I'm at the drawing board stage of designing a radiator skid plate for Josh's TB. I have viewed these threads:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=177
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2282&fb_source=message
http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.p ... =skidplate
http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.p ... 293&page=2
I like Fishstick's design the most as I have most of those materials on hand. I would only need to pick up a $7 piece of 1/2 rod. I also like Beamer's design as it looks stronger and I also have plenty of angle iron on hand too. I would still use the hardware, but i would also weld the pieces of angle that form the W together.
My questions, as brought up in the "official design thread" for MDB's radiator skid. How important are the ventilation holes? And how important is it that they are on a surface parallel to the radiator? I would imagine that the trans could run a little warmer if you blocked off the bottom edge of the radiator. Also, is the aluminum fin/base board looking thing that runs in front of the bottom edge of the radiator for the Air Conditioner or the transmission? As blocking that with a skid plate would reduce the performance/efficiency of the A/C. EDIT: (Answered my own question, apparently it is for the power steering pump)
The problem with Fishstick's design is that ventilation holes would be on an angled surface.
@Fishstick's : Did you run into any cooling problems because of the design of your skid plate?
Now because i feel the support brackets that are featured on the MDB skid are out of my abilities, and the weaker materials i will be using, we will go ahead and call this a Radiator "Guard" as it will not be as nearly as strong as an MDB skid.