fuel tank, fabbed by RROR:

I didn't land on the skids coming off this ledge, but thought I might!:

A video, hope it loads. Didn't land on the skids here either, but the scars on the rock tell us that many others have ...


JPK

 

[jeep-N-montero]

If you aren't using your skids you aren't pushing it hard enough....Just teasing. There have been spots where I was expecting to use them but came through unscathed as well. My t-case skid is 1/4in steel and only scraped it 2 or 3 times this year.

 

[PNWINFERNOPRO]

Steel, steel, steel for anything that will take full or partial weight of the rig. Any area that may scrape by or possible touch is fine to go aluminum.

I have Schrockworks, heavy steel rails and they get used. Rear corners deserve steel, if you wheel your rig through rock or heavily wooded areas. Aluminum skids are fine until they get turned into pie plates, then buy steel. LOL

 

[nwoods]

Aluminum underbody armor is not quite a good as steel for several reasons beyond just strength.
1. Aluminum is much louder! It reflects any engine/tranny noise right back into the cabin, and when do you do grind over things, it's quite loud, perhaps even a bit alarming
2. Aluminum is sticky when it comes to certain types of rocks, such as weathered granite, sandstone, or shale. A steel slider will glide right over but aluminum will bite down onto the rock and hang you up....sometimes.

 

[JPK]

If you aren't using your skids you aren't pushing it hard enough....Just teasing. There have been spots where I was expecting to use them but came through unscathed as well. My t-case skid is 1/4in steel and only scraped it 2 or 3 times this year.

Some guys believe that! Personally, I like my Jeep!

More seriously, if a guy's use of his Jeep leads to frequent bashing and grinding its probably better to go with steel. Mine doesn't, just occasional bashing, which, as mentioned, are the result of my error.

As for the stickiness of aluminum, that is what the ultra high density plastic skins are for, they provide lubricity for sliding over rocks which would "grab" un-skinned aluminum.

Aluminum can be quite stiff, impact resistant and weight bearing if it is shaped and supported properly. Think ships, aircraft, and now big trucks and trailers - or for that matter my Jeep's tranny skid, which took the full impact and all of the weight of my Jeep without real issue. But it isn't steel, and it will fatique faster too. One reason to go 1/4" aluminum rather than the 1/8" most steel skids are fabbed from.

So, gravity is perpetual, and weight robbs performance on the road and off, adds to wear and tear of all running gear, the steering linkage, suspension and driveline too. That favors aluminum imo, since I don't rock crawl that often, and not nearly as much as I drive on the streets, highways, dirt or gravel roads, two tracks...

I think many would be suprised at what a diet would do for their Jeeps. Synthetic winchline and aluminum fairlead, save ~75lbs, aluminum skids ~150lbs in my case... That is a substantial weight savings with just two items, approaching 5%. Or think of it as one large passenger. Or almost 1/4 of the oem cargo and passenger weight rating of the JKU...

JPK