Composite Shield Wear and Tear

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Wed May 21, 2003 12:20 am

okay

since everybody is getting sheilds and its been discused a million times about which is stronger, i figure i would take some pics of my transfer case sheild which is composite. my front and engine are aluminum. the have taken the same abuse and have many deep scratches and have been bent a time or 3

sorry my dig camer sucks, but here goes.

the first pic here shows where on the shield that damage will occure. obviously at the corners.

the next pic showed where the truck was putting all its weight on the shield and it crumbled. when i got off the rock, the sheild poped back out to form but now it has a rip in it. thats what the next 2 pics are of.

the last pic is to show how the shield seems to just let a layer of composite material go instead of deep grooves. it has a few grooves in it but not like the aluminum ones do. when the composite on gets torn up, it leaves little pieces of short hair like material at the surface.

because of the tear, i vote aluminum

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Wed May 21, 2003 2:51 am

I'm with you on this one. While the composite shield (carbon fiber?) will probably hold up just fine for most, I like the piece of mind of metal. I know some will say that the composite is stronger than steel. I guess I'm just old school and don't understand all this new material. Like I said in the other posts, if I could make one out of heavy guage steel, I'd do it.

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Wed May 21, 2003 8:14 am

"Stronger" is kind of a loaded term when comparing carbon fiber to metal. While it may support more weight, when it reaches the point of "failing," it shatters...unlike metal where it may "fail" (bend) at a lower weight, but it will not completely shatter like CF does. In the case of skid plates, I'd say metal ones are better. But in other applications like Indy car bodies and stuff like that, CF is better because it's stronger and lighter than metal and shatters on impact to dissipate energy.

If I wheeled on as much hardcore stuff as Hobie does, I'd want all metal skid plates too...because they don't tear and shatter when they fail. But with the kind of trails I'm going to be doing with this truck, CF will do just fine for me. When I get a K5 (hopefully this winter), it will definitely have all metal skid plates.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Wed May 21, 2003 9:10 am

wait a sec? when did you decide to get a K5? is this for a trail rig? i thought about it but changed my mind for several reasons

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Wed May 21, 2003 11:29 am

a2b wrote:wait a sec? when did you decide to get a K5? is this for a trail rig? i thought about it but changed my mind for several reasons

Well...I'm still changing my mind almost daily.

But I think now that I've ordered some 30x9.5 mud terrains (which will be here either today or tomorrow), I think that makes the decision for me in a way, since I wouldn't lift my truck only a few months after putting new 30" tires on it.

So...probably this winter...I'll be looking for a K5. There's several available around Phoenix in the price range I'm looking for...even a diesel one if it's still around by the time I want to buy it. Planning on an 8" Skyjacker lift and at least 36's or 37's on Rockcrawlers or something like that. That's the tentative plan anyway...we'll see whether or not it pans out.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri May 23, 2003 2:54 am

AZS10Crew wrote:
a2b wrote:wait a sec? when did you decide to get a K5? is this for a trail rig? i thought about it but changed my mind for several reasons

Well...I'm still changing my mind almost daily. But I think now that I've ordered some 30x9.5 mud terrains (which will be here either today or tomorrow), I think that makes the decision for me in a way, since I wouldn't lift my truck only a few months after putting new 30" tires on it.

So...probably this winter...I'll be looking for a K5. There's several available around Phoenix in the price range I'm looking for...even a diesel one if it's still around by the time I want to buy it. Planning on an 8" Skyjacker lift and at least 36's or 37's on Rockcrawlers or something like that. That's the tentative plan anyway...we'll see whether or not it pans out.

FYI:

a k-5 on 37's will also need new axels. preferably dana 60's.

the 10 bolts are just not strong enough for all that weight and power. you will snap an axel in 2 seconds.

a 3/4 ton swap will be in order. that will give you the dana 44 up front and a 14bolt in the rear. but the 14 bolt has terrible ground clearence cuz the diff hang real low. but its way cheaper than the dana60. then you can through detriouts in them. also, i know az terrain, you will FI. carb stall, and i forget whats bad about deisel. but i know its not a good idea to have on the trail. to FI, i think they started in 87.

the k-5 is a big vehicle and is one of my favorites, but i decided against it for a trail vehicle. even with all the mods, just too dang heavy. you know how dry the terrain in az is, when climbing steep terrain, that weight cause major slippage of the tires while a lite toyota just rolls on by on 33's. anyways, just something to think about.

Conman · Post by **Conman** » Fri May 23, 2003 5:59 am

K5 are cool. A trail buddy has two of them. Funny thing is that he lives in New York City. Go Figure!

Cheers,

Con

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri May 23, 2003 11:30 am

yes, i would love a first gen k-5. that would be cool as heck. of course i wouldnt off road it if i had it cuz its a classic.

mark, that guys has 31s on that blazer. you can run all day with that set up and dont have to worry about axel swap

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Fri May 23, 2003 3:22 pm

I sometimes think about the '71 or was it '72 K5 I almost bought. Can't remember now why I didn't but that was close to 20 years ago. Oh well.

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Fri May 23, 2003 4:07 pm

Yeah...I'm definitely only looking at the 87-91 K5's.

A guy here told me that the air base in Tucson gets rid of theirs sometimes...they have 3/4 ton axles, diesel engines, and 31's. Pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. I don't know that I'd really go to 37's...just dreaming really. 35's would maybe be more realistic. And I could solve the weight issue by getting all fiberglass body panels.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Fri May 23, 2003 4:31 pm

Ah yes, the old military versions. The one I was thinking about was probably one of the first years they made the K5's. It was a 307 V8, three speed manual on the column and pretty much no options anywhere. Low mileage too. A neighbor down the street had it. It was a good starter project though. Lots of potential.

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Fri May 23, 2003 4:49 pm

Yeah...that's the only thing with these...they're olive green with brown vinyl interior, and I think no headliner and ruber floor covering. Definitely not a show truck.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri May 23, 2003 5:07 pm

well now thats a sweet deal. heck, if you have the 3/4 ton axels then go with 37's or something since you have the strength for it. i hope they aren rockwell axels though. dont care much for that diesel, but it would be great vehicle to trash!

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Fri May 23, 2003 9:32 pm

Why not the diesel? My parents used to have an 87 Suburban with the 6.2L diesel and that thing ran great. Never a problem for 4 years...then we wrecked it on the freeway pulling our trailer. That was a fun ride.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sat May 24, 2003 3:35 am

Ok, so stock they are a little underpowered. Nothing these people can't fix:

http://www.bankspower.com/app.cfm?appid=AC02

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Mon May 26, 2003 12:36 am

ya, desiel isnt a good rock crawler motor. if you notice, their arent any out there being built with them. i am not an expert on this at all but i have just heard its not a great idea. i may be wrong, but something about if your roll it, it may blow up....or is that propane? dont remember

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Mon May 26, 2003 4:51 am

The biggest problem I can think of about rolling a diesel over is restarting it afterwards. It's been a long time since I've messed with one but I seem to remember what a pain they can be when the injector pump looses it's prime which would happen when the fuel tank is upside down and it sucks air instead of fuel.