Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

Let me answer a few questions as best I can and then I will find some more pictures to post.

1. Weight. All 3/16" steel construction results in a heavy, but extremely strong product. I'm going to take the plates down after testing them and I will let everyone know the weight of both the front and back plates. I noticed absolutely no performance hit. I got 18 mpg on my trip out (70-85mph, no A/C ) and 18 mpg on my way back with new winch bumper and skids attached. In addition -- and this is probably just in my head -- on the way back, the engine seemed to struggle less in 5th gear at speeds between 75 and 90 when passing (is it downhiil from IN to DC? :confused:)


2. Heat. There is no doubt this is a concern of mine and I've asked f5fstop if he can get me some benchmarks. What I know so far is that if you start up your H3 on a cold morning and drive it a mile and then feel the tranny, or diffs, or exhaust they are hot - damn hot. After I got home from driving 10 hours I spent a few minutes underneath my truck and came to the same subjective conclusion - hot (damn hot). Nothing, of course, was glowing red, and no overt signs of overheating (such as burning smells, etc.). I take some comfort in the fact that I've got a manual transmission and that all the heat from the catalytic converter and much of the exhaust is not enclosed. I will probably have my fluid flushed and checked in about 2-3k miles to get some objective feedback. A tranny temp guage isn't a bad idea but I've never seen one on a manual, and without benchmarks the data isn't terribly helpful. It's clear at this point that the heat issue isn't acute and the real issue is whether temps are being raised moderately to a degree that would breakdown fluid at an accelerated rate over the long run. I think that's probably the case for anyone that does heavy wheeling and can be taken care of with more frequent fluid changes.

3. Mud. Like the heat issue, I can only speculate at this point. One school of thought is that large amounts of mud will get trapped and create more severe heat issues. Another possibility is that the plates will do a better job of keeping mud out and away from the components that really matter. I think it really depends on the terrain. I will report back -- the idea is that it's always easier to drill more holes later if it's a problem.

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

More pics...

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Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

sounds like you got all the bases covered , just keep an eye on that temp :D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

BJC,
How soon do you plan to "test" it? Like others, I'm interested on the results.
Looks damn good to me...(but, then again...I like to break my sh!t!;))

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

She's a sh1t breaker;)

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

hell you two chicks are our test drivers :D i dont do anything till Bebe goes first ;) :D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

Look whos talkin :p

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

coughpussycough;)

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

;) it didant help me on the golden stairs did it ? :p :D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

Nope:D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

i still luv you :p :D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

Yeah, mee too:D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

Holy Jeebus, Pismo is gonna be a lovefest with you two there. :rolleyes: :D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

LMAO sewie :D nice sunset pic you got there ;)

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

Awwwww. Thats so sweet and romantic... :) ;) :p

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

**whisper**
he's a little jealous:D
he's berry sensitive


I wuv you too Sewie:D:D Sometimes.

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

You guys need to get a room! ;)



Okay... Enough of the luvy-duvy stuff....

Matt DOI -

For a prototype this looks really good. As for ghetto engineering... I don't think so. I don't know what crush-nut zerts are, but the only thing I saw that really worried me was the exposed, unprotected bolt heads. Perhaps crush-nut zerts take care of that... :confused:

From what I've seen here, yeah, I could be really interested in this. :) :D Please keep us informed.

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

I saw this skid plate on a picture at my Hummer dealership. Talk about a sweek underbody setup.

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

"sweek"

Is that a combination of sweet/trick???:D

Re: Just finished DOI skid plate prototype
 

.