Hefty Fab Works Skid Plates

[Yukon Joe]

Dan, looks awesome. I thought I already replied, but I don't see the post. ..

Did you have over lapping issues like I did?

Also, if you are tearing up the under side of you rap that bad, you should do the wire relocation mod.

 

[Dan06]

Mine did overlap somewhat, however working back to front as Hefty instructed it really wasn't an issue. Just loosely started all bolts, then tightened everything up once they were all in place. I did use some blue Loctite to give myself a little reassurance nothing would back off.

If you want to do much off-roading in my neck of the woods, usually gotta go where the Yotas and Sheeps do. Not easy on your undercarriage. Wire relocation? Believe I may have read that mentioned somewhere. Got a link for that?

 

[Yukon Joe]

Took bit to find it, but here it is
http://www.fordraptorforum.com/showthread.php?p=129843

I need to do this before Havoc.

See you threre.

Yukon Joe
www.runraptorrun.com

 

[imdubious]

What are the option for this plate as mine in no longer in its original shape and I can't bolt up the bottom of the new venom.

 

[Dan06]

HeftyFabWorks - Custom bumpers, rock sliders and more for your truck or vehicle



I wouldn't trust anyone else to give you the time of the day, they didn't me for.

 

[Yukon Joe]

That should be the engine skid.

Yukon Joe
www.RUNRAPTORRUN.com

 

[blockdoc]

Skid Plates

Dan, looks awesome. I thought I already replied, but I don't see the post. ..

Did you have over lapping issues like I did?

Bolted up my aluminum Hefty Fab Works skids yesterday. I'll cover it in my build thread (if I ever get the thing done/started), but thought it would be good to post here too.

Ordered a complete set from Raptor Addict and had them in under a week.

Worked from back to front, so started with the gas tank skid, then did the transfer skid, then transmission skid. I also swapped the engine skid, and it has to go on before the tranny skid. I had just left everything loose enough that I had plenty of slack to work with, and it was an easy job. Could be knocked out at a slow pace in a couple easy hours.

Couple things for anybody else doing it:

- using a creeper made for a much more pleasant install. You'll be moving around a lot under there to fit & snug up bolts. Also made it easier to gain a couple inches using a couple jack stands & a floor jack.

- they send Allen key bolts, as YJ points out. I only needed to use 2 of them with the clips they send, and a 5/16" x 1.5" grade 8 hex head screw from Tractor Supply fit perfectly, allowing me to skip the Allen wrench bolts.

- most of the others can use the stock bolts. Where the transfer and tranny skids overlap, the stock bolts are too short. I replaced those with a couple M8-1.25x30mm bolts that worked perfect. I did have to double washer though, because I didn't have any sized just right (small enough for the bolt but big enough outer diameter). I used blue lock tite on all the bolts, except the gas tank ones, where you are removing the nut instead of the bolt.

- I got a complete set, including the engine skid. I don't think I would get the engine skid again. The stock one felt slightly heavier than the replacement, and has reinforcing lines in it that the replacement lacks. I went ahead and bolted up the aftermarket one; I'll keep the stock one as a spare.

- I was able to do this alone, with zero help. I laid back on the creeper & set the skid I was installing on my chest & legs until I could get a bolt in it. I had to use a 5 gallon bucket to support the tyranny skid while I replaced the engine skid, but that was because I messed up & started the tranny skid before the engine skid.

- the skids do overlap some, but this wasn't a problem. I didn't trim anything, using the longer bolts made the overlap a non-issue.

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[Yukon Joe]

Glad you got them installed doc. I didn't have a creeper when i dud mine, some cardboard lol...

I'm surprised to read about the lack of stiffners regarding the engine skid. The reason I didn't buy that one was it didn't make sense to me to replace the stock aluminum skid with another aluminum skid. Does the Hefty skid offer more coverage?

Longer bolts do help. I recently bought some to replace the ones I got. After the skids get "used" a bit and you need to remove and reinstall for other truck mods, the longer bolts make fit up easier. Last time I had to use a jack to push the skid close enough to the frame to get the bolt to catch.

Also, sone in use observations to add:
1) The skids do touch more often than you think.
2) the skids catch a lot of sand, mud, and such when running mud puddles. Be sure to hose them out when you wash the truck. The gas tank skid is the more difficult one to clean up.

Yukon Joe
www.RUNRAPTORRUN.com

 

[blockdoc]

I'm surprised to read about the lack of stiffners regarding the engine skid. The reason I didn't buy that one was it didn't make sense to me to replace the stock aluminum skid with another aluminum skid. Does the Hefty skid offer more coverage?

Also, sone in use observations to add:
1) The skids do touch more often than you think.
2) the skids catch a lot of sand, mud, and such when running mud puddles. Be sure to hose them out when you wash the truck. The gas tank skid is the more difficult one to clean up.

Good tips, especially about hosing them out.

No more coverage with the hefty engine skid. It looks almost like an exact replacement, minus the stiffeners (see Dan06's pic above). I really don't see a good reason to go with it, unless your stock one needed to be replaced. And at that point, you probably should be looking at the steel one, if you've already destroyed an aluminum engine skid.


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[Yukon Joe]

Yeah, I would have replaced it with steel if I was doing all of them in steel.

Yukon Joe
www.RUNRAPTORRUN.com