I would give the button heads a try if you can find them. I have normal hex heads on mine and they definitely take a beating on the rocks. Perhaps button heads would slide a bit easier? Flat heads are the way to go but don't work easily when your skid holes are slotted.
Do those just get clamped in place by the bolt head or are they better off with a couple small welds on them?
That looks great! Not as easy to do on a slot though. I'm assuming you went to town with a die grinder or something similar? Or was the aluminum forgiving enough to get away with a traditional countersink cutter? Nice work either way!
One side is slotted. I forget which. I bought a piloted counter sink bit and extended the pilot to fit into the threads in the frame. Then once the counter sink was well established, I made it deep enough for the bolt head with a router bit chucked into a drill.
Another option is to make a pair of drilled and countersunk rails out of 6061 the length of the skid. That entirely gets rid of the bolt heads and makes a smooth sliding surface.
We aren't trying to protect the bolt heads, we are trying to not have something there to get hung up on. You went the wrong way. That and we never use stainless underneath with an Allen drive unless it is through bolted. The driver size is too small, stainless smears way to easily, and they are miserable to remove. At least use Phillips drive.
I agree, my frame mount bolts and protectors do get hung up and more than I would like, so I need a better solution. What are your thoughts on the countersunk rail mentioned earlier? I’d like to do that to the existing skid plate holes, but they are slotted and unable to be countersunk effectively.
For the Savvy and any other skids that don't support the transmission I could see countersinking, for the others the countersunk glide rail would be a better option.
I ordered some grade 8 button heads for the initial install. But I will be going the guide rail route. I’m guessing T6 would be the proper route. Anything special about counter sinking T6? If I can find it?
that’s what they claim they are? That’s all I know. Lol
A button head requires a counter bored hole vs a flat head which uses a counter sunk hole, the underside of the button head needs to be on a flat surface, the counter sink makes an angled hole. the only problem will be sourcing the proper size counter bore bit.
