Gas Tank Skid Removal
 

UPDATED WITH PHOTOS AND ADDITIONAL INTEL --> SEE FURTHER POST

as the title states... the main question is since the skid plate holds up the tank... do i need to detach any hoses before lowering the skid and tank down?

i beat mine up pretty good at tellico and want to de-dent it with a large hammer... then i want to paint it red...

Only tip I can give is wait until your almost out of gas. 20 gallons of gas weighs quite a bit.

i have about an 8th of a tank right now... so i figured now is the best time... i really would prefer not detaching hoses... but i will if i absolutely have to.

i could see myself forgetting to reattaced something, going to fill up and then thinking there was somethin wrong after pumping 80 gallons... onto the ground

:rotflmao2::rotflmao2: I guess i'm not the only one who did it. lol

Thats a great tip btw, i got lucky mine was almost empty when it came down on me with a skid plate. :rotflmao1:

Did you lose any capacity or is it just banged up? Mine is a little banged up, but I'm not going to worry about it. At some point I'm just going to cover it up with a stronger skid plate.

i am thinking that I lost a bit... maybe half gallon or so... but the main reason is that it is packed full of mud... and i want to paint all my armor red so the next time i use it, i can see exactly where i hit.

Skid Removal
 

I took mine off to reinforce it, used some 3/8 rope between tank and skid to hold tank up, tied it to the frame rail and frame cross member. use a wire coat hanger as a snake to pull the rope through after you back out the six skid bolts about halfway, worked great for me.:thumbsup:

real bright idea
 

now that's a bright idea, just make sure ur insurance is all paid up and u tell ur little wife and kids goodbye.

great idea!! i hope mine is not too full with mud to do this. I will try tonight!

not sure i understand this comment:thinking:

That's a good idea, I've gone through and painted all the scratches and dents with black, just to keep the rust down, but It's hard to tell what's new.

so here it is!! the removal of the tank for those that are interested...

* The tank can be dropped down to the ground (i have a 2.5" BB with 1" BL) It looks as if there is a least another 6-8" of slack in the lines (chrysler didn't cut corners on the gas lines)

Gas Tank Dropped
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...5/DSCN3622.jpg
Yes... yes that is mud that supports itself
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...5/DSCN3623.jpg
The is one of 3 plus pounds chunks that I removed
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...5/DSCN3625.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...5/DSCN3626.jpg
And if you play in the mud alot like I do... you might want to do this little cleaning project outside of the garage... UNLESS you have a mud eating dog like mine!
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...5/DSCN3624.jpg

So how was it? Easy? I really fucked my gas tank skid up this last weekend. And I do mean it - looks like somebody dropped my JK off a cliff and right onto a boulder that landed square on my gas tank. Hopefully theres no damage to the tank itself :fingerscrossed:

The question becomes, do I replace it with an OEM and put a reinforcing skid over it or do I just have one custom fabbed up or do I just replace it with an OEM and move on.

Any comments suggestions or otherwise?

I think he thought the welding would be done either to the skid in the proximity of the gas tank, or to the tank itself..

well, that would be briefly exciting wouldnt it? :eek2:





Please dont weld on the gas tank, or near it. the results could be.. well... just plain bad.

Oh live a little HC! :rotflmao2::ya: or you could end up like this -> :ukliam2::ukliam2:

very easy to remove... kinda tricky to reinstall (with one person) bangin' out the dents with a hammer is INCREDIBLY LOUD... so i would advise ear protection or something... if you have the money for an aftermarket... i would... but if not, replace it with OEM or just knock out the dents a bit and paint it to prevent rust/further rust.

Oh ok, that's a good idea - I might have to try that this weekend. So you just unbolt it basically and drop them both down and there was enough length on the line for that or did you have to suspend the tank up?

I hadn't really thought about banging it out but it sounds like it can be done. Did you take a torch to it and heat it up at all or just put some muscle into it?

a little longer is my plan. :LOL:

certainly would pop out the dents and blow the mud outta there though :yup:

running a 2.5" bb and 1" BL there was additional slack in the lines... the hard plastic tank and the hose that connects to it from the gas intake will sit on the rear drive shaft/diff. All the other lines on it will have mucho mucho slack.

for the dent banging... no heating... sledge and heavy swings


and boy was there mud... i just planted a garden in my driveway yesterday...

actually, I had to let is dry out... and shovel most of it out... good 5 or so square feet with 1-2" thickness...

i think i get 36 MPG now too!

Can I borrow your dog? I am to lazy to clean my garage floor??:zzz::zzz::zzz:

Good deal - thanks for the heads up. I'll have to give this a try when I start digging into my JK. I have a laundry list of projects that is getting quite large.

The one inch body lift doesn't raise the tank any. Just the 2.5" suspension lift does.

some of the lines are attached to the body... the fuel intake hose is as well. and if the tank was attached to the body (i wish it was) then there wouldn't be the crush factor:rotflmao2:

Just swapped the gas tank skid plate to aftermarket on on my 2009 jk 2dr. It was really easy with a friend and only 1/8 of a tank left. I didn't need to remove any lines but I didn't go all the way down to ground with it, although it looks like it should without a prob.

Once you start lowering the assembly with a jack, you can easily hold up the gas tank while your buddy removes old skid. It's your call if you hold it up (only if it's near empty) or use some rope to tie it up while the new skid is brought in.

What brand skid did u replace it with. I have mine out and on a table and it is in bad shape. Was gonna be shelling out 500-650.00 for a new oem one. The only aftermarket skids i have seen still use the stock unit in addition to the add on.