TB has serious flaw when off road

[mrcolieman]

Working on my own... Slow going and still in the mock up phase but I'll post updates when I start working in steel... It will attach around the axle housing with 2 grade 8, 1/2" U-Bolts and at the pinion with a 2 piece steel clamp I'll need to make. Probably 1/4" steel at the mounts and 3/16" for the skid plate itself. We shall see what keeps the cost down.

Got the skid plate template transferred onto 1/4" plate, cut out, bent, welded. 18"x18"x1/4" steel plate was $57.

 

[vezePilot]

I am so glad that my Chevy Trail Boss provided the necessary reason to finally buy a welder and learn how to weld ...
(I needed a part that is not available.)

Have I mentioned before ... ? It is so great to be able to weld!

Also just today I have decided to buy a TIG welder to fabricate a high-performance 4-to-1 exhaust system for the 360 cubic inch engine in my Cozy airplane (Cozy ICAO "COZY" is a 4-seat version of my VariEze ICAO "VEZE".)

 

[Stormin08]

i have been under a hood since the 90's, and now a CWI / Quality Manager for a very large scale mechanical contractor doing LNG plants...since @ 2006.
i try to spend as much time as possible under a hood and fabbing parts.

 

[mhjones12]

Are you sure you don't have it? I posted pictures at the beginning of this thread that show the lip is only 1/8 to 1/16 below the differential housing. The cover is the lowest point and it peels back when scraped. These rear-ends where all retooled in 2019. I don't understand how your 21 could be different than my 21?

It is super easy to check it. Run your fingers across the bottom of the diff from front to back, you will feel the lip. The cover is the lowest point.

Steve

I have a 2021 Trail Boss, and my diff cover does not appear to extend below diff housing. See the attached pictures, the housing is the lowest point. There is still a gap large enough to fit the tip of my finger so I expect a rock could still easily catch the cover as it drags across the diff.

 

[mrcolieman]

The AAM (American Axle Manufacturing) axle cover plate doesn't hang below the housing, just the GM Corporate axle (pictured above). Less likely to be a problem but anything is possible!

 

[Stormin08]

a grinder will fix most of this with no real cost...????

 

[mrcolieman]

Finished my version of a rear diff skid plate today. $110 all in and it holds the weight of the truck on a jack without flexing. 1/4" steel plate painted with truck bed liner. Torqued the u-bolts to 40ft/lbs and the 8mm bolts at the pinion to 25 ft/lbs. between design and build with a couple of things redesigned while in progress I spent 25 hours on this. The best part is I can say "built, not bought".

 

[Texasmud]

Finished my version of a rear diff skid plate today. $110 all in and it holds the weight of the truck on a jack without flexing. 1/4" steel plate painted with truck bed liner. Torqued the u-bolts to 40ft/lbs and the 8mm bolts at the pinion to 25 ft/lbs. between design and build with a couple of things redesigned while in progress I spent 25 hours on this. The best part is I can say "built, not bought".

Nice work!!

 

[PHXPHOTOG]

Finished my version of a rear diff skid plate today. $110 all in and it holds the weight of the truck on a jack without flexing. 1/4" steel plate painted with truck bed liner. Torqued the u-bolts to 40ft/lbs and the 8mm bolts at the pinion to 25 ft/lbs. between design and build with a couple of things redesigned while in progress I spent 25 hours on this. The best part is I can say "built, not bought".

That is awesome! You have some mad skills!

 

[mrcolieman]

That is awesome! You have some mad skills!

Thank you! Learning as I go...but it is fun.

 

[vezePilot]

There is a t-shirt available which says: "A welder is a person who can make (stuff) that you can't."
I'm learning TIG now, after more than two years doing flux-core welding. Have I mentioned how great it is to be able to weld?

 

[Stormin08]

been under a hood since the 80's as a teen...now in the CWI world. I can / will always be able to provide.

Doing anything with your hands is an asset

 

[BSullivan]

That is awesome! You have some mad skills!

You could market that, draw it up and see if you can get a patent , otherwise someone will. Many patent attorneys out there. People would come out of the woodwork, to purchase one ! I would !

 

[Stormin08]

Patent a copy of an internet post from a company that does manufacture them ???

This ITEM has been around for decades, most likely has a patent already....but then again, Harley didn't on the clutch...

 

[Dixie Shooter]

I know it’s far better to have it and never need it than to need it and not have it, but $400 for this plate is very difficult for me to pull the trigger on.

It’s one of those parts that I would like to just pay cash for. That way there’s no paper trail to remind me of or have my wife ask what part I got for the truck @ $400?

Bottom line, I’m about to buy one. Just going to wait for the AFM/DFM Auto Stop Start disable statement to pass.

What’s bad is that fuel tank sitting right out in the open. It’ll get a plate too.

Like the Ford FX4 the Z71 “off road” is little more than badging.

PS: I wish I had learned to weld!