What skid plate to choose

@Pudge might need your help with the gun safe thing...

 

Isn’t that what you told your first girl?

 

Negligible. In a the metal working industry 10ga or 11ga is the gauge replacement equivalent of 1/8” as at those thicknesses “gauge” is the call out. 1/8 doesn’t explicitly exist. There’s also a tolerance that sheet may be a 64th over or under.

For all intents and purposes 10ga = 1/8”.

We offer 1/8 as a light duty option on our mid size suvs. It bends very easily under these ~4500lb trucks. But it’s a reasonable alternative knowing that constraint when someone is extremely weight conscious but also cost conscious and doesn’t want to go AL.

We think it’s undersized for a skid plate for a full size truck.

 

By the way....you need to check out the Texas BS thread. Lots of Tejas folks here!

 

We have calibration charts at work for steel gauges, non-ferrous gauges like aluminum for example, and stainless steel gauges. All very close but different none the less. I could post the charts if needed. We calibrate various gauge thickness at our calibration lab according to metallurgy. Down to +/- 1.2 micron uncertainty.

 

No it’s perfectly fine. I’ve ordered enough steel to be familiar.

 

That's interesting. So what's the calibration difference between regular steel and stainless steel?

 

Let me go inside and look up the charts real quick. I don't memorize that stuff..haha. Give me 5..

 

A handful of ten thousandths of an inch. Stainless is the only true 3/16 or 1/8th. 7 and 11ga steel are under. Which is why 10ga is the substitute when someone calls out 1/8” steel.

 

Pretty close to the calibration difference between a skosh and a smidgen minus 2 blonde hairs.

 

Same chart....When you are doing 1st article inspections at micron level you can't be guessing at thickness. The charts we use at work are broken down to much smaller values than what is posted in your chart and mine. I get what you are saying but there is more to it than that. For "rough" work that's all fine. 1 micron accuracy is a bit tighter spec than what is used in a fab shop. I'm talking about mil/aerospace specs. The Mars Pathfinder ramps, for example, needed to be built to a much higher spec than our skids. Wrong gauging could be a game changer. Needless to say our charts do show a difference between metals. Could be a game changer when putting something into space..an Earthly skid plate...meh...

 

Huh, cool! Learn something new every day. ... hopefully.

 

Ive still yet to see a reply that would help me. Ok i got Bud built and ive got RCI. The question then falls to, what would be the better skids? Aluminum, Steel, or Stainless? Weight vs better protection vs durability? If money wasnt an issue and i wanted the best skid, which way do i go and why??

 

I’d throw 10ga skids out of the equation for a full size truck right off the bat. One customer we did sliders for on an f150 had those 10ga skids and completely destroyed them first trip out to Moab.

Stainless is much harder than steel. Or durable depending on which engineering text you want to read from.

We do aluminum skids as well. They will be by far the lightest. At an equal thickness they are about 40% the weight of steel. I think it’s the wrong tool for the job. It’s light, but it’s very soft. Wil gouge and tear more easily.


I haven’t kept up with the coat difference in budbuilts skids even though I probably should know my competition better than that. But raw stainless material costs me something like 700% more than plain carbon steel so I’d imagine those cost quite a bit more. If someone wanted our skids in stainless we could do it but there’s quite a cost jump there.

 

Budbuilt by far. If you want skids, you need them to skid. RCI look nice but are light duty. Steel is the only way to go if serious, stainless, get out. Help?

 

Depends on what you're wanting to do. If you're just doing some regular off-roading and trailblazing then the aluminum ones will work just fine. However if you plan on doing some serious wheeling like @boardude, @GiantsFanDan and several others do then you might want to think about the stage 3 from Bud Built. There are some pics and posts floating around of people that have blown right thru the aluminum ones. I would think the 10ga steel ones would be somewhere in-between that. Just as an FYI, I'm planning on going with the stainless stage 3's from BB.

 

I’ve got a set of “3/16”” steel tundra skids in stock here. @Larmand

 

So other than stainless, what would be my next best option? Thicker steel??

 

Yes it helped

 

Yes. 3/16” steel is the best option for a full size truck, IMO. It’s heavy but it’s what you want.


You have to think of the options on a matrix. You won’t get to “the best”. You have to decide what you want on weight, vs cost, vs durability.

 

NOPE

 

You're probably looking at a custom solution at that point. I haven't seen anything thicker than the BB ones.

 

Go try to order some 9/64” steel and some 1/8” steel sheet. Tell me what shows up at your door.

 

Was just curious, as i never had a clear picture of comparison. Needed a more simplistic explanation.

 

RCI skids come in steel or aluminum.

 

I could do them in 1/4” steel. But it’s adding weight and cost. You’d have to be going really hard core to need them in 1/4.

 

Why would I order 9/64's when I could just order 10 gauge.....Am I missing something here???? Most of world is now using SI units for measurements. We are a bit behind here in the US but...companies that are up to snuff here are catching up if they deal with international contracts. That's why accredited calibration labs like where I work exist. I have all night....

 

Nah, no need for that was just curious, as no one really answered the question from OP. I was following along and was curious myself, as which route would be the best way to go.

 

This is a Nissan skid we make. On the left 1/8” steel. On the right 3/16”