Page updated: 03/18/2003 08:07 PM
Kilby Enterprises Gas Tank Skid PlateWritten 11/10/01
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Beef Up Your Backside! Work performed by: Al Bsharah, Seth Markowitz at Bud's garage! |
The Kilby Enterprises Gas Tank Skid Plate (GTSP) offers excellent protection for your Jeep. Models are available for TJ's, YJ's, and CJ's. We were lucky enough to get a prototype of the new YJ skid, and will show you step-by-step how to very easily install this product. This skid's are built from 3/16" steel plate in 3 pieces that are laser cut, formed and welded together. It utilizes the stock mounting locations to keep the installation time to a minimum. You will not use the stock tin shield as part of this skid, as it is a full replacement for your stock shield.
First, I must say that this is a very high quality product. Knowing Brad Kilby rather well, I'm aware that he is very particular about the products he provides to the public. His attention to detail is second-to-none and he cares about the service he provides. Keep your eyes open on the 'net and try to find any negative publicity about any of his products. You will be hard pressed to find any...
Now, on to the good stuff... Below you will find two sections. The first is a "Before and After" photo section. Following that is a step-by-step instruction manual on how to install the GTSP.
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BEFORE and AFTER |
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| One of the first things I noticed after the installation of the skid was when I went to the gas station to fill 'er up. Previous to this install, my stock setup would take no more than 18.2 gallons (even before the skid was dented.) After the installation of the Kilby Enterprises Skid, I was able to fill the gas tank with 21 gallons! Holy cow! I expected a little better, but never this much...that was a very pleasant surprise. Not sure what the exact reasoning for this was, and your experiences may vary...none-the-less, a pretty cool bonus! | |
 Notice how large the rear face is on the stock skid plate... |
 ...now look at how the Kilby skid has a 45 degree angle on the bottom-half of this face, which allows for a much better departure angle. |
 Notice how the stock skid does not have any side protection, and notice how low the rear portion of the skid hangs. |
 Here you can see that a 45 degree angle on the bottom rear of the skid allows for better clearance. Also notice the drain hole (located on each corner) to assure moisture doesn't accumulate in these areas. |
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 You will notice that we had to shave the shackle bolt on the driver side, and that the skid plate is closer on this side. Be aware that this is a prototype, and after speaking with Brad Kilby about this, adjustments will be made for future production versions. See more on the picture below |
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 You will notice that there is a lot more room on the passenger side compared to the stock skid. This is where Brad will be able to adjust the skid over more to eliminate the problem in the pictures above. |
 Imagine that my Jeep didn't have as much lift. You can see that my Dana 60 differential cover would probably have some collision issues with the stock skid plate. |
 Looking at this photo, you can see that the Kilby skid seems to be angled more drastically. This would allow for much more clearance between the two for Jeeps without as much lift. |
 Old beat-up stock skid |
 New Kilby skid (scratched due to poor protection on the transport after we painted it. Duh!) |
 The clearance between the pumpkin and the stock skid is just under 3". For my Jeep, axle-skid clearance really isn't an issue due to the height of my vehicle. However, to those without as much lift, it's very important that the two are far apart from each other |
 It isn't much, but the clearance here is just over 3". That gain is very important, as having your axle collide with your skid is a bad thing. The axle on my Jeep is a very large Dana 60. |
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MEASUREMENTS Skid-to-Ground |
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 Driver-Rear: 23" |
 Driver-Rear: 23 3/8" |
| Passenger-Rear: 23-1/2" | Passenger-Rear: 23-3/4" |
| Driver-Front: 23-1/4" | Driver-Front: 22-1/2" |
| Passenger-Front: 23" | Passenger-Front: 22-3/4" |
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MEASUREMENTS Skid-to-Shackle |
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| Driver: 7/8" | Driver: 3/4" |
| Passenger: 3-3/4" | Passenger: 4-1/2" |
| INSTRUCTIONS | |
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Fluid weighs a lot, so be sure to empty your gas tank before performing this work! Trying to maneuver a full or partially full gas tank is not an easy task. I showed up at Bud's garage on fumes, which made the project that much easier. |
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You're dealing with a flammable material. DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY! Sparks + Gas = Baaaaad! |
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You can order your GTSP unpainted, or for a few dollars more it'll arrive at your door powder-coated. We chose to do the painting ourselves, as you can see the job that Seth did in the next few pictures. |
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The finished paint job had the inside painted as well (not shown). |
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Sorry for the crummy picture, but you get the point. You need to release the pressure in the fuel system. Take a pen or similar device to this nozzle on the frame-rail to release the pressured gas. |
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Remove the small bolts holding the filler tube in place. |
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These three tubes need to be detached, and are located on the driver-side frame rail right in front of the gas tank. Undo the hose-clamps holding them in place, and slowly work them off. It's best to twist the tube around the hard-line while pulling at the same time. Be patient, eventually they'll come loose. Be careful of gas that will most likely drain from them. |
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Have plugs ready to seal off the open tubes. Turn them upward upon release and plug them as soon as you can to reduce gasoline drippage. |
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Also disconnect the wire connector located near the driver side frame rail, just rear of where the three tubes above are located. |
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Using a floor jack (and if necessary, a block of wood) to brace the skid in place, begin removing the four bolts along the rear of the stock skid. |
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Now remove the three bolts that are holding the front of the skid. You will need to hold the nut on top with a wrench for this. |
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Begin dropping the floor jack, slowly working the skid out of it's home. Note that the filler tube WILL get hung up on the frame rail as the tank is dropping. You will need to work it around the frame rail as you are dropping the skid. |
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Rear end without the gas tank in place. |
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There it is, in all it's beautiful dirt/mud-covered glory! |
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Notice the straps that keep the rubber fuel cell affixed to the skid plate... |
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Remove the rubber covers that protect the strap threads then undo the nuts that holds the straps in place. |
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You will have to re-arrange and/or disconnect some of the tubing on top of the tank in order to get the straps to release. Just remember which one's were plugged in where! |
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Straps loose, pull out the tank! |
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The mess that's left-over. Many of my pre-West Coast Michigan and Kentucky Jeepin' years were still a part of the Jeep. This whole assembly got intimate with the dumpster. You could re-use the rubber piece that sits between the stock skid and fuel cell, but I chose not to. It was rotted and nasty. |
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I decided since everything was out of the Jeep, that it was probably a good idea to clean things up a bit. I started washing down the tank (be sure to plug ALL the open tubes, and the filler tube!) |
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Much better... |
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Meanwhile, Seth was busy de-rusting the gas tank straps you saw earlier... |
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...then painted them... |
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...and found a use for those D-Rings on Blair's Jeep! |
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This is the top-view of the (somewhat) cleaned fuel cell sitting inside the new Kilby skid. |
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Now it's time to simply put things back together, by reversing the process shown above. The filler tube was the first end to go in, and we used the floor jack to feed the tank back into it's home. Be careful not to puncture the fuel cell on any protruding exhaust or other items. Just be patient and make sure you see everything that's going on as you're lifting it. |
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Rut-roh... The only problem of the install. As you can see from this picture, my shackle bolt is resting against the skid plate. |
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Here you can see how this is hindering the install of the skid, as the bolts and holes won't line up properly. |
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Our solution was to simply trim the shackle bolt so that the skid could be moved slightly to the driver side. As stated above in the "Before and After" section, Brad Kilby is aware of this issue and is planning on fixing this for future releases by shifting the entire tank to the passenger side. Again, this is a pre-release prototype skid-plate. Using prototypes is the best (and only) real way to determine what tweaks need to be made. |
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Now that the bolts and holes line up, we simply start driving all 7 bolts back into place. This is the rear of the skid... |
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...this is the front. |
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Re-attach the three tubes and put the hose-clamps back in place. As well, re-attach the wire connector just to the rear of these. Fire up the Jeep, look for leaks... |
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...then celebrate! Now go find some rocks. |
SUMMARY
This was probably one of the simplest installs we've ever had to do. Brad took the time to make sure that everything lined up perfectly. Aside from the prototype change that needs to be made for production, the bolt holes lined up PERFECTLY. We've installed a number of products where the holes end up being a really tight fit, or we've even had to re-drill them so the product would fit properly to our vehicles. In this case, after we fixed the shackle issue, there was no fighting with the skid to get things to line up - they simply went together smoothly.
The product is solid, sturdy, and seems like it's going to take a hell of a beating. You could tell just by carrying it around that it's not a piece of metal that will succumb very easily to a measly rock or two! I can't wait to try and dent it!
For purchasing information, please visit Kilby Enterprises.