Plastic Skid Plate
- Thread starter ccrider
- Start date
vanguard
Adventurer
I haven't done it yet but I read that pro rock crawlers use cutting board material on their skids and I plan to do the same. My taco has thin metal as its skidplate and that will never hold up to a good hit. I plan of adding the cutting board material, not replacing it entirely.
A big part of the reason is that "taco lean" that always seems to develop from having the driver, battery, gas tank, etc. all on the same side of the truck. I don't want to get too heavy.
A big part of the reason is that "taco lean" that always seems to develop from having the driver, battery, gas tank, etc. all on the same side of the truck. I don't want to get too heavy.
paulj
Expedition Leader
I wonder whether plastic gas tanks are as weak as some people fear. I saw a description of one that Honda developed for the Insight some years ago that talked about the multiple layers. Also tanks do have to meet crash standards.
My impression from some 4x4 books is that the big weakness of metal tanks was the seams. A damaged tank was more likely to leak from a split or damaged seam, than from a hole in the sheet metal. A plastic shouldn't have such a problem. Actual displacement of the tank, with possible leaking from the gas feed line, might be a greater problem than a puncture or crack.
If a plastic tank is damaged, is there a way of patching it? Soap was reputed to be a good tool for plugging leaks in metal tanks.
paulj
My impression from some 4x4 books is that the big weakness of metal tanks was the seams. A damaged tank was more likely to leak from a split or damaged seam, than from a hole in the sheet metal. A plastic shouldn't have such a problem. Actual displacement of the tank, with possible leaking from the gas feed line, might be a greater problem than a puncture or crack.
If a plastic tank is damaged, is there a way of patching it? Soap was reputed to be a good tool for plugging leaks in metal tanks.
paulj
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
From what I understand the skid on the newer Tacoma's is some type of high tech resin that is puncture resistant and very slippery on rocks. It should hold up fine as long as you dont high center directly on it excessively...
Almost 2 yrs of full production now and I've never heard of any issues with that skid.
As for the fuel tank itself, plastic is much better than metal for all of the reasons already listed above. Plastic tanks can be patched using Marine-Tex, I used to use it on Stihl chainsaw gas tanks and it worked great.
Almost 2 yrs of full production now and I've never heard of any issues with that skid.
As for the fuel tank itself, plastic is much better than metal for all of the reasons already listed above. Plastic tanks can be patched using Marine-Tex, I used to use it on Stihl chainsaw gas tanks and it worked great.
Last edited:
david despain
Adventurer
on my 72 bronco (that i had to sell a few yrs ago to pay for the kids
) the previous owner had replaced the oem metal aux fuel tank with an aftermarket plastic tank. at some point thereafter he proceded to use some really long like 3" self tapping sheet metal screws to hold down some carpet trim pieces and put a couple of holes in the top of the tank. the tank always leaked when i topped it off but i never knew why. i always just ran on that tank first when i filled both up. later on after i dropped both tanks to clean out lots of rust and water from the rear that kept clogging the fuel system i found the holes on the top of the tank. there were 2 blue streaks coming off of it and the factory skid was blue too from the free aviation gas i ran lots of, so the holes were easy to find. i just scuffed up the tank with scotch brite and scuffed up a piece of 2024 T3 0.032 aluminum that i had formed to contour to the tank and stuck it to the tank over the holes with some red high temp RTV. never leaked again for over a year.
so the moral of the story is plastic tanks wont rust, are easy to repair, are much lighter and easier to get back up in the truck when you are by yourself with just a floor jack for help, and are "usually" cheaper to buy. and they wont rust if you get water in your fuel. some rtv and scrap sheet metal or anything really (cut out part of a quart oil bottle) and you could trail fix any plastic tank
) the previous owner had replaced the oem metal aux fuel tank with an aftermarket plastic tank. at some point thereafter he proceded to use some really long like 3" self tapping sheet metal screws to hold down some carpet trim pieces and put a couple of holes in the top of the tank. the tank always leaked when i topped it off but i never knew why. i always just ran on that tank first when i filled both up. later on after i dropped both tanks to clean out lots of rust and water from the rear that kept clogging the fuel system i found the holes on the top of the tank. there were 2 blue streaks coming off of it and the factory skid was blue too from the free aviation gas i ran lots of, so the holes were easy to find. i just scuffed up the tank with scotch brite and scuffed up a piece of 2024 T3 0.032 aluminum that i had formed to contour to the tank and stuck it to the tank over the holes with some red high temp RTV. never leaked again for over a year. so the moral of the story is plastic tanks wont rust, are easy to repair, are much lighter and easier to get back up in the truck when you are by yourself with just a floor jack for help, and are "usually" cheaper to buy. and they wont rust if you get water in your fuel. some rtv and scrap sheet metal or anything really (cut out part of a quart oil bottle) and you could trail fix any plastic tank