This is taking cheap to a whole new level. If you're a dumpster diver like us you've probably seen your fair share of factory Jeep and 4x4 parts hitting the scrap metal bin at your local 4x4 shop. Or maybe you scour the "free" section of your favorite web sites. Either way, there are plenty of discarded factory parts to be scarfed up once people upgrade to beefier aftermarket components.
If you're a smart "shopper" it should only cost you some time and elbow grease to duplicate our Joe Dirt fuel tank armor. Are the results bombproof? Hardly. If we come down forcefully on a rock we're sure the new skid will dent a little, but as you can see from the lead photo, it is strong enough to support the weight of the vehicle. For a free, lightweight modification, it'll provide a bit of extra protection until we decide how gnarly we want to go with this Jeep.
We raided Trasborg's junk...
We raided Trasborg's junk pile for this factory 19-gallon fuel tank skid plate. Our Jeep runs a smaller 15-gallon tank and skid, so our fit was easy, but you can sandwich the 19-gallon skid over another 19-gallon skid. We lopped about 3 inches off the rear of the skid and about 4 inches off the front and trimmed the width to match.
The factory skid plate is...
The factory skid plate is 14-gauge steel, which equates to roughly 0.0747-inch. Doubling two factory skids brings the thickness of the skid bottom to 0.1495-inch, which is just better than 1/8-inch.
The heat of welding will melt...
The heat of welding will melt a polyethylene tank and will super-heat a steel tank. Either way, to avoid an explosion you'll have to drop the skid before welding. We stitch-welded the overlaying skid to our factory piece on the front, back, and in a few places on the side.