I believe its 1/8" and most aftermarket ones are 3/16" so its not much thinner really. Im not exactly sure HOW strong it is, and hope i dont find out anytime soon but im sure it will protect it a hell of a lot more from a puncture from a rock or branch.

Almost positive there was a write up on the how-to section of these forums.

heres a few pics of mine, and sorry i didnt clean it off before i took them

 

Not bad at all! I stumbled on that thread once. I've learned to save useful threads in my book marks section. But I haven't found that thread since.
As for "modifying" the proper fitment. What was all done or needed?
I will dig for that thread though.

 

well it was my fault that i measured once, cut twice... the holes are in the right vertical line i guess you could say and when i measured it, i thought they had to go inward and they didnt. Dremel sanding drums got eaten up WAY to fast, so i ended up getting a carbide bit at the tool store for about $15. This ate through the metal much faster. It was a bit hard to use because it would start to chatter and vibrate like crazy and had to slow down a bit and find that perfect speed and ammount of pressure to apply towards the metal. The bit i bought fit into my angle die grinder.

ill go take a picture of it here in a bit for you. The only other thing i had to do was cut the exhaust clamp that was on my tailpipe area, weld it directly to the bracket, and modify the bracket that holds up the exhaust hanger in the back (ill also get pics of this) I really dont like how i have the exhaust hanger set up, but it was vibrating on the skidplate without doing so.

 

^^here you can see the hanger welded to the pipe itself, the big rust ring is where the exhaust clamp used to be, the exhaust clamp was removed as it was to large and was hitting the leaf spring and skid.


^^ had to cut a slot in the top part of the hanger and use a big washer to kick the pipe out from the skid. I do not like how this is done, but it works and until it fails, im not going to worry about it.


^^ hanger (side towards front of car) i had to slot this a bit also, but not nearly as much as the front.


^^ from above a bit


^^ this is a little indented area i had to cut out of the XJ heatshield. I also took the ZJ one from the junkyard, but the XJ one was much easier and more protective of the gastank.


^^carbide bit (cant recall what it was called at the store)



^^ angle grinder and bit

let me know if you have any questions. I know the exhaust hanger part of it looks pretty damn nasty, but it works and im sure i could of done a bit better. I do know the tutorial here in the how to section had a different type of hanger, im not sure if the exhaust clamp setup is on 2000-2001 models only. The hanger they had looked a lot easier to work with than this.

hope it helps a bit

 

yeah that helps. Nice write up. Beats the hell out of paying 200+ dollars for a gas skid that's for sure!

 

Exactly what i thought about the price Glad it helped you out a bit.

If/when you get one, it may help to cut some pieces of cardboard about the length of the two mounting surfaces and use a scratch awl/marker to make a template for the holes.

 

does anyone make bolt on tube fenders? i can do my bumpers and stuff fine but ive never bent pipe before.

 

these arent metal or really tubes i guess, but it looks kinda like tube fenders
http://www.quadratec.com/products/72506_7010_07.htm just seen a quadratec magazine i had laying on my floor and that was on the back

 

yeah i was thinking those or the cut out, but after reading they dont seem to durable, and expensive lol. i just know i wouldnt be able to make some myself by bending the tubes

 

yea, i heard bad things about bushwackers. i was looking at the iceland offroad ones which i like a lot, but they are also very expensive.

http://icelandoffroad.com/CherokeeXJ...S/Default.aspx

 

Those plastic or metal? Might have to buy them

 

the iceland offroad ones? they are fiberglass. I know your thinking they must be weak then, this is a video they have on their site


i guess running them over and them holding up is good enough

 

Wow I can't see A tree breaking that easy