A little help from Savvy skid owners

[Longwhitejeep]

Don't be mad at me because I can operate a Stahlbus with some level of competency.

To be fair, I have used it more than once. It wasn't what I would call fast or some magical spill saving thing that I would continue to recommend to people based on my experience.

I'm not sure why this is all making you so angry though. I hope your day gets better.

 

[jjvw]

To be fair, I have used it more than once. It wasn't what I would call fast or some magical spill saving thing that I would continue to recommend to people based on my experience.

I'm not sure why this is all making you so angry though. I hope your day gets better.

My experience with the ridiculously simple Stahlbus has been very different from the story you told. But you keep changing the story, which makes it difficult for me to keep up.

 

[Stinkbug]

…Also, if you have no sides I wouldn’t trust the strength.

I have confidence in the guy that made it for me.

 

[mrblaine]

Also, if you have no sides I wouldn’t trust the strength.

And that's the difference between theory and practical application. Sadly, there is no reasonably easy method to build strong enough sides on any engine skid that are able to not be bent. If you run a flat piece of 3/8" 6061 T6 then it can flex up into the pan and spring back down. If you run something like the Savvy skid, it can be bent up and then the bent flanges will hold it up against the pan where invariably dirt, sand, and grit are held in place by some oil drips which then grinds a hole in the oil pan.

The purpose of any skid is to maintain the integrity of what it is supposed to protect. That doesn't mean it doesn't bend, dent, or flex, that means it prevents a hole in a gas tank, oil pan, transmission pan, or similar.

Before anyone picks on aluminum, the above lessons were learnt in Johnson Valley with steel skids and heavy angle welded to the sides.

 

[Longwhitejeep]

My experience with the ridiculously simple Stahlbus has been very different from the story you told. But you keep changing the story, which makes it difficult for me to keep up.

I updated the number of times I have actually used it along with what else I do when changing oil because you wanted to argue about a drain plug you seem to have some emotional connection to. Yes it's simple, doesn't mean I have to like it.

I'm sorry I didn't like it. I hope you can find the strength to carry on.

 

[mrblaine]

I have confidence in the guy that made it for me.

Just not enough to mark it with a little ball of modeling clay.

 

[Stinkbug]

Just not enough to mark it with a little ball of modeling clay.

If I cut it, that’s my plan. I thanked everyone for their help and stopped asking for advice after that was posted.

 

[PNW_LJ]

And that's the difference between theory and practical application. Sadly, there is no reasonably easy method to build strong enough sides on any engine skid that are able to not be bent. If you run a flat piece of 3/8" 6061 T6 then it can flex up into the pan and spring back down. If you run something like the Savvy skid, it can be bent up and then the bent flanges will hold it up against the pan where invariably dirt, sand, and grit are held in place by some oil drips which then grinds a hole in the oil pan.

The purpose of any skid is to maintain the integrity of what it is supposed to protect. That doesn't mean it doesn't bend, dent, or flex, that means it prevents a hole in a gas tank, oil pan, transmission pan, or similar.

Before anyone picks on aluminum, the above lessons were learnt in Johnson Valley with steel skids and heavy angle welded to the sides.

I assume you would need something resembling an exocage to support an “unbendable” skid.

 

[L J]

I said it was slow. I finished everything else and that sucker was still draining. Maybe mine is faulty or something but it is very slow.

The Stahlbus is as slow as molasses in winter at least when compared to just pulling the drain plug.

 

[Longwhitejeep]

The Stahlbus is as slow as molasses in winter at least when compared to just pulling the drain plug.

Mine is still installed. I was going to pull it out once I got the rms done but haven't yet. I wanted it to work because I use something similar on my tundra with it's internal filter set up. That one works much quicker but that oil is thinner too.

I had one on a sports car that worked great too, go figure.

 

[psrivats]

The purpose of any skid is to maintain the integrity of what it is supposed to protect. That doesn't mean it doesn't bend, dent, or flex, that means it prevents a hole in a gas tank, oil pan, transmission pan, or similar.

And yet we somehow had a multi-page thread when that guy who went to JV on 33s, tried playing in the rocks and came back to complain that the belly skid did not work as advertised. I think he came to his senses .. eventually and begrudgingly (or maybe I am remembering wrong).

 

[psrivats]

The Stahlbus is as slow as molasses in winter at least when compared to just pulling the drain plug.

Even after you let the vehicle warm up for 2-3 mins? Oil changes have been a mess free experience and simple task for me after I got the stahlbus installed.

 

[mrblaine]

I assume you would need something resembling an exocage to support an “unbendable” skid.

What do the ends of that attach to? The right side is fairly easy with a front 3 link, the left side has a driveshaft that likes to move through the attachment zone along with the odd upper control arm now and then.

After that, where do the tubes live? Any flange bent up on a skid for the 42 has to hug the lip of the pan along with a smaller diameter driveshaft to keep the driveshaft off of the flange and the pan lip. On some we have to remove the test port plugs and convert them to be much lower profile to keep them out of the driveshaft. If the flange that is 1/4" won't clear, what happens with a tube large enough to withstand being landed on?

 

[L J]

Even after you let the vehicle warm up for 2-3 mins? Oil changes have been a mess free experience and simple task for me after I got the stahlbus installed.

Yeah, it's just slow. There's no way it can't be with the reduced pathway. It isn't so much of an issue that I'd bother removing it. I just use the time to rotate the tires. It is easy to use and does prevent the mess that pulling the plug with the skid installed is. If I had it to do over though, I'd skip the Stahlbus (or any other valve for that matter) and just drop the skid plate for oil changes.

 

[Longwhitejeep]

Yeah, it's just slow. There's no way it can't be with the reduced pathway. It isn't so much of an issue that I'd bother removing it. I just use the time to rotate the tires. It is easy to use and does prevent the mess that pulling the plug with the skid installed is. If I had it to do over though, I'd skip the Stahlbus (or any other valve for that matter) and just drop the skid plate for oil changes.

That's all I'm saying and I was told I didn't know how to use it and angered someone apparently.

It leaves a few ounces of oil in the pan and doesn't have a magnetic pickup if that matters to anyone.

It just doesn't really solve any problems I'm having so I'm planning on pulling it, going back to a regular plug.

 

[jjvw]

That's all I'm saying and I was told I didn't know how to use it and angered someone apparently.

It leaves a few ounces of oil in the pan and doesn't have a magnetic pickup if that matters to anyone.

It just doesn't really solve any problems I'm having so I'm planning on pulling it, going back to a regular plug.

It amuses me that you somehow think I'm angry.

 

[Longwhitejeep]

It amuses me that you somehow think I'm angry.

Glad you're not then. I was worried about you and your passion for drain valves. Carry on.

 

[PNW_LJ]

What do the ends of that attach to? The right side is fairly easy with a front 3 link, the left side has a driveshaft that likes to move through the attachment zone along with the odd upper control arm now and then.

After that, where do the tubes live? Any flange bent up on a skid for the 42 has to hug the lip of the pan along with a smaller diameter driveshaft to keep the driveshaft off of the flange and the pan lip. On some we have to remove the test port plugs and convert them to be much lower profile to keep them out of the driveshaft. If the flange that is 1/4" won't clear, what happens with a tube large enough to withstand being landed on?

I got under the jeep for this one, and yeah I don’t see a reasonable way to make that happen.

Not without significantly hacking everything up.