Skid plates and bumpers...steel vs stainless vs alluminum?
04-30-2007, 04:31 AM
#12
It all depends how much money you want to spend.
Steel would be the cheapest choice.
Really hard aluminum is very expensive but saves a lot of weight. You can make it thicker than the steel and lbs for lbs the aluminum is stronger.
If you want to spend A LOT of money I know there is some plastic we use in the drilling world that everyone calls vektron but I don't think thats the right name. Its black and they make pipe out of it. Its about $50 per square foot and comes about 1/2" thick. Its as strong as steel and much much lighter and its very slick as well.
Steel would be the cheapest choice.
Really hard aluminum is very expensive but saves a lot of weight. You can make it thicker than the steel and lbs for lbs the aluminum is stronger.
If you want to spend A LOT of money I know there is some plastic we use in the drilling world that everyone calls vektron but I don't think thats the right name. Its black and they make pipe out of it. Its about $50 per square foot and comes about 1/2" thick. Its as strong as steel and much much lighter and its very slick as well.
04-30-2007, 04:36 AM
#13
JK Freak
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Looking for some input from those with experience on what to use when making my bumpers and skid plates. The industry standard seems to be 3/16 steel, and the alluminum bumpers seem to be limited to highway driven 1 tons and semi's. But alluminum diamond plate was always popular for skid plates. And is stainless just too damn heavy? Could you use thinner stainless or thicker alluminum and still have enough protection? I was thinking 1/8 SS or 1/4 alluminum...stainless is basically worry free and requires no paint and no worries of rust, but it is pretty heavy...alluminum is light and has a little give that the others do not, i can live with some corrosion but is it strong enough? Any thoughts?
Thanks, Adam
Thanks, Adam
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=130105444584
07-09-2008, 08:53 AM
#14
JK Newbie
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it all depends on what you want to do with your jeep and the kind of trails you ride. if your going to play in the rocks you need 3\16-1\4 inch plate. if you ride on beaches and sandy areas then alum. is ok. if you take alum. in the rocks you will be sorry when you have to pull it off of the supposed to be protected items. i hope this helped. 
on another note what if you took that super plastic and mounted it on 1\4 inch alum. light weigt and still strong and very sli[ppery on the terrain.
on another note what if you took that super plastic and mounted it on 1\4 inch alum. light weigt and still strong and very sli[ppery on the terrain.
07-09-2008, 12:57 PM
#15
JK Super Freak
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Stainless is not usually stronger than regular steel. Most times it is softer and is just more rust resistant. SS knives never hold an edge as well as carbon steel.
I've got a few things made out of UHMW. The thing that comes to mind is a product called the Hoverpad. I have four of them mounted under stationary tools to make them mobile. You are supposed to be able to set the tool right on these and then air the Hoverpad up and then move the tool. I tried it but they have so much flex I ended up taking the tools off and backed them up with two layers of 3/4 plywood.
Most of what I'm buying is made of 3/16 or 1/4 steel. I just bought a MIG welder so I could fab up somethigs for myself and I bought a 210 machine so it could handle those thicknesses (and up to 3/8 and 1/2) with an adequate duty cycle.
But then I work in the energy industry and we can, and do, break damn near anything. Too strong is barely adequate!
I've got a few things made out of UHMW. The thing that comes to mind is a product called the Hoverpad. I have four of them mounted under stationary tools to make them mobile. You are supposed to be able to set the tool right on these and then air the Hoverpad up and then move the tool. I tried it but they have so much flex I ended up taking the tools off and backed them up with two layers of 3/4 plywood.
Most of what I'm buying is made of 3/16 or 1/4 steel. I just bought a MIG welder so I could fab up somethigs for myself and I bought a 210 machine so it could handle those thicknesses (and up to 3/8 and 1/2) with an adequate duty cycle.
But then I work in the energy industry and we can, and do, break damn near anything. Too strong is barely adequate!