Went up a service road off of the highway in Estacada Oregon today in my rig and with my cousin in his new 94. The day started off pretty good, a shot of my cousins rig at the top of a hill climb.

All went well until he got a nail in his brand new Duratracs. There was a bunch of metal scraps around from people shooting stuff up. We changed out his tire to the spare and decided to head back down until we saw a nice muddy area off to the side of the service road. So they talked me into squeezing between a boulder and a tree to go through some puddles. The first couple were sketchy but nothing I couldnt handle, but the last one was a bit different(I knew i souldnt have gone through it). I got in and there were some logs or rocks in the water that I didnt see. I made it over the first one, but couldnt get over the last and this is what happened.
Stuck

Stuck in between the two objects in the water I started thinking I was gonna go swimming! The object in front was way too big so i rocked it trying to back out and finally got loose.

So at some point while I was stuck my front skid plate did its job and took a hit.

Nothing else was damaged luckily. The bolts stayed in fine, but the thin metal of the skid plate ripped and folded like a piece of paper.

I learned my lesson and will make sure I check puddles out before i go through them, rookie mistake. Now I need to unbolt the rest of my skid plate and start thinking about building a new one. The stock skid plates definitely arent for sliding over objects.

My cousin is going to send some more pics and vids that I will post up when I get them.

Hope you guys enjoy my stupidity.

 

lol whoops

 

Wow. Nice carnage. Just a tip for you though, you have to edit or delete the vid with the "Subtitle."


Thanks for sharing. Good stuff

 

i wish I was only thinking whoops while i was stuck!!! I almost crapped my self thinking I was gonna have to leave the rig behind. It really feels like you are way more stuck when you are behind the wheel than you really are.

Kiyo - I'll take it down.

 

Ya thank god for those skid plates! Even something is better than nothing. Just think, without that, that could have been your oil pan all smashed up!

 

I would be sketched out leaving my rig behind.

And no biggie, I just don't wanna see anyone get in trouble for trying to share a funny/scary moment.

 

that was pretty gnarly hole man, im glad all you damaged was your skid plate. Look on the bright side, you get make your own custom skid plate, could be fun

 

Hey man....go to www.budbuilt.com and replace that busted stock skid plate with some beef.

 

looks like some good times man! haha. so glad its just the skid plate, couldve been worse i guess. that sucks about your cousins duratracs too, did he get the replacement warranty?

CHECK THOSE PUDDLES FIRST! lol

 

they are the only one's who make bolt on skid for a non lifted 86-95 IFS correct? I have a feeling I am gonna do the same thing to mine when we go to Rausch Creek in a few weeks. lol

 

I used to live in estacada. Thats why I always check out holes before going in. People are dumb and dont care so the leave all kinds of trash. I watched a guy put a bunch of rocks and logs in a mud hole to try to get out didnt work so I pulled him out and he took off. I hate disrespectfull people. Thats how good places get shut down.

 

Whats with the spyhunter smokescreen?

 

If by "spyhunter smokescreen" you mean steam, then I dont think I really have to explain, but....

Steam is caused when water heats to its boiling point and expands enough to turn to steam. My tranny was hot along with my exhaust and every time it hit the water i got a nice cloud of steam. Im sure there was a bit of water flowing into my exhaust pipe as well so everytime I hit the gas steam came out.

Just took the skid plate off now that its dry out. Took some better pics, this thing crumpled like a pop can!

 

I stenciled out my own skid. had it all patterned and then went to the local steel shop. They bent it all up for me for $45. welded some good angle to the back side for an additional $10. marked and drilled my own holes and it works great. much better than paying what BudBuilt asks. If it was the tcase skid I would buy it. kind of a PITA to make yourself.

 

john, you got a pic of your skid plate? I was thinking I would get some sheet metal and cut it to shape and bend it a bit, but nothing real special. Maybe weld some 1" square tubing to the back for support.

 

you really should go heavier duty man thin sheet metal could catch a good stick and do some real damage.



Note: I should have added 4 inches and made a cut out for the drain plug. as it is I will probably have to weld on a piece to this as I really was not thinking it ALL out when i designed it. It is very straight forward though and any fab shop could whip it out in a few minutes.

 

found another

 

looks good man

 

Thanks- that was a test fitting before I painted it. pretty strong to. I hit a goliath rock after toping out over a huge water redirect last year. stopped me dead and I was not crawlin. put a 10 inch scratch in the paint but not a dent in the skid pretty happy with it.

 

Thanks for the pics John. I was thinking about doing something exactly like that, nice and simple but does what its supposed to. I am gonna head to check some prices on some metal soon. The angle steel is a better idea than using square tube, it is a bit more economical, thanks for the idea. I'm gonna make a template tomorrow.