Does this look normal?

[Charles Fry]

Hi! New Member, new (ish) Jeep owner. I've had the '05 KJ Limited for a year, we live in the country, and needed 4wd to get out of our property in winter. But just this year, the wife and I started off-roading it. We hit the Argentine trail in CO, and we've earned our BoH for Peewee's and Guard Rail at SMORR.

But after coming off the rocks of southern MO and doing my inspection before heading home, I saw this. The notch (or chip) sorta looks like it belongs there, but the other side didn't have it. Is it normal? Or am I looking for those spiff A-Arms that you all were talking about (JBA lifted A-arms) before I was really ready for them? LOL.

 

[LibertyTC]

Honestly I think it is a bit rusty and a chunk came off.
If you want to see what my 04 currently looks like here it is..

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Every Spring, I try to sand or grind and Paint. POR15 is good stuff.
My Jeep was initially undercoated, and now I just touch up with Rustoleum Paint gloss.
Keep an eye out for rust on your rear back braking plates too..

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[Charles Fry]

Thanks for that first pic. It looks like there is a "key" there, and you're correct in that perhaps a bit came off.

As for rust, yeah, this fall's project, before the cold sets in, is to get under there with Phosphoric acid and then undercoating and rustoleum (as appropriate). The wife also wants me to add more skid plates, as a few of those rocks on Peewee's got her nervous. Fortunately, I have a lot of aluminum sheets in the shop.

 

[JasonJ]

Thanks for that first pic. It looks like there is a "key" there, and you're correct in that perhaps a bit came off.

As for rust, yeah, this fall's project, before the cold sets in, is to get under there with Phosphoric acid and then undercoating and rustoleum (as appropriate). The wife also wants me to add more skid plates, as a few of those rocks on Peewee's got her nervous. Fortunately, I have a lot of aluminum sheets in the shop.

How thick is that aluminum? It will need to be quite a bit thicker than a comparable steel skid plate. Might be easier, faster, better to just get an old (or new) set of OE skids ...

 

[Charles Fry]

I used to make medieval re-enactment armour, so I have everything from 0.051" to 0.102" and I have 6061 T6 0.1285". I also have 14g Stainless, but skids out of stainless seems silly as the only time other people would see it is when I roll. I have a fairly decent shop: MIGs, Plasma, Oxy/Acy, Beverly sheer, brake, 3 bar roller, band saws and a kiln. I just don't have an actual garage (yet) or paint booth. I'm considering ordering a Cargo Container to act as both eventually.

 

[tommudd]

I have yet to see any " home made ones " do as good as the ones from Skid Row, Matrix , etc, people try but......

 

[JasonJ]

I used to make medieval re-enactment armour, so I have everything from 0.051" to 0.102" and I have 6061 T6 0.1285". I also have 14g Stainless, but skids out of stainless seems silly as the only time other people would see it is when I roll. I have a fairly decent shop: MIGs, Plasma, Oxy/Acy, Beverly sheer, brake, 3 bar roller, band saws and a kiln. I just don't have an actual garage (yet) or paint booth. I'm considering ordering a Cargo Container to act as both eventually.

I have yet to see any " home made ones " do as good as the ones from Skid Row, Matrix , etc, people try but......

What Tom said... it sounds like you are a skilled fabricator.. that being so, what is your time worth? For the cost of rugged under-body armor for the Jeep, it may be more advantageous to just buy a pre-made set.

 

[Charles Fry]

that being so, what is your time worth?

According to my boss.... more than I'm worth. LOL. Just Kidding. I hear you all. I've looked at them, but most the upgrades I've seen for the '05 are "out of stock"

I'll look up the companies mentioned above and do a Cost-Benefit Analysis and make a decision. (Because no garage floor comes into play as well when trying to mock up templates.)