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ZUKIWORLD Model Specific Suzuki Forum => Suzuki Grand Vitara, Vitara, Chevy Tracker (Gen. 2 Platform) 1999-2005 => Topic started by: Bl@ckDog on October 13, 2004, 01:44:59 AM

Title: skid plate construction
Post by: Bl@ckDog on October 13, 2004, 01:44:59 AM: i want to manufacture skid plates for my gv2000. my question is what material would be better suited:
1. alouminium with thickness about 6 mm

or

2. stainless steel (inox) about 2 mm ?

by the my greetings to all !!
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: ebewley on October 13, 2004, 02:12:34 AM: Quote
i want to manufacture skid plates for my gv2000. my question is what material would be better suited:
1. alouminium with thickness about 6 mm

or

2. stainless steel (inox) about 2 mm ?

by the my greetings to all !!

I think either one of those would be a bad choice for a skid plate and here's why. Both aluminum and SS but especially aluminum 'load up' when abrazed/scraped The effect of this is that they drag when being drug over rocks. This will try to stop your vehicle and stop your progress. I'd recommend a mild steel sheet metal piece. It will glide a little more smoothly over the rocks.

HTH and YMMV,

-Eric
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: Bl@ckDog on October 14, 2004, 06:53:43 PM: so galvanized steel would be best ?

thickness i would assume approx. 3mm
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: eskyman73 on November 19, 2004, 07:52:10 PM: have to agree totally with this 1 as a mate wasted hours beating aluminium plates up & he was getting stuck on nearly every rock pile we came accross. I made mine out of 3mm mild steel then got it annodised to prevent a bit of rust & I slide like on Ice..
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: Bobzooki on January 12, 2005, 06:59:15 AM: Quote
so galvanized steel would be best ?

thickness i would assume approx. 3mm

3mm? :eek:

I think I would go with something a bit thicker! 3mm = 1/8 inch - I'm thinking the skids on my Kick are 3/16 inch, so 4.5 - 5 mm...
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: blacknight on January 12, 2005, 08:32:51 AM: I made mine out of 3/16 steel and painted it. I will see if I can find a Pic and get some numbers off it for you.
George
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: sergi on January 28, 2005, 09:01:13 AM: Hi, I'm new around here. I'm from Europe and I have the diesel version of the Grand Vitara (3 door).
About the plates, 6mm in aluminium or 2 mm steel is not enough to support the weight. I weighed mine at 810 kgs up front, anf 700 rear. In the shape I wanted, in 4mm steel I would get 13mm deformation if I held it up at the center with all the weight. In 8 mm aluminium 6,23mm deformation. It is very unlikely to have all the weight at one point (that point being the center of the plate), so I went for 4mm steel. In this case, the deformation would be 13,05 mm, whichwould be too much, but as I said before it is very unlikely to find the exact conditions for so much deformation.

Hope this helps!

sergi
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: blacknight on January 28, 2005, 09:51:30 AM: I can jack mine up with 3/16 steel (4.7mm) and it won't bend at all !
George
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: sergi on January 28, 2005, 10:55:29 PM: blacknight, I bet I can jack mine up too, and it's 4mm. The thing is I suppose you don't jack it up from the center of the plate, but on the edges... If I jack mine up from the center it does bend, and quite a bit!
What I ment to say on my previous post was that if you hit a rock exactly at the center with all the weight of the car, it will deform, possibly damaging the front differential.
I forgot to say I calculated for my car which is diesel, so it weighs much more than than the gas version. It weighs 1510 kgs in all!
Title: Re: skid plate construction
Post by: blacknight on January 29, 2005, 01:54:35 AM: That's in the dead center on an XL-7 ::)
George