gas tank skid

[carchameleon]

this past sunday, i put a hole in my gas tank. so i'm looking for ideas for a gas tank skid. i'm thinking 1/8" plate and just supporting it, nothing fancy just get the job done. possibly looking to do something a little more interesting.

not as important, but i'm also thinking about sliders and a rear bumper.
probably taking it to my buddy's shop after work and putting it on the lift to take a look and get something done

ideas and suggestions appreciated

 

[Beanmachine7000]

My Explorer has a factory gas tank skid... You might want to try looking at the junkyard for one...

 

[carchameleon]

my daily driver ranger has a factory skid too,
i have the plate, so i was just going to make one
do you know off hand how thick the factory skid is?

another thought i had was a full belly skid, i think the sheet i have is 4'x8', so it would cover.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I don't know how thick it is...

 

[carchameleon]

so instead of taking it to my buddy's last night, the tank started leaking again, so i drained it and pulled it. I'm trying to find one to put in today, but its not working so well...

 

[AllanD]

I resist fabricating when there is an exsisting manufactured part that'll do the same job...

And a gastank skid is the poster child for that kinda thing.

I run a factory skid plate on my truck and I can tell you that at just over 1/8" thick it is sufficiently strong that I have lifted the truck by it.

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[DHPmike]

why not take the tank to any radiator shop and have it soldered? Ive probably done thousands over the many years I worked in radiator shops.

on the skid plate thing just make one that looks cool if your gonna make one or use a stock one.

if you want to go all out and make a balls out badass one I have access to a CNC plasma and AR500 armor plate. 1/8" will stop a .45 cal and it dont bend! you cant drill it either..

peace

 

[AllanD]

Soldering? That'd be fun to watch...

1989-97 Rangers have PLASTIC fuel tanks.

AD

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Soldering? That'd be fun to watch...

1989-97 Rangers have PLASTIC fuel tanks.

AD

 

[carchameleon]

i'm having trouble trying to find another tank, so i'm still thinking about the skid plate design and how i want to do it.
and allan's right, its plastic

 

[DHPmike]

why would that be funny to watch? I think its pretty interesting to watch. First a larger smooth clean hole is drilled and a plastic plug is inserted then soldered in with a plastic welding gun and the area is stronger than the surrounding plastic.

IF anyone has a metal tank the process is similar. first EITHER plastic or steel is steam cleaned for at least a half hour then pressure tested and soldered and as clean as new without the expense of new.



so now whats so funny??

 

[carchameleon]

don't know if that would work... not a small hole... in a bad spot too

 

[AllanD]

why would that be funny to watch? I think its pretty interesting to watch. First a larger smooth clean hole is drilled and a plastic plug is inserted then soldered in with a plastic welding gun and the area is stronger than the surrounding plastic.

IF anyone has a metal tank the process is similar. first EITHER plastic or steel is steam cleaned for at least a half hour then pressure tested and soldered and as clean as new without the expense of new.



so now whats so funny??

what is FAR LESS than funny is your grotesque MIS-use of the english language in a technical discussion.

What you are talking about isn't "soldering"
Soldering by definition is a dissimilar metal joining technique
where a "soft" metal is used to join harder metals together.
and it works because the soft metals used "wet" the hard metal
while in the liquid state.

"Welding" is joining through fusion of similar materials.

If you use the wrong words nobody will understand what
you are talking about.

That being said it would be amusing to watch someone get a
roll of lead or tin alloy wire and try to "solder" a plastic tank.

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[DHPmike]

I didnt realize everything here had to be 100% technically correct in every post. excuse me for not using the correct terminology.

the fact is that the plastic fuel tank can be repaired and so can a steel fuel tank.

You are probably the only one thinking it was grotesque at all. I bet every other human on the earth reading the post thought it was interesting except for the 10 or 20 other people with a technical correctness stick up their...

did you really say grotesque? about a post in a forum?

thats whats funny


I bet your coworkers love it when you correct them.

 

[GreenRanger9096]

my daily driver ranger has a factory skid too,
i have the plate, so i was just going to make one
do you know off hand how thick the factory skid is?

another thought i had was a full belly skid, i think the sheet i have is 4'x8', so it would cover.

Factory is about 1/8", and it is hella strong, You could prolly make one out of 3/16"s or even 1/4", but I think that'd be too much personally.