Gen II Armor

[zukrider]

planning some armor mods in the near future. in the drawing/writing/think'n/planning stage.

the plan:

-sliders

-rear bumper

-skid plates

would like some input from both the I WANT crowd as well as the I HAVE DONE crowd. im the over thinker, always trying to multipurpose things. would love some suggestions you all might have. also, if you've been here before, maybe some suggestions on DO's and DONT's.


-for the rear bumper. i have thoughts of using 2x4" tube, .250 wall. this will span the entire width, centered on the hitch holes. ill use the hitch holes for a center added support. ill cut back the frame horns and cap them. they will have nuts either welded in place or nutserts will be used. this will provide 3 points of bolted attachments. at the ends, ill take similar tube from the bumper to the end of the wheel well. those will have kickers to the frame for side impact strength, as well as 2 more attachments. a hitch will be added as well. along with attachment points for the rear mounts of a gas tank skid.

whatcha think?

-for the sliders. thinking all round tube, 1.5 HREW .125 wall. similar to the typical tacoma slider with a bump out at the rear. they will stick out to at least 3" past the body's widest point for wall protection. kicker's to the frame in 4 points per side. simple, effective. will fill in the holes from the inner tube to the outer tube with expanded metal for traction that wont add too much weight or hold a lot of dirt/mud.

opinions?

-the skids will be 3/8" steel for all the drivetrain, and 3/16" for the gas tank. no real plans here just yet. opinions wanted!



also, i have a roof rack in the planning stages as well. but im pretty well set in the way that will start. only pending plan is whether or not i will have the rack sit up just enough to "mount" some Rotopax water cans underneath. seems like it would be cool to mount them all to the bottom of rack, and tie them together with a single hose line. this line will run to a specific spot with a spout. open to use, also have an attachment to fill them all back up. if it will work. thinking fighting the air space in the cans will overcome the idea.


thanx for any help you all can contribute.

joe

 

[off-roader]

planning some armor mods in the near future. in the drawing/writing/think'n/planning stage.

the plan:

-sliders

-rear bumper

-skid plates

would like some input from both the I WANT crowd as well as the I HAVE DONE crowd. im the over thinker, always trying to multipurpose things. would love some suggestions you all might have. also, if you've been here before, maybe some suggestions on DO's and DONT's.


-for the rear bumper. i have thoughts of using 2x4" tube, .250 wall. this will span the entire width, centered on the hitch holes. ill use the hitch holes for a center added support. ill cut back the frame horns and cap them. they will have nuts either welded in place or nutserts will be used. this will provide 3 points of bolted attachments. at the ends, ill take similar tube from the bumper to the end of the wheel well. those will have kickers to the frame for side impact strength, as well as 2 more attachments. a hitch will be added as well. along with attachment points for the rear mounts of a gas tank skid.

whatcha think?

-for the sliders. thinking all round tube, 1.5 HREW .125 wall. similar to the typical tacoma slider with a bump out at the rear. they will stick out to at least 3" past the body's widest point for wall protection. kicker's to the frame in 4 points per side. simple, effective. will fill in the holes from the inner tube to the outer tube with expanded metal for traction that wont add too much weight or hold a lot of dirt/mud.

opinions?

-the skids will be 3/8" steel for all the drivetrain, and 3/16" for the gas tank. no real plans here just yet. opinions wanted!



also, i have a roof rack in the planning stages as well. but im pretty well set in the way that will start. only pending plan is whether or not i will have the rack sit up just enough to "mount" some Rotopax water cans underneath. seems like it would be cool to mount them all to the bottom of rack, and tie them together with a single hose line. this line will run to a specific spot with a spout. open to use, also have an attachment to fill them all back up. if it will work. thinking fighting the air space in the cans will overcome the idea.


thanx for any help you all can contribute.

joe

imho, try not to over think it or you'll suffer from analysis paralysis. Yup, been there, done that.

For bumpers it really depends on your build requirements. For me I want to increase clearance if at all possible. I also wanted more options so rather than custom build a bumper, I simply modified the frame to fit a bumper from another common rig... A late model jeep TJ. Check my build link in my sig for pics.

For rock skids, I elected to use trail gear rock skids for a Tacoma. Fits perfect and works for my rock crawling needs.

For belly armor, I'm still looking at that but it will have to all be custom done unfortunately.

For a roof rack, I'm currently using a cheap (<$300) one but will eventually upgrade to a custom aluminum one built similar to the low profile FrontRunner roof racks from S. Africa.

 

[Mephisto]

3/8" steel is complete overkill to the point of adding too much weight to your truck. I used 1/4" aluminum to save weight, if bent and reinforced/attached properly that is more than sufficient. If you insist on steel check out skid plates from various manufacturers for other 4x4s and make something similar for yourself, I haven't looked but I guarantee no one produces 3/8" steel skid plates unless they're driving through a minefield, lol. Steel is sturdy stuff, most people completely overbuild things, I bash the **** out of my bumpers and have barely dented them and they are only 1/8th wall tubing, if you plan on ramming things you can go thicker but IMO what I have is enough. It's obviously up to you though, just remember as soon as metal is shaped (bent in a break or formed for tubing) it has much much more rigidity than a flat piece of metal.

 

[Mephisto]

I just reread your post and realized you said 4" tubing for the rear bumper, you are right to go with a thicker wall when using a larger diameter tubing as it will dent easier than smaller diameter tubing. Just lift a piece of 1/4" x 4" tubing and see how heavy it is and remember your suspension will have to carry that around all the time. As I said, it's a matter of opinion and it's obviously up to you.

 

[geocrasher]

+1 on the weight. Thicker = More protection but it also means worse mileage, more possible breakage, more strain on the truck in general.

 

[Toasty]

as for tube go .120 wall DOM, HREW is a bit weak for such a heavy truck.

 

[off-roader]

as for tube go .120 wall DOM, HREW is a bit weak for such a heavy truck.

Yeah, the trail gear sliders are made with 1 3/4" OD x .120 wall 1035 DOM tubing. Is 1035 a decent alloy?

 

[shmabs]

to mirror what others have said, 3/8's is complete overkill. You can get by with much thinner material if you put even a little bit of thought/engineering into it. A lot of my skids are 1/8th inch, even on my montero sport. however, very rarely if ever is there a long unsupported span of 1/8th inch material. Even something as simple as 1x1x.125 angle with the opening facing down can add lots strength. Also, simple bolt in crossmembers can be wonderful for shortening up unsupported spans for skids, along with making mounting them a lot easier I try to build skids for myself and others in line with how the vehicle will actually be used, and think along the lines of "more material doesn't always make up for a lack of engineering" It should be noted, that the second, green and black skid plate was for a suzuki, so i built it a little "lighter"

When it comes to rock sliders, i have used HREW in the .120 wall thickness with great results. The sliders on my sport were a 2x2x.120 main slider with 1.750x.120 HREW outer bars. Due to driver error, i slammed them into the ground climbing hells revenge with nothing more than scrapped paint, and then again several times doing to hard climb on kane springs.

As always YMMV.

Mike

 

[zukrider]

i hear what you all are saying. thing is, i have a lot of the steel mentioned. thus, saving me money. i have not thought out a front bumber yet. just working on the rear right now. i like the hrew for sliders, as they are not a roll cage. HREW will be more than enough as a slider.

the comment on a mine field is funny, as i like to crawl. we will see where it all goes i guess. lots of time before any of it happens.


much appreciated on the answers, opinions, and pics!

joe

 

[off-roader]

Use the 3/8 steel in strips to re-enforce 1/8 plates.:ylsmoke:

 

[off-roader]

That's some really nice work Mike. If you were closer I'd be checking if you could make me a set of skid plates (Front to rear) for my Montero. But unfortunately you're a ways away from the Manteca area.

 

[shmabs]

Thanks for the kudo's off roader. I'm hoping to start building skids for my 4runner soon and will be following the same mentality.

If you ever find yourself coming north for a weekend, i would love to check out your rig and have a weekend fab fest.


mike