> SWMBO is starting
>to question the safety of side mounted ex-MOD fuel tanks
Me too. But as the driver I have a strict policy about accidents I do
not want to get involved in one. Which is why I tend to be a conservative
very defensive driver.
However I'm sure there is an idiot out there who would love to ram his
vehicle into the side of my LR. So I have been giving rock slider/ side
impact protectors some thought.
Mounting points: bulkhead cross member, front fuel tank mount cross
member, rear fuel tank mount cross member, cross member that mounts the
front of the rear leaf spring. These cross members provide substantial
mounting points close together and most importantly on both sides of the
fuel tank(s).
The slider would replace both the bottom skirt and the galvanized strip
that the seat box and outside edge of the floor sits on.
I was thinking of having it stick out to the side at about one inch proud
of the side panels.
For a side profile I was thinking of a modified skirt shape. Starting at
the front it curve down following the skirt curve but instead of going to
a horizontal line at the bottom, have a slight angle towards the front
bottom corner of the side fuel tank. When it reaches a spot just in
front of the fuel tank about a half inch lower than the fuel tank, have
it go horizontal for the length of the fuel tank. Once past the fuel
tank a slight angle back to the stock bottom skirt rear curve.
It has always bothered me that every series slider I have seen does not
protect the fuel tank when sliding up on something. It is almost like
the fuel tank is there to protect that part of the rock slider.
You really do not loose ground clearance with my slider profile because
you need to clear the fuel tank anyway. But you do get gradual ramps for
clearing the fuel tank when dragging a LR over an obstacle. Otherwise
you drag the side of the body over something and encounter the bottom
edge of a fuel tank hanging out down below.
Anyway, for construction, I was thinking one of two things. One would be
to make it out of flat panels and weld the seams together like the LR
frame. The other would be to get suitable 'U' channel. The back of the
'U' would be the top of the slider. The sides of the 'U' would hang down
and be trimmed along the bottom then a flat length of steel welded along
the bottom to box it in.
One would need to make an accommodation of some kind for the bottom of
the doors. I'm not that far in my slider daydreaming process yet. Could
be all you will need to do is add a bottom rubber seal to the bottom of
the door. Or it could be you just leave the galvanized strip of steel in
place.
TeriAnn
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu May 24 2001 - 12:21:06 EDT