Tomken gas tank skid installation issue

[Nimrod]

I’m trying to install a Tomken gas tank skid on my ‘99 XJ and find that the exhaust pipe is in the way. And I don’t mean it’s just a bit in the way to the point I can clearance it with a pry bar. It’s way more than that. I’m either going to have to modify the exhaust or modify the skid to make it work.

Frankly, I’ve been tempted for some time to shorten the exhaust, so this may be my final motivation to cut it somewhere between the muffler and the gas tank. That and I’m kind of hesitant to start cutting and welding on a new skid with a pristine powder coating.

I’m wondering if anyone else has run into this issue with the Tomken skid and, if so, how you dealt with it.

 

[Rockwood]

How do your exhaust mounts look? A little change in angle up near the cat is quite a bit behind the axle. Have you had exhaust work done?

Personally, assuming the exhaust isn't close to the gas tank, I'd just clearance the skid.

 

[Nimrod]

I didn’t have any previous exhaust work done, but I can’t speak for the original owner. The rig had about 130,000 miles on it when I bought it. In any event, I took it into a shop yesterday and had the exhaust rerouted to clear the skid, so all’s good now.

 

[Tim_MN]

Modify the less expensive part.

 

[Nimrod]

Words to live by.

 

[Nimrod]

Once I solved the exhaust pipe interference issue I finished installing the skid using the manufacturer’s mounting system, but I didn’t like it for two reasons:

First, I guess my gas tank hangers must have taken some damage over the years because they don’t hang exactly parallel to one another. Consequently, the skid did not slide easily onto the hangers and once secured into place with a BFH the whole thing was kind of crooked and I had to use a pry bar to line it up enough to get some of the bolts started in the rear crossmember, leaving the whole thing still fairly crooked and always under stress.

Second, I just didn’t like the idea of using the gas tank hangers as a mounting point for the skid. If you search this site you’ll find that some folks have had problems with this setup. It’s just not a great design and I didn’t want to experience problems down the road if I ever landed hard on the skid on top of a rock or a log or the like.

So I uninstalled it, shaved off the pieces of tubing meant to fit onto the hangers and fabbed up some brackets that mount to the frame rails using some scrap 4”x4” angle iron. I drilled some holes through the bottom of the frame rails, welded some 5/16 studs to small bits of bar stock, and then inserted those bits into the rails so that the studs came through the holes. And, voila!, an improved mounting system, in my opinion.

 

[Soapy1]

Looks good.

 

[Nimrod]

Thanks. Pretty simple.

 

[denverd1]

mounts look good. is the skid hanging lower than it would have with stock mounting? got a skid I need to mount up and I know I'm going to run into issues...

 

[Nimrod]

By “stock mounting,” I take it you mean using the gas tank hangers as intended by Tomken, in which case the answer is no. The location is exactly the same. The back of the skid bolts directly to the cross member, so that height is fixed. I ran the top side edges of the skid parallel to the frame rails — basically, horizontal — and drilled the mounting holes accordingly, and it ended up sitting right where it was when mounted to the tank hangers. But I can’t tell you how the ground clearance compares to a stock skid plate. I should have measured before removing the factory skid, but didn’t think of it.

 

[srb531]

i cut of that top corner where it hit my ex. pipe, simple enough. i also added L brackets each side for extra support to hold up the skid.

 

[denverd1]

By “stock mounting,” I take it you mean using the gas tank hangers as intended by Tomken, in which case the answer is no. The location is exactly the same. The back of the skid bolts directly to the cross member, so that height is fixed. I ran the top side edges of the skid parallel to the frame rails — basically, horizontal — and drilled the mounting holes accordingly, and it ended up sitting right where it was when mounted to the tank hangers. But I can’t tell you how the ground clearance compares to a stock skid plate. I should have measured before removing the factory skid, but didn’t think of it.

yes, was thinking departure angle/clearance. looks good.