TJ Belly-up Skid by cgmrdc

8 minute read

TJ Belly-up Skid

Compliments of cgmrdc @ jeepforum.com

5-13-2009

I wanted to wait till i got everything painted before i posted a little build but here is the latest version of belly-ups my cousin builds mostly for guys in our club... Ive helped with a couple but Im getting ready to do a mild build on mine and a belly-up was in order... now the previous version was all flat along the 2 inch angle. my cousin had a new version cut with slots to bend the leading and trailing edge. well he hadnt finished his yet so i started mine with one of the old blanks... and heres how it turned out...

stock skid clearance

this is how the old skids looked...

i scored the back 1/16 and cut all the way through in 4 places, then used a BFH and some angle iron to bend the skid over

mounted and testing for clearance issues

the SYE is going in as part of the build, after i finished the fab work i put the stock shovel back on

the next variation in my skid is a seperate crossmember to suppost the drive train...

first cut...

the tcase drain plug hit the top so i cut and welded a peice of tubing in for clearance

trimmed and ground smooth

tranny mount

pic of the end plates welded on... im still getting used to flux core but im happy with the welds...

angle to fill the gap

finished xmember

trimmed the angle iron to match the slope of the 1/4 in plate

pic of the whole jeep... much better!

everything welded

skid and xmember together

and just bc im excited...
HP D30 4.10s w/ aussie
Ford 8.8 4.10s 8 pack ford racing LSD (stock is 6...)
(old 8.25 too...)

and MAD4WD brackets

Here it is painted

and for those who are wondering NOBS is a group of my friends that build all their own stuff, build stuff for other people and just genuinely love working on Jeeps...

this will be installed over memorial weekend and ill post up clearance gains... but IIRC its around 2"...

what do yall think!?

I am going to bolt it into the frame independently from the skid... ill drill holes and weld nuts into the frame rails. i ran out of time to get the holes drilled so i will do it when i install it.

I needed to get all the welding done last weekend so i could bring it up to my apt and paint it this week.

Thanks terrain twister... these have been tested from the muddy forests of MO through the rockies and across moab... weve been building these for a while and have yet to have any fail... and if you can build a bumper you can build one of these... making the bends is time consuming... and this can be done w/o the cross member

i dont have any pics of the xmember bolted up w/o the skid. i can take pics on the final install though. the square tubing is 2x4x3/16...

yes im using the stock tranny mount...

i honestly dont have any demensions... my cousin has all the CAD models as its his design... he sells these around our area so im not sure if he wants me posting up every little detail but...

when we first started building these we would cut the angle (24") and drill the holes, bolt it up and then measure the width front and rear and cut it out by hand... we have since made a model and they are laser cut in bulk for us...

let me know if you have any more Qs

Thanks for the compliments!

5-15-2009

ol thanks for being so brutally honest and exceptionally observant... weve been going it this way for a long time... makes it easier to weld the normal bracket we use to mount the tcase. and since this is an older blank i didnt have a choice. the crossmember covers the hole from above so im not that worried about it. the leading edge may get a little attention but 1/4" isnt gonna get you hung up on a smooth rock... and i try not to drive straight over super pointy ones... that thing they call a rear diff tends to hang up... you just have to be smart with how you drive... do you drive straight at a rock inline with your front diff? no, if you see it you avoid it bc you now you have less clearance there...

like i said, not worrid about it and if its a problem ill change it... thats the beauty of building your own stuff..

6-3-2009

Pic of xmember

some shots while i was flexing the rear to check out my newly installed 8.8

6-30-2009

thanks, the tube is 3/16 and the skid is 1/4. there is no gap between the skid and xmember so if the plate tries to deflect its going to push on the xmember. between the two im not worried.

i might go through and countersink some flat heads into the skid just to tie them both together. i still havent contacted the skid while wheelin so time will tell how it holds up like it is...

weve made prob 15 of these and have yet to hear of one bending and this is the beefiest one weve built yet so im not too worried...

7-13-2009

spent all last week in CO and moab! def doesnt have the pretty paint job anymore. im very impressed with how it did, stregth is awesome and the extra clearance def helped. id drop off a ledge and start to to wince(sp) but most of the time the impact never came!

ill post a pic later...