I just found these two pics of the newly announced and very cool aluminum skidplate from Savvy Off Road that I'll be installing within the next week or two. It'll be replacing my 11 year old tired and thoroughly abused steel Tomken skidplate and not a moment too soon. I can't wait. :drool:
Yours is sitting in the shop right beside Jerry's. Gerald has a trip to Moab he's leaving for on Monday, so that's kinda put a damper on getting these shipped out to the beta folks.
While awesome in it's own right, I don't have the bones to ditch my Kilby for this right now, I would in a second if I was still OEM and was in the market for a new one.
You know what else would be pretty awesome is fenders or corner armor, etc made out of this same grade AL material... that I might be more in the market for in the future (with tweaked front fenders and no corner armor now).
You're more than welcome to paint or powdercoat it. The nice thing about that is when you scratch it, you don't have to worry about it rusting. Can you tell I hate rust with a passion?
The 50 dollar difference is only in the raised position. If you have a stocker without a body lift, there's a small matter of a set of spacers that has to be acquired.
I just caught on....Blaine, you're a freakin badass. If I hadn't just gone with Rokmen for my skid, I'd take one of yours. I may know a few people who want one though.....
I knew right when I saw that pic who was responsible for this:laugh: What else have you got in the works?
Anyone got weights on other aftermarket skids? Specifically Rokmens?
Also are those pictures Jerry posted of the skid at stock height? Guessing so since the holes line up with the bolts. Is the 1.75" gain at the bottom of the dimple?
I like the idea, my rig dosent need to get any fatter.
Seeing as Jerry is a well respected member of this forum and a personal friend who wheels on difficult stuff, he was kind enough to beta test one of these for us and give some needed feedback.
We've also asked robncar to do some testing as well and look forward to his reactions.
Blaine, what's the turnaround time on these. It probably takes awhile to process that stuff! If I order in the next couple of weeks, would I be good to go by mid-July?
Just because 6061 doesn't rust, it will still corrode. I would still recommend a coat of paint on an aluminum piece of structure. At least some alodine if you can get it, just don't leave the bare metal. As for 6061, we use it a lot and it is a very well behaved aluminum, even in space. Also easily repairable. As for making the corners blaine, I would recommend forming the primary structure and then doing the heat treat, if you can. I know Alcan will sell you material in the T-0 temper.
nice idea, i cringe every time i add more steel to my jeep.
I'm well aware of the -0 temper and seriously considered it, but I don't have a good local heat treater that can bring it up to the -6 temper when I'm finished with the forming.
Since I need two separate parts to make the design work, I would only save a few pounds by making the mounts in aluminum and then the costs would go up because laser cutting aluminum is not accurate, much slower, requires much more clean-up and then I have to get the heat treating done.
The design is a pretty good blend of materials and their usage in the right areas.
But, it's nice to find someone who understands aluminum enough to know what -0 temper is.
I was just about to ask about those brackets and if they'd be a weak point, and then I continued to read. Knowing who's involved I don't have to ask anything more about it.
I'll buy one of these even though my Kilby is still holding strong, just for the weight savings behind the rear axle. I recently weighed my Jeep, Steer axle 2280 + drive axle 2400 = 4680#. I need to put it on a diet.
That's one nice looking skid! I really like how it looks with the body lift! I guess I'm going to have to lift my Unlimited as well.
Thanks for the support!
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