Trans skidplate......

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:31 pm

If you run the front of your Tercel up on ramps and look back under the car, you will see that the ALUM trans housing sits lower than anything else that is substantial...including the front xmember.

If one were gliding along in the outback quietly sipping one's champagne right around sunset (and of course watching the view)...one could inadvertantly...HIT A ROCK.

So I'm thinking that it would be possible to make a more or less flat guard for the trans that would bolt to some already tapped holes as are used for the 2 front diagonal braces and maybe the trans support bolts in the back. Or a couple of 1/4" plates could be used inside the floorpan.

This skid plate wouldn't really be expected to support a lot of weight itself, but would distribute any hits on rocks and so forth...rather than having the blow hit directly on the trans...possibly cracking it. Even 3/32" steel would help some and not weigh too much? Tempered alum might be even better?

This plate should be made so that it could be easily removed to straighten it or get to the trans, etc. It would have to allow some air circulation and not catch on branches and so forth itself. And not decrease ground clearance.

Please submit your designs.

And then send all prototypes to me for testing. <_<

warbstrd · Post by **warbstrd** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:18 pm

what about a skid plate cover for the front cv boots? my 86 vw quantum syncro has 'em. just in front of the boot. protects it against road hazards. i live on a dirt / rock non-state maintained road and have to replace boots every couple years due to splits.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:59 pm

That road sounds like fun. For a shield I would use stainless sheet for strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. Stainless typically has a much higher yield strength than most sheet steels which are made to be stamped. It's just kind of expensive. I would use bars around the perimeter where it's most vulnerable and a few cross-braces. For a backyard application just to save the CV joints you could just snip something out with tin snips and mount in under existing chassis bolts. It sucks to replace a CV joint before its time just because the boot broke.

Years back I had the mind to make an entire underbody cover to keep the salt off in the winter. Cooling would be an issue, but not an unresolvable one. I was thinking of some kind of sheet plastic, this was in my backyard building days, before engineering school. I have cooled off of the idea because I've seen how much good rustproofing can do and how floor rust usually starts from the inside rather than the outside. Still, it is an idea that is feasible and would keep alot of salt off. Now that I have the means to do such a thing, I might give it some more thought.

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 11:50 pm

Hey War,are those C-V Protectors removeable,where do they mount,on the sub-frame? Yeah Takza that lower,rounded,transaxle area looked about the size of a motorcycle case and I Know theres lots of aftermarket skid-plates for them,mabey thats a start.I think protecting the CVs might be harder,Will have look-around a-bit. <_<

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 12:38 am

Actualy those CV protectors would have to mount on the Steering-Knuckle right?,and if there pressed sheet-metal,they could be re-drilled and possibly retrofitted? <_<

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 3:40 am

3A-C Power wrote:That road sounds like fun. For a shield I would use stainless sheet for strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. Stainless typically has a much higher yield strength than most sheet steels which are made to be stamped. It's just kind of expensive. I would use bars around the perimeter where it's most vulnerable and a few cross-braces. For a backyard application just to save the CV joints you could just snip something out with tin snips and mount in under existing chassis bolts. It sucks to replace a CV joint before its time just because the boot broke.

My brother-in-law...the welder...works a lot with stainless and some tempered alum sheeting. Some is fairly heavy material. Also has access to a machine that cuts shapes using air & abrasives. I might get the material at a low cost too.

Stainless makes a lot of sense except for the weight savings with alum...but SS would take the hits better.

Best bet might be to fasten it to the trans itself?

Have already lost one CV joint cover to a brush stub...but I was lucky in that the joint was going bad.

icE · Post by **icE** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 5:34 am

yup, i hafta replace my cv joints too before it seizes up on me :unsure:

takza · Post by **takza** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 6:52 am

<span style='color:purple'>Points to ponder:</span>

Got into a bit of offroad yesterday...checking out a place I used to take my Baja bug at one time. This is an area of brush and small hills with some trails in it.

It had rained recently, but had dried some since. First thing I did was to try and go into the place where there were some ruts in the mud and I grounded the front xmember...but backed out OK. Got out and cleared some branches on one side and ran over the high spots. Then found a steep and rough small hill with mostly dried mud...the Tercel went up it like a pro.

Then took another trail down that lead to a branch with 2 real deep mudholes either way that I knew the Tercel wouldn't handle...so using the one advantage the Tercel has...I managed to turn around in the Y and go back up the way I came down.

What did I learn? That on these serious trails...ground clearance matters...but so does a good 4WD system and the tires on your wheels. Being able to turn on a dime helps a lot too.

Found mud and grass hanging on the exhaust clamp holding the downpipe...it and the converter are the lowest areas between the wheels. Not sure how easy it would be to LIFT the exhaust.......

Also grounded the rear bumper going thru one low spot...at least I hope it was the bumper.

No damage that I know of.

<span style='color:orange'>Didn't get to try out my winches, straps, and cables.</span>

As far as the CV joint covers...they are pretty much protected by the control arm...tie rod...and the swaybar to the front....we hope. <_<

AbusedJalopy · Post by **AbusedJalopy** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:31 am

I know this post is really old, but thought I'd ad my input. The small, plastic, joke of a guard they put under the transmission from the factory broke immediately and decided something had to be done to protect that expensive transmission. I had just gotten my welder, so went to work with some square tubing and sheet aluminum. The first one we made only was as wide at the trans, and spanned from the front cross member, where it bolted through the two holes in it, all the way to the back where the driveshaft comes out of the trans. Here, a bar spanned across the car and attached to the frame rails. The aluminum was somewhere between 1/8" and 1/4". There were no inside support rails and the thing quickly collapsed when it hit big rocks.

The next one mounted to the same location in addition to two other holes where some brace previously on the car attaches to. Now the design was widened to guard everything around the trans as well, including exhaust pipe. Cross bars were welded in certain areas that aren't the best structurally, but were our only option considering the limited clearance where the trans sticks down. We used 1/4" aluminum and the entire thing is mounted with bolts, so nothing is permanetely attached to the car. This thing has withstood tons of abuse. Everything from nailing rocks at high speeds, to teetering on rocks where almost all the cars front weight was being supported by the pan. It works great, with the only downside being that is does stick down a bit and so we loose that much more ground clearance. It has undoubtedly saved our transmission on more than one occasion though. If you design one yourself, don't forget that you can have the support pieces touch the transmission. Just allow the contact surfaces to be padded with rubber to dampen vibration and big enough to allow the weight to be distributed evenly. It shouldn't be desirable for it to hit the trans, but if it does, at least the pan won't act like a spear and puncture it.

Retroloc1 · Post by **Retroloc1** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:51 am

I homemade a shield under the gear box.
It bolts in place of the two diagonal arms and stiffens the body in fast cornerings (i also have an upper transversal bar).
It's made of 3mm steel.

I also have the genuine Toyota oil pan shield ( 5mm aluminium) and the two CV protectors. They no longer are availaible from Toyota.

HOW COULD I POST PICTURES ?

AbusedJalopy · Post by **AbusedJalopy** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:16 am

Try http://www.photobucket.com , it's a free picture hosting site but you are limited to 250kb per picture. It will automatically resize to fit though if it's over that. It's really easy to sign up, in fact I just did this morning to post my vacuum diagram in the repair forum. Hope it actually shows up!

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:58 pm

Hey...AJ...sounds like you have some real experience with it. That's an interesting approach..build it heavy and use it as part of the suspension!

But if it works...beats cracking the trans. Sounds like you are doing some serious offroading.