Skid Plates

[SteveB]

I just got my first Thing. I plan on doing some mild trail riding. From my Baja Bug experience I know that I will occasionally end up some places that are rougher than I had planned. I want to protect the engine, tranny and beam. Is there any set up that is typical and off the shelf? Like I mentioned, I'm just a cruiser and want a little protection.

Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks, SteveB

[Ferretkona]

Stock Things have a factory made "skid plate" covering the motor. Many like mine are missing, previous owners deleted them when changing out motors or clutches. You can find them here in the classifieds or on ebay.

[mattt]

Hey SteveB....when did you pick up the Thing? I always kept my eyes peeled at Ocotillo for the Orange Baja.

There aren't any off the shelf skidplates that I know of that are made for the Thing. There is the commonly available rear skid plate that covers the trans, frame horns, and engine. Im not sure how it attaches, but it should work on a Thing since the rear end is just like a Baja Bug. Up front, Id say you have to do something custom.

The stock Thing "skidplates" offer minimal protection to the engine.

If you cant find anyone that will make up what you want, my cousin is doing fab work now, and he would take the job. We are still working on mine, front and rear bumpers/skidplate, etc.

[SteveB]

Hi Mattt! I just picked it up 2 weeks ago on Ebay. I'm really happy with the way it was built. It is perfect for the mild crusing I do. You can tell that the person that built the car planned on keeping it for a long time. Unfortunately he had to sell it. I bought it from the son of the second owner. The second owner passed away very unexpectedly. I feel a huge responsibility not to mess it up.

I only got down to the Salton Sea area twice this year. Weird family things just kept coming up. I did go with DSSK on a couple of high desert trips with the Baja guys. That was a lot of fun.

I've have seen the stock engine protector. I agree it does not look like it provides much protection. I was thinking it would not be too hard to attach a plate to it.

I'm not in a big hurry. I'm going to search around and see how others have solved this problem. I'll post pics of whatever I find. I would definitely be interested in seeing what you come up with.

See you later, Steve

[pjmacua]

[SteveB]

Pierre thanks. Maybe I'm over thinking this. If it was good enough for the military it is probably way more than I need. Thanks for the info. As you can tell, I'm a newbie.

[UncleDirty]

You can't over think a skid plate.
To really protect your motor and trans, your going to need something custom fabbed.
The Baja Shop is O.C. they do nice work.
I used 3/16 aluminum on my baja, and 16 car. I'm going to be doing the same on my thing.

[Captain Spalding]

How ironic it is that with the angularity of the Thing the designers thought to use a curved skid plate.