Offroadmuch
Explorer
So about two weeks ago I was driving to work before sunrise. It was dark and a few cars on the road. As I rounded a turn and came over a rise in the road there was a cone tipped over away from me in the center of the lane. I was going about 50. I wasn't sure if there was a car next to me or behind me so I didn't want to swerve or slam on my brakes. So I basically hit the cone straight on and in the middle. As I drove I heard a scraping/grinding sound as I went faster. Took it to the. Dealer and found out my 4-wheel-drive-actuator had been partly crunched. Had that replaced for $528.31 for parts and labor. Needless to say I was pissed. I knew I wanted skid plates before this even happened. Now I was on a mission.
I prefer to do everything for a cheap as possible. I know I could have done a junkyard swap for the 4wd actuator but I was not completely certain that was the only problem and I like to do things correctly more than I do cheaply.
So off to Home Depot to get the following: 2, 10mm -1.25x 30 (17mm socket) bolts for the two forward mounting tabs for the original plastic skid plate, then 2, 8mm -1.25x20 (13mm socket) bolts for the rear mounting tabs on the center cross member, then a piece me metal 2"x36"x .125" (1/8th). I had alread acquired a piece of sheet metal aluminum (similar to a street sign) 18" wide x about 18" long.
I drilled holes on the steel after I cut it down to 20" long so it could reach the mounting tabs on the center cross member. This would act as a stiffener as well as a bridge for the width of the mounting tabs since my sheet metal was a little too narrow for that. I then drilled 4 holes in the steel "bridge" and the end of the new skid plate and bolted it all together (used 4, 1/4" bolts with loctite) not super tight to allow for some natural flex. The skid plate I used was run over or something and had a nice curve on it that actually worked pretty good to reach the forward and center cross member mounting tabs and kind of naturally curved over the 4wd actuator and front diff.
After mounting the skid plate at the rear I measured (and guessed a little after looking for about where the holes would need to be for the forward mounting tabs.) Then drilled and had to Dremel the hols a bit to allow easy insertion for the 4 bolts.
4wd actuator that was broken and replaced. Here is the new one shown.
Posted this from my iPhone so it is not as great as I wanted it. I will be happy to answer questions and I have a few more pics.
I prefer to do everything for a cheap as possible. I know I could have done a junkyard swap for the 4wd actuator but I was not completely certain that was the only problem and I like to do things correctly more than I do cheaply.
So off to Home Depot to get the following: 2, 10mm -1.25x 30 (17mm socket) bolts for the two forward mounting tabs for the original plastic skid plate, then 2, 8mm -1.25x20 (13mm socket) bolts for the rear mounting tabs on the center cross member, then a piece me metal 2"x36"x .125" (1/8th). I had alread acquired a piece of sheet metal aluminum (similar to a street sign) 18" wide x about 18" long.
I drilled holes on the steel after I cut it down to 20" long so it could reach the mounting tabs on the center cross member. This would act as a stiffener as well as a bridge for the width of the mounting tabs since my sheet metal was a little too narrow for that. I then drilled 4 holes in the steel "bridge" and the end of the new skid plate and bolted it all together (used 4, 1/4" bolts with loctite) not super tight to allow for some natural flex. The skid plate I used was run over or something and had a nice curve on it that actually worked pretty good to reach the forward and center cross member mounting tabs and kind of naturally curved over the 4wd actuator and front diff.
After mounting the skid plate at the rear I measured (and guessed a little after looking for about where the holes would need to be for the forward mounting tabs.) Then drilled and had to Dremel the hols a bit to allow easy insertion for the 4 bolts.
4wd actuator that was broken and replaced. Here is the new one shown.Posted this from my iPhone so it is not as great as I wanted it. I will be happy to answer questions and I have a few more pics.
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