Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

How to make a Ford fuel tank skid work for a TB

Any special projects involving a decent amount of fab work (bumpers, sliders, roof racks, etc)

by Diacom » Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:44 am

Alright, as promised, here is a write up of the modified Ford fuel tank skid I had made up.

First a little back story to explain why I decided it was need:

In Sept. 2011 I attended the 2011 Dakota Territory Challenge. It is a 3 day wheeling event over the Labor Day holiday.

On the third day of the event, while driving over some rock, the rear of my vehicle slid sideways off of the rock and put the decent sized rock between the frame rails. This had some of the guides giddy as they could rotate my TB back and forth while it was hung up on the rock. A few well placed smaller rocks allowed me to drive off, and not seeing any leaking, we continued the days drive.

Later that evening back at camp I took a look at the damage resulting from said rock. Fuel gauge worked, no fuel pump issues, so I drove home and took photos once there after the event.

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Suffice it to say, I was glad that little tube ran across the frame where it did and kept the rock from doing any further damage to the fuel tank.

Fast forward to the following year.

I make plans to attend the 2012 Dakota Territory Challenge. This time taking my wife instead of my best friend. I knew additional protection was going to be required for the vehicle so I had ordered up a set of Trail-Gear Rock Sliders. While waiting for them to arrive, one of the Engineers where I worked was getting ready to move and asked if I would come over and help him finish his Cherokee so he could have it running for when he moved from Wyoming down to Colorado. While helping him out, I was able to test fit a set of Bushwacker Cut-Out Fender Flares that he had on hand for his jeep. I gave up on that idea as they would require extensive modification to make them fit on a GMT360.

Anyways, we visit over the next few weekends and he begins telling me about his Ford Diesel. Some of the upgrades and what not and I found out he had upgraded his fuel tank to a larger aftermarket unit. I asked if he still had the factory skid plate for his original fuel tank laying around and if he'd mind if I snagged it from him before he moved. He said no problem and we loaded it up on of the last days before he left.

Here is a link with a diagram of the part he gave: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-OEM-AL3Z9A147A-Fuel-System-Skid-Plate-/321337070670?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ad12e944e&vxp=mtr The piece that I am referring to is #20 in the diagram. Though initially listed as a cover for 99-04 Diesel trucks, the part # is listed up through at least 2012 model year vehicles. Pricing seems to vary online, but if you can pick on up cheap enough, here is what you'll end up with.

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Pictured is the OEM part at the shop I was at installing my sliders in preparation for 2012 DTC.

First thing to do is prep to fit for a GMT360. We started by grinding off the rivets for the factory brackets:

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Once ground and punched out, you have a bare plate that needs a little further prepping to work. Start by taking a crescent wrench or a hammer and flatten out the bend area located on the left side of the bare plate in the picture below, it is near the factory bracket that was removed.

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Now that the plate is prepped, feel free to clean and paint your plate as needed. Mine was in good shape, so I just cleaned the dirt off from the surfaces. After spending some time with the bare plate under my Trailblazer, we began to formulate a mounting system. We made 2 brackets. The first would use the same mounts as the old thin tube that ran from one frame rail to the other then an arm to mount up near the fuel tank strap that holds the tank in place. The second would use an unused factory mount on the inboard side up near the rear of fuel tank. After some cutting of 1.5"X.375 strapping, a lot of measuring and bending, some paint and a set of bolts later we came up with:

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The fore bracket used the same 2 holes as our little tube does, and the bolted on additional bracket mounts up with a larger bolt to the same mount as the front strap as the fuel tank. The aft bracket is simply bent as needed and holes drilled to make use of already existing factory locations as well.

The completed product ready to install:

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Short of drilling holes in the strapping, no additional holes required drilling. Actually we used a press to put the holes in place, but most will require a drill to make the holes. Here is the inbound rear mounting location already in place on our vehicles, not being used just waiting for a skid plate bracket, it sits near the evap canister:

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It was almost as if our trucks were supposed to have an actual skid plate in place and they just never followed through with full implementation.

Anyway, I did not take any pictures of it in place unmolested for some reason. But I did take a few pictures of how it held up after attending the 2012 DTC.

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Appears that the front bracket held up better than the little tube did, though it did bend back some.

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The rear bracket also took a few hits, but seemed to hold out well.

Things I don't like about this set up: Nut and bolt threads hanging down below the brackets. not much I could do in this instance. Used what I had on hand and didn't want them to press up into the tank if I got hung up on the skid. Welded nuts on the top of the plate and flat head bolts would work better.

The upside: little to no modification to the Vehicle itself. The size fits quite well, not as wide as our fuel tank, but wide enough to give the protection needed. Price, at least for me was great. Managed to get the Ford skid free and hardware to make up new brackets and labor for the cost of dinner. I'm sure with the way the brackets are damaged, I would have had similar or additional damage to or near the fuel tank as the year prior if I did not have it in place. Did I mention my wife drove 2 of the 3 days this go around?

So that's it on how to convert a Ford Diesel fuel tank skid over to work on a GMT360. If anyone would like additional photos, once it warms up and I can climb underneath my truck again, I will be happy to take more. Also, post any questions below and I'll try and answer as best as I can.
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by HARDTRAILZ » Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:47 am

I thought the crossbar was curved like that factory.mine his seemed to always be like that.

Nice find!
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by mikekey » Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:18 pm

NIce work.
Once lifted 03 Trailblazer on 35's, gave it up to travel the USA with my family.
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by Moots1288 » Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:01 pm

Looks good! Great job man
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by Lauron » Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:36 pm

Noel, nice fit of the skid.

Not to hijack the thread but you said fitting the Bushwacker flares was going to take too much of a mod.

Bandito installed a set but did not give us the details of what he did. From all appearances, the fit looked alright.
Banditos Build: viewtopic.php?t=2659

I would appreciate if you could share what you saw it was going to take to install them. Where the problems were.

Has anyone else checked out the fit?

:cheers:

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by bartonmd » Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:56 pm

I'm guessing from the fact that you bolted it instead of welded it, that it's plastic? Is it just that you got it for free and decided to use what you had, or is it in some way better than our OEM plastic one? I accidentally lifted the whole rear of the TB up by mine, when I was installing it, so our OEM one is reasonably strong.

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by Cable810 » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:48 pm

Hmm this is added to my projects list. Thanks for this. BTW I kind of pulled the same number on the tube, I managed just to snap the bolt clean off while climbing Marble Head Steps.
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by Diacom » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:40 am

bartonmd wrote:I'm guessing from the fact that you bolted it instead of welded it, that it's plastic? Is it just that you got it for free and decided to use what you had, or is it in some way better than our OEM plastic one? I accidentally lifted the whole rear of the TB up by mine, when I was installing it, so our OEM one is reasonably strong.

Mike


Mike, it is in fact steel. The reason I bolted the unit, instead of welding was so it could be serviced in pieces if needed rather than having to cut everything loose if things didn't work as intended. You'll see I mentioned welding a nut on the top side of the plate and using flat head bolts as a possible solution to having the bolt and nut hang down as catch points above.

Other than the factory cross tube, I did not remove the existing cover for the fuel tank. But with the way it was dented in with the tube bent up into it, I was concerned what would happen if I did not place something stronger below the fuel tank. Fortunately, the depression came out on it's own once the tube was removed and the days got warmer.

Lauron wrote:
Not to hijack the thread but you said fitting the Bushwacker flares was going to take too much of a mod.

Bandito installed a set but did not give us the details of what he did. From all appearances, the fit looked alright.
Banditos Build: viewtopic.php?t=2659

I would appreciate if you could share what you saw it was going to take to install them. Where the problems were.

Ron


Ron,

The curve of that model jeep at the bottom is greater than that of our platform. So, either spacers of some sort would have to be fabricated or the top portion of the flare would have to be shaved extensively to allow fitment at the bottom. Overall fender size was not that great an issue from what I saw. Some sort of adjustment would have to be made at the rear door as well, but at that point, someone is just cutting up an expensive set of flares and possibly not going to have them work.

I do think that a different model like for a Gran Cherokee may work as they aren't as slopped at the bottom, but w/o having access to a set to do an initial test fit, I would rather not say it will for sure.
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by bartonmd » Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:05 pm

Diacom wrote:
bartonmd wrote:I'm guessing from the fact that you bolted it instead of welded it, that it's plastic? Is it just that you got it for free and decided to use what you had, or is it in some way better than our OEM plastic one? I accidentally lifted the whole rear of the TB up by mine, when I was installing it, so our OEM one is reasonably strong.

Mike


Mike, it is in fact steel. The reason I bolted the unit, instead of welding was so it could be serviced in pieces if needed rather than having to cut everything loose if things didn't work as intended. You'll see I mentioned welding a nut on the top side of the plate and using flat head bolts as a possible solution to having the bolt and nut hang down as catch points above.

Other than the factory cross tube, I did not remove the existing cover for the fuel tank. But with the way it was dented in with the tube bent up into it, I was concerned what would happen if I did not place something stronger below the fuel tank. Fortunately, the depression came out on it's own once the tube was removed and the days got warmer.



I saw the thing about welding a nut on top, but it could have been that you were talking about welding a couple nuts to a plate, so they wouldn't spin, for all I knew, not knowing if the Ford one was plastic or not.

That's actually the bottom of your tank, that I see in the pics. I'm referring to our OEM combination transfer case and fuel tank skid that some came with, and others bought for ~$100 or so from GMPD. It's made out of the same material as the OEM oil pan skid, but thicker with more gusseting. Like I say, I've jacked up the rear of the vehicle up by mine, on accident, while mounting it. In my estimation, the OEM one is stronger than what you made. That's why I was curious if there was something better about it, or if you just made something with what you had instead of buying the OEM one (nothing wrong with doing that, BTW).

Mike

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by Diacom » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:16 pm

Honestly, from all the reading I had done, I missed where the factory unit was available. But otherwise, yes, I used what I had available to me. It's not the stoutest design by any means, but it is functional and I am certain it helped avoid another incident with the fuel tank.

If this plastic unit is still available for near that cost, it would be the same or less than the cost of fabbing one up going this route if someone did not have access to the materials and equipment I had when it was built. But knowing how many of these factory Ford units probably get tossed to the way side when a fuel tank is upgraded, it can still be a potential less expensive way for some to build something that will help distribute weight across a larger area if a rock is inadvertently placed in this location.
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by DustinC1989 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:36 pm

Part # for factory skids?
This is the first I've heard of them also
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by Wahugg » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:39 pm

Part number 12498891

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by Diacom » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:51 pm

If you head to gmpartsdirect, use 15155868.
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by bartonmd » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:01 pm

DustinC1989 wrote:Part # for factory skids?
This is the first I've heard of them also


15854356 is for the fuel tank shield. It's $178 on GMPartsDirect.
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by Diacom » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:07 pm

bartonmd wrote:
DustinC1989 wrote:Part # for factory skids?
This is the first I've heard of them also


15854356 is for the fuel tank shield. It's $178 on GMPartsDirect.


That one is listed for the long wheel base, the # I have listed for about $137 is for the short.
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by bartonmd » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:29 pm

Diacom wrote:
bartonmd wrote:
DustinC1989 wrote:Part # for factory skids?
This is the first I've heard of them also


15854356 is for the fuel tank shield. It's $178 on GMPartsDirect.


That one is listed for the long wheel base, the # I have listed for about $137 is for the short.


Hmmm... Looking elsewhere, someplace that has app notes, it would appear that:

15155868 shows discontinued (The reason it didn't come up as a viable part number in the GMPD search)

12498891 is the whole skid package (radiator shield, fuel tank shield, oil pan shield) for a few bucks more.

15854356 shows that it fits the standard and the EXT models.


Mike
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by Diacom » Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:24 am

bartonmd wrote:
Hmmm... Looking elsewhere, someplace that has app notes, it would appear that:

15155868 shows discontinued (The reason it didn't come up as a viable part number in the GMPD search)

12498891 is the whole skid package (radiator shield, fuel tank shield, oil pan shield) for a few bucks more.

15854356 shows that it fits the standard and the EXT models.


Mike


Good information Mike. When I use http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/catalog/frameset.cfm and search for 1515868 is shows the part #, and has a link for a diagram listing it as part#6. Upon clicking said link, it brings up the listing for short and long wheel base as well has mounting hardware. Though admittedly, this is listed as an alternate site, so perhaps it is out of the country and parts availability is different.
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by bartonmd » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:34 am

Diacom wrote:
bartonmd wrote:
Hmmm... Looking elsewhere, someplace that has app notes, it would appear that:

15155868 shows discontinued (The reason it didn't come up as a viable part number in the GMPD search)

12498891 is the whole skid package (radiator shield, fuel tank shield, oil pan shield) for a few bucks more.

15854356 shows that it fits the standard and the EXT models.


Mike


Good information Mike. When I use http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/catalog/frameset.cfm and search for 1515868 is shows the part #, and has a link for a diagram listing it as part#6. Upon clicking said link, it brings up the listing for short and long wheel base as well has mounting hardware. Though admittedly, this is listed as an alternate site, so perhaps it is out of the country and parts availability is different.


The "protector" is $139, but that's #5, and is the metal plate between the tank and the drive shaft. The only "shield" that I see there says LWB, but there's not one that specifically says SWB, and it comes up when I select a SWB TB in the search... I honestly don't know, as there is conflicting information.

Mike
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