Hey guys, i'm about to start making my own skidplate, crossmember and bellypan for my 4runner. Before i start i'd like to get some length and width measurements. also any suggestions, comments are welcome. thanks as always.

 

Not to sound like a prick, but either buy from Bud or measure yourself - he's too cool a guy to just "steal" his work.

There's plenty of pictures on his website to see how it attaches.

 

Wow give the guy some credit for wanting to build it himself...I'm sure Bud would too, yeah THATS how cool he is. Man this really gets to me. How the hell is measuring a skid plate "stealing" his work? Any skid plate is going to mount in the same spots. This is a hobby that we all share. If someone needs a little help building their own, then more power to 'em!

I sold my 2nd gen BudBuilt parts but if different pictures would help any, i think i still have some. Just let me know. Hopefully another guy here will give you some measurements.

 

i'm not looking to make an exact replica, simply save myself some money by making some on my own. I'm sorry that i am a broke student and can't afford the ~$600 it would cost for a skid, belly and crossmember, if you're going to bash me for attempting to make my own (i thought this forum was to help?) then please don't comment.

yeah man if you have some they'd be a big help

 

I'm not going to say anything after this is said because I'm not going to argue online, but it seems like all of your posts are negative and counter productive, if you aren't going to help someone out or answer the questions they have, why post anything at all??

95runnersr5 post some pics of your build if you end up making them please.

 

will do, won't get to start till this weekend tho

 

Not much but hope they help...

2nd gen skid and x-member:














My x-member had a 3/4" drive-train lift "built" into it to give better ground clearance. It caused some minor vibrations after 45~mph. It's only an issue with the 3.0 drive line angles. A 1/2" would probably have had no vibrations.

 

guys, dont bash on tc to hard, i can understand why he said that,(someoen else took the time to research, market, sell a product) but then it is just a skid plate...if you go out to your truck now, and measure yours, you can get a better idea.

and post some pics, with how you did them, itd be some interesting tech to share!

 

thanks rocket

 

Sorry to hijack, but you got vibrations with a 3/4" drivetrain lift? I am considering a 2" drivetrain lift to match my body lift. Are you running any other lift on your truck?

 

Yep, it had annoying vibrations. No other lift was installed besides a 1" BL.
I went with a small 3/4" DT lift becuase of the known problems.
A DT lift on V6 applications is a lot different than 4cly's due to the drive shaft joints. It's been a while since i remember the details...
I do know a DT lift (V6) is not not recommended. Based on my experience , a 1/2" DT lift should be fine.

I sold my x-member (click link in my sig to see why) to a member here with a 4cly 1st gen 4runner..he had no problems with vibrations.

4crawler (Roger) helped explain the details.

 

are those skip plate and crossmember made of half inch plate. they look really beefy. i thought quarter inch would work, but now i am rethinking my plates.

 

tortis, front skid is 3/16" which is plenty enough and recommended by all.
X-member is 3/8" thick.

 

I disagree - my budbuilt is bent to hell. But going to 1/4" probably isn't going to be strong enough either - it needs some real section width to really increase the strength - like a piece of 1" angle welded on the back. If you double the thickness, you increase the resistance to bending 16x - 2^4. Think about a 2x4 - if you lay it flat between some bricks and step on it, it will bend considerably. If you put it on edge and stand on it, it doesn't bend at all.

Of course, you could make it strong enough that it ended up transmitting all the force and end up breaking something else...

 

Yeah, i wrecked my budbuilt skid. They aren't thick enough. Mine involved a cut, reweld, and angle iron reinforcement.

You gotta beat em though. If you're not beating on it hard, it'll be okay.

 

well looks like this project is being pushed back...practice saturday and re-packing the hubs on sunday

 

post pics of the build. please

 

will do...when i have the time to get started ugh..

 

picking up the steel tomorrow..stay tuned