Would it be possible to build skid plates out of tube instead of sheet steal?

I know it is not the way that it has always been done, but think about it. you use rock sliders all the time to protect from rocks and they slide across them. What if you had that same idea under the truck, but you had tubes making an |X| in the place that a skid plate would be. This would make getting to things a lot easier and you can bend tube into all kinds of crazy ways.

Is it not usable because of the clearance issue and tube being wider then plate steal.

What about if you hit a rock under there and it somehow lodges in-between the tubes, hmmmmm, maybe it will not work.

 

you'd be surprised how strong 3/16 plate is. Also think those sliders are only welded to the frame steel which is not exactly thick stuff.

 

here's something to consider:

you're going down the stairs, and you fall. what do they put next to the stairs for you to grab on to? a railing. it's made of tube. lots of places to grab on to to stop your fall.

now imagine the railing is instead a sheet metal wall. no place to grab.

 

@xxxtreme22r - I absolutely agree that sheet steal (aluminum or steal) is very strong and does a great job. I also see what you are saying that the slider would not take a direct hit like a skid plate can. Interesting point.

tj884Rdlx - That is what I was thinking too. Maybe a rock would go between the tubes, but if the tubes where |X| or even |Z| not just 2 tubes running down || and not so much tubing that it would defeat the purpose of not just using flat sheet.

If you designed it so the tube was covering the major parts with the tube but you could still get in there if you needed to without removing the skid plate i think it would be a true time saver in some instances.

 

Or go super beef and do tube, skinned with 3/16 steel plate

 

I was thinking about doing something like this for the area between the IFS and the trans crossmember, that way I don't have to worry about heat build-up from the exhaust (and it would keep thieves away from the cat converter)

Here's what the Hummer H1 Alpha uses

 

Exactly!
That looks awesome.

 

Has anyone ever seen these after use?

 

i work at a fast lube so i'm under random cars and trucks all damn day. i've NEVER seen anything like that under any civilian vehicles. anything i see is fairly cheap sheet or pressed. if done correctly i suppose it COULD work but there would be a LOT of welding to do here. the last impressive thing i saw come in was a guy who took the high density plastic, the same material they use in commercial cutting boards and lined the skids on his truck with that.

 

The skid-tubes under that H1 looks like a rib cage, thats awesome! I think that this idea would be most useful toward the back side of the truck, I would still use thick steel plating for around the engine or anything really critical or fragile. But after that's covered I really like the tubing.

 

nothing on the tube skid plate on an H1 stops a rock from going between them. For some reason in my HumVee driving days I thought we had regular skid plates.

Personally I would prefer a solid piece of material under my truck, not something that looks like a ladder with multiple places to snag

 

2doorRunner's idea sounds good to me. have something like that humvee skid with some plate on it. that way you can drive off a cliff, land on something spiked like ^ with the center of your rig and drive away.. lol.

 

I guess it all comes down to the slide factor. It seems that even though I think that skids like this would look great and that they would make it a lot easier to get to stuff that always seems to be just out of reach because of the skid plate, the skid "plate" can slide over an object and not hang up on it.

Thanks all for all the insight once again and for helping me think allowed.

 

Do a mix: use the tube ladder to save some weight, but slap some HDPE "cutting board" on the bottom to let you slide over things easier

 

you're kidding, right? that's not a skid plate! that's a high-speed carjacking just waiting to happen! haven't you ever seen those MAD MAX/INDIANA JONES - type scenes where some psycho gets run over, only to hang on to the bottom of the vehicle and climb up the back, then on top where he swings an axe through your roof???

IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? AN AXE THROUGH THE ROOF??? CUZ THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL GET WITH A SKID PLATE MADE OF TOOBS, BUDDY!!!

 

I thought that was just a cool ramp for loading stuff into the bed, or a ladder to reach the top of a T4R or LC.

 

^^^^Lawlz agreed