rayra
Expedition Leader
At one point I fiddled with some large flat cardboard and thought to just put rivnuts in the frame and trailinp lip of the crossmember, ahead of the tank, and just make a 'bottom pan' sort of plate. But the rear suspension lower control arm mount is where the frame swoops up and that's literally the midpoint of that loooong tank. That's when I though about crafting a 1" square tube steel perimeter frame around the rear half of the tank and somewhere hanging it from the frame or the driveshaft shield on the inboard side of the tank, the perimeter frame just being there to secure that 'bottom pan' skin. I bogged down figuring how to make it sturdy enough to scrape along in a high center situation.
That's when I got thinking about just slipping a plate between the tank and the saddle straps, the plate literally against the plastic tank.
Maybe using a large press break to put some folds in the sheet corresponding with the tank valleys where the saddle straps rest. Or sizing some square tubing to fill that void and slip the saddle strap thru, with the plate being simple and flat and attached to the cross tubing and with the plate ends turned up like a ski tip, the front edge tucking up above that crossmember lip. And thus the whole plate riding high as possible.
And even then the plate STILL hangs a bit below the frame rails, but ought to 'squish' up just as the tank would / with the tank, if it were dragging, until the frame takes the brunt of it.
Dunno. If the driveshaft weren't there it would be easy to solve, just pan the whole thing.
here's hoping the whole tank can be moved up a smidge. But that's gonna take cutting the mount brackets and raising them, and there's not a lot of room between the fuel pump and lines and the vehicle floor.
That's when I got thinking about just slipping a plate between the tank and the saddle straps, the plate literally against the plastic tank.
Maybe using a large press break to put some folds in the sheet corresponding with the tank valleys where the saddle straps rest. Or sizing some square tubing to fill that void and slip the saddle strap thru, with the plate being simple and flat and attached to the cross tubing and with the plate ends turned up like a ski tip, the front edge tucking up above that crossmember lip. And thus the whole plate riding high as possible.
And even then the plate STILL hangs a bit below the frame rails, but ought to 'squish' up just as the tank would / with the tank, if it were dragging, until the frame takes the brunt of it.
Dunno. If the driveshaft weren't there it would be easy to solve, just pan the whole thing.
here's hoping the whole tank can be moved up a smidge. But that's gonna take cutting the mount brackets and raising them, and there's not a lot of room between the fuel pump and lines and the vehicle floor.
