Best skidplate material?

[roktoy]

To someone who has played with various materials......what seems to slide the best over rocks?

Aluminum, delrin, teflon, G10, carbon fiber or ???? Or is there significant difference between these?

Jay

 

[rockwerks]

To someone who has played with various materials......what seems to slide the best over rocks?

Aluminum, delrin, teflon, G10, carbon fiber or ???? Or is there significant difference between these?

Jay

IVe been using 1/4" abs, durable and slippery and lighter than delrin

carbon fiber when scratched frays and can cause failure (stress risers)

teflon is slipperrrry but hard to come by in sheet form

alum is hearty but heavier

there is no perfect material

 

[JasonInAugusta]

Best stuff I've found is 1/8" teflon-impregnated Delrin from McMaster.

 

[BENDER]

I've been using Delrin for the skid plates and links on my crawlers for awhile now, it works great. I have broken a few Delrin links though.

 

[Unholy]

Best stuff I've found is 1/8" teflon-impregnated Delrin from McMaster.

I've been using Delrin for the skid plates and links on my crawlers for awhile now, it works great. I have broken a few Delrin links though.

Yeah... but what do you guys know about crawlers... it's not like you ever won any titles or anything...

 

[run2jeepn]

I've used cutting boards with good results. But I'm just cheap. It's real easy to work with pretty strong, slick, light weight,and Cheap. Under a dollar.

 

[Jamus]

Do you guys sand the cutting boards down smooth? Only ones I've found were all textured. What I think would work great is the plastic bottom part of the bag things at walmart or any store. It's white and really slick. Reminds me of that UMDH(or some letters) stuff the 1:1 crawlers use for skids.

 

[Ace]

The cutting boards are most likely UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) which makes a great skid plate.

UHMW is pretty cheap, kind of a pain to machine because it burr's up and it's a pain to clean the edges after machining.

 

[sambmx]

Ive run alot of diffrent skidplates my favorite was stainless steel, strong slick and whats better than steel grinding on rocks?

 

[Offroader5]

Aluminum tends to be soft enough that it allows the rocks to dig into it, slowing your progression. I'll throw in another vote for Delrin. I use Delrin on 1:1 rigs as a type of bearing material between two moving steel pieces. It glides pretty well without wear.

 

[Canadian Crawler]

ive had alot of success with 22ga sheet steel, you can get it from Canadian tire or any other auto parts store i imagine. Is super easy to form, cut yadda yadda yadda and its dirt cheap.

 

[roktoy]

Thanks for the info.....
Jay

 

[FrankyRizzo]

WD-40 works well.

 

[LIKES2CRAWL]

WD-40 works well.

I have a hard time picturing you out there spraying down the rocks with WD-40.........

 

[FrankyRizzo]

I have a hard time picturing you out there spraying down the rocks with WD-40.........

Don't knock it till you try it.

 

[ColquittCustom405]

Don't knock it till you try it.

LMAO!

 

[RD400]

High density poly-etholene. Commercial kitchen cutting board. It is really tough and has a waxy property to it, not to mention it is smooth as glass. This stuff slides over rocks very well.

 

[phishead1101]

The cutting boards are most likely UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) which makes a great skid plate.

UHMW is pretty cheap, kind of a pain to machine because it burr's up and it's a pain to clean the edges after machining.

I second this! The UMHW is a high impact, super dense poly that takes a beating and slides off even the toughest rock surfaces!

 

[run2jeepn]

WD-40 works well.

I heard thats what he does at compd to help himself out.

 

[Gimbal]

Best stuff I've found is 1/8" teflon-impregnated Delrin from McMaster.

I'll second that. I tried the "etched" teflon from there before. They put some sort of chemical on it so you can glue it. Only prob I had with it is it doesnt hold up that well. But then it's "plastic" so what do you expect.

Next question- can you rit dye teflon? I just bought a flexible cutting board at wally world for next to nothin but it's that cheezy blue color...