Has anyone done this? Put a skid plate under the whole zuki from the front to back of the frame where it is flat you know where I'm talking. Any coments good or bad! There is nothing in the way you would only have to cut out for the rear drive shaft. this would be a great rock crawling skid. Make it out of 1/2" Al bolt it to the frame and go.  Just a thought!!

Ya look under Mikes Tracker in this pic.

A couple weeks ago I hit a stump and totaly destroyed my x member so, now that the cow(tracker) is back in service It's the verry next Mod I plan to do!
I'm thinking a skid plate is almost as good as an extra 3-4" of ground clearence.
I plan to use some aluminum .160 5052 do you think it's  sufficiant for moderate off road use?

Mikes belly skid plate is 16 Gauge stainless.

Mikes belly skid plate is 16 Gauge stainless.

Seems like a good idea to me.. But stainless? $$$$$$?
You are kidding right?

That's what Mike said, I don't think the one in
the pic is stainless, it looks like reg Steel, but
he pulled it out of some scrap so he got a deal
on the metal anyway

Dang! talk about bullet proof!  

Better than Bullet Proof ......... Boulder Proof  

So I guess the 3/16th skidplate Im making is over kill???
George

For a full belly pan skid ?? That's heavy
for an engine, trans skid would be fine.
I had one for the engine/axle that was
1/4" steel plate, in it's previous life it was
the oval opening cut out of a cement mixer
drum  

So I guess the 3/16th skidplate Im making is over kill???
George

I've got the Calimini skids and their 3/16 thick.

When you check out Mike's in person it does seem flimsy, but he swairs by it.  I watched him spin like a top with it stuck on a rock at Zookimelt.  Quite funny at the time.

One thing to keep in mind is if you do any mudding, that nice flat belly pan can create some mighty fine suction in thick gumbo.  Take a tank for instance, nice flat belly,(I'm talking about a tank...keep on track here:), when they get mired in mud.  They'll hook a tank retriever to each end and blow a charge of c-4 under the belly pan to break the suction.  I don't think you want to do that to your kick,eh?

D

ya i was going to build a full belly pan too but in the mud it would like, sit on top insted of clawing down to the dirt.

Stu

Talking to Mike, he uses it to skip across the mud like a boat!  

And I don't think it sinks.

If I said stainless Im sorry. I meant galvanized.   As far as mud goes I think it works great. I would rather have a smooth belly than all the crossmembers hooking on things. As far as durability in the rocks... Ive been running the same bellypan for 3 years now. It gets wrinkles but it still gets the job done. I had an aluminum pan before on my last tracker. It worked good but in the rocks it doesnt slide as well. I used 1/4 inch aluminum and it didnt last as well either. The weight difference was minimal. Im actually not so sure the aluminum one was lighter cause it was so thick. Also the aluminum one was 5 times as expensive.    Thats my experience with it.  :-/

Mike