Any experiences with the Undercover Fabworks skid plate?

DrDmoney said:
Awesome, I enjoy a good write up, pompous assery a lot less, some of us old timers weren’t as fortunate as you to have someone else design a suspension that would actually make a body lift even remotely considered function. I guess the rest of us that don’t have the Savvy MA and a TT will just have to rough it with our sub par form only mounted skids while you ride off into the sunset with your pants pulled up over your butt crack and your nose in the air. I’m a fan of function too, but I’m also practical and for what I do, mine functions fine, just like it has for the last 19+ years.
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The body lift debates are about as old as time and the value of raised skids to compliment a spring lift has been known far longer than any midarm kit has been around. Really the bottom line is almost any center skid is better than factory. I think we can all agree that going as high as you are willing to go is always a good move. On the flip side, if the underside isn't getting caught on things to the point where it is considered a problem, then there isn't much point to changing things.
 
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Any engineer will tell you by doing a body lift the hardware is undersized for the amount of space between hard points so a body lift is a hack not an engineering marvel. The maximum allowable shim is equal to the fastener diameter. Maybe you should move your frame side mounts up instead of adding shims, or at least use steel pucks that you can weld on so you don’t put the fastener under a load it’s not designed for. That’s probably what his guru meant.
 
DrDmoney said:
Any engineer will tell you by doing a body lift the hardware is undersized for the amount of space between hard points so a body lift is a hack not an engineering marvel. The maximum allowable shim is equal to the fastener diameter. Maybe you should move your frame side mounts up instead of adding shims, or at least use steel pucks that you can weld on so you don’t put the fastener under a load it’s not designed for. That’s probably what his guru meant.
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I still have to wonder what real world problem this particular guru is solving. I can easily argue body lift material, and I have a difficult time finding a practical problem with the >1.25" body lifts most proponents agree is acceptable.

I also know that the way I have built mine, for better or worse, could not have been done without a small body lift.
 
DrDmoney said:
Any engineer will tell you by doing a body lift the hardware is undersized for the amount of space between hard points so a body lift is a hack not an engineering marvel. The maximum allowable shim is equal to the fastener diameter. Maybe you should move your frame side mounts up instead of adding shims, or at least use steel pucks that you can weld on so you don’t put the fastener under a load it’s not designed for. That’s probably what his guru meant.
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Good point, and that is the end goal. Moving the f/r frame sections up and welding raised body mounts along side the frame is my end goal, the savvy BL is just a solution until I have the time off work to do it. Being an engineer myself, I wouldn’t consider the moment exerted on the section width to overwhelm the functional strength of the steel mounting point.
 
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BuildBreakRepeat said:
Good point, and that is the end goal. Moving the f/r frame sections up and welding raised body mounts along side the frame is my end goal, the savvy BL is just a solution until I have the time off work to do it. Being an engineer myself, I wouldn’t consider the moment exerted on the section width to overwhelm the functional strength of the steel mounting point.
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And I thought I was talking to a forestry tech...
 
BuildBreakRepeat said:
Double major in Mechanical Engineering and Forest Engineering from OSU, currently employed by the USFS as a forest engineer and roads tech.
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I‘m surprised that body lift thing got by you then , just a high school graduate here with 40 yrs as a Journeyman Ironworker, currently employed building America. ;)
 
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DrDmoney said:
I‘m surprised that body lift thing got by you then , just a high school graduate here with 40 yrs as a Journeyman Ironworker, currently employed building America. ;)
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Hell yeah that’s awesome, I wouldn’t have been able to go to college if the Army hadn’t footed the bill. I was originally planning to go to trade school to be an electrician before I realized what I could do when I got out. I figure the body lift is a temporary solution to actually raising the mounts. In no way do I think that’s the best solution to raising the body slightly.
 
DrDmoney said:
Awesome, I enjoy a good write up, pompous assery a lot less, some of us old timers weren’t as fortunate as you to have someone else design a suspension that would actually make a body lift even remotely considered function. I guess the rest of us that don’t have the Savvy MA and a TT will just have to rough it with our sub par form only mounted skids while you ride off into the sunset with your pants pulled up over your butt crack and your nose in the air. I’m a fan of function too, but I’m also practical and for what I do, mine functions fine, just like it has for the last 19+ years.
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Also, totally wasn’t my intention to come across as being a pompous ass - I really enjoy discussion the various technical differences between builds and why we choose them.
 
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DrDmoney said:
Any engineer will tell you by doing a body lift the hardware is undersized for the amount of space between hard points so a body lift is a hack not an engineering marvel. The maximum allowable shim is equal to the fastener diameter. Maybe you should move your frame side mounts up instead of adding shims, or at least use steel pucks that you can weld on so you don’t put the fastener under a load it’s not designed for. That’s probably what his guru meant.
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It does have limitations...
But it's probably not the fastener...

CIMG3218.jpg

Supposedly this rig was in a front end collision
 
Steel City 06 said:
It does have limitations...

View attachment 123185
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I think @jjvw can attest to the limits of a compressible BL like what was most likely used there. It’s impossible to get the proper torque since it’s not rigid (savvy’s is machined aluminum) which most likely allows play in that joint. Obviously I don’t know what happens to cause that failure but I assume it had something to do with material.
 
BuildBreakRepeat said:
I think @jjvw can attest to the limits of a compressible BL like what was most likely used there. It’s impossible to get the proper torque since it’s not rigid (savvy’s is machined aluminum) which most likely allows play in that joint. Obviously I don’t know what happens to cause that failure but I assume it had something to do with material.
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To me it looks like the extra torque applied by the body lift (essentially extending the lever arm) yielded the frame brackets and the sheet metal on the body. That particular image does not seem to be a failure of the fastener or of the puck.

Weld-on body lift mounts would have likely prevented that issue
 
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Steel City 06 said:
To me it looks like the extra torque applied by the body lift (essentially extending the lever arm) yielded the frame brackets and the sheet metal on the body. That particular image does not seem to be a failure of the fastener or of the puck.

Weld-on body lift mounts would have likely prevented that issue
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I’m really curious to know what exerted so much force on the body as a separate object. The tub is pretty light, it seems like it would have been an impact or collision.
 
BuildBreakRepeat said:
Also, totally wasn’t my intention to come across as being a pompous ass - I really enjoy discussion the various technical differences between builds and why we choose them.
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I do too, there are quite a few owners that don’t want to take that big step as it is more difficult to go back to OEM if desired. Also the resale on an altered suspension regardless of quality is usually at a loss and as an engineer you should make sure your mods to the frame calc out in the event you sell your rig and some unsuspecting owner decides to put a hitch on it and tow something. Like you I really enjoy a well thought out solution to a problem.
 
DrDmoney said:
I do too, there are quite a few owners that don’t want to take that big step as it is more difficult to go back to OEM if desired. Also the resale on an altered suspension regardless of quality is usually at a loss and as an engineer you should make sure your mods to the frame calc out in the event you sell your rig and some unsuspecting owner decides to put a hitch on it and tow something. Like you I really enjoy a well thought out solution to a problem.
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Good point, I’m planning on keeping this Jeep until it rots away - hopefully my kids can wheel it in the future! I’m had enough to nightmares from previous owners “mods” to be wary.
 
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I'd like to see the rest of the Jeep before putting too much focus on one particular failure
 
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