im making a skid plate for my gas tank, i have an xlt and it has no protection for offroad... so anyone have any pics? i have a peice of aluminum that fits but need help w/ mounting it.. pics, info anything..

any would be great...

 

I'm guessing using some tubing to mount it would be alright. Are there OEM gas skidplates, by any chance to take a design from?

 

Wouldnt steel be alot stronger for a skid plate?

 

hmm well how about thise? I bought the fuel tank skid plate on ebay. so heres some pics.

the lil plate is the transfer case skid plate. I sold it cause I already had one.
these plates, when u buy them, just bolt into place thru existing holes




the bar u see sticking up, that goes between the tank and the drive shaft



these are the tools I needed to install it. at first it didnt fit and i tried hitting the heat shield on the gas tank with a sledge hammer cause it was in the way. in

the end, i just drilled a new hole.





heres some of the mounting points:





last but not least, the transfer case skid plate

 

the vice grips worked well, because of the boxed frame on the ranger, u cant really get to the inside with a ratchet or anything, so i put on stainless washers, lock washers, and nut, start the nut, then use the vice grips to hold the bolt in place while u tighten the nut. worked vey well.

now as far as strength goes, itll take some beating, but dont land on a rock. its actually alot beefier than it looks, and i needed the jack to hold it up to bolt it in place cause i did it myself. the plate itself, prolly weighs in abound 40lbs.

 

thanks