bamachem

potsy and mat need to step up. out of 33 people, they're the only slackers.

Stump1883

Maybe mine will come today as a Birthday present to myself . Sure is a long time to ship for somewhere that's less than 2hrs away. It's prolly do to the production time, not the shipping.

Sorry I'm a bit from some early celebration. Good times.

Roadrunner

First impressions of my skid and belly pan is that they're pretty stout. I didn't get a chance to undo the packaging, I had to get to training after work. Time to pick up some cans of primer and black paint and work on them this weekend.

86Original

Anyone else thinking about just leaving these unpainted. I think the bare metal look is interesting. Another thought was using POR-15 clear.

Snorkeldepth

I like that idea! Although if you keep touching it up after every encounter with a rock it could get expensive.

mat

you can add my name to the paid list if your still keeping track

86Original

The nice thing about POR-15 is that it likes rust, so you could just wait until you have several places starting to rust and touch them up. You should : never be exposing it to UV, so it's OK to leave it w/o a topcoat. I'm just not sure that is worth it out here in CO. With Bud's pickling process it may not be necessary to even paint it with POR-15. Maybe I'll just wait to see if it starts to rust much and then put on the POR.

Digger33

I just recieved mine this morning. Very fast delivery. I was thinking about painting mine, is it necessary? I was just going to do some primer and flat black. Also, it looks like the second set of holes on the stock skid (that has the bracket on it), from the front, are not used for the new skid is that correct???

86Original

Cool! I'll have to run home and see if I got mine, since you ordered after I did and your in CO as well.

tc

Crossmember came today, and got the skid put on. Wow is it heavy duty. A couple notes:

- The packaging on the skid was pretty bad. Lots of adhesive residue had to be cleaned off. Couldn't they put the sticker on the cardboard side? The crossmember packaging was MUCH better.

- I'm disappointed by the lack of installation instructions. At least put something a little more detailed up on the website...

- It was a PITA to get the holes to line up. Ended up having to wallow out the holes a bit.

- I was missing washers for the front (big) bolts.

Will work on the crossmember when the skid part gets here. I hope it goes better.

garrett1478

that's just part of the 20% discount

86Original

Did any of you guys get any tracking information from Bud? Or did the stuff just show up on your doorstep?

rocket

iTrader: (1)

I agree. It took me forever to get that residue off. Hope my 3rd gen skid isn't the same. I'll know tomorrow.

dude, the installation is pretty straight forward.
theres also this...
"If you have problems or questions, please feel free to call at 828-433-1489 from 8am to 10pm, eastern time zone or email to bud@ budbuilt.com"

maybe your rig is a little tweaked outta shape? lol

They don't come with it (front skide plate) but i think they should. I couldn't even find big or thick enough washers. Perhaps custom washers could be supplied? Whatdoya say Bud? I'd actually prefer smaller holes on the upper mounts (2nd gen skid plate) so that a regular washer would fit and look normal.

It really helps having a second pair of hands. I ended up bolting mine to the tranny first (4) and then bolted it to the frame (8). That made lining everything up much easier. You'll also need to buy some grade 8 washers for the 17mm bolts...i used 2 washers per each bolt.

Oh yeah, you'll also have to remove this part before attaching the crossmember...

tc

I got tracking info - but Hotmail tried to block it first. I hear Yahoo does the same thing. Check your Junk/Bulk email boxes. If you can't get it via email, give Bud a call.

Bud is sending washers.

It is very possible that something is tweaked with my truck...

rocket

iTrader: (1)

Do you know any deatils about them? Do they cover up the huge square-ish holes?

tc

Yes - supposely they are extra large and extra thick. (Which is why I asked him to send them instead of going to the hardware store).

BTW - I like the idea of the big holes, it was awful nice to be able to put in one bolt and hang the skid off it while you do the other one...Then I used a jack to press the bottom up flush to get the allen bolts in.

Roadrunner

Upon closer inspection, daylight helped, I only received the front skid plate. I'll call Bud next week to inquire about the belly pan.

Digger33

Ok so i have a question still about the two holes at the bottom where it is bent and goes flat. Do you use those two hole to mount it? They are the holes that are right below the budbuilt.com sticker in the first post. They don't look like they would work for mounting. Also, what hardware was suppose to come with the front skid. I recieved 4 allen bolts and a allen wrench. Then there was the steering rack mount on the skid as well. Is that what everyone else recieved?

86Original

1st & 2nd Gen owners, Bud,
I wonder if the skid plate could be used in lieu of an IFS Truss. That's pretty heavy steel. If holes were drilled through the skid and into the ends of the two rear lower A-arm attachments, then the holes in A-arm attachement could be tapped and the skid plate countersunk. Flathead bolts could then be put in to bolt the skid plate the rear A-arm attachment point just like where the SS IFS truss bolts.

Or is the skid plate too narrow?

WDYT??

rocket

iTrader: (1)

Good idea but It's too narrow.