This is a version of one my post that was lost with the hard drive failure.

I already had an AFTERMARKET 4X4 skid plate for my fuel tank and for my front axle housing, but nothing was available on the market for the transfer case on 2nd gen trucks.  The back end of my transfer case drops down like all the Suzuki IFS trucks.  The bottom is just hanging in the wind waiting to be popped by something I roll over.

Since nothing was available on the market I decided to build one myself.  A guy had an OEM transfer case skid off a 1st gen truck for sale on Craigslist so I decided I would build one similar in design... but I wanted one built out of thicker steel.  Something along the lines of the thickness of the skids I bought off of AFTERMARKET 4X4.

So I went to my local metal salvage yard (Joe's Salvage) and found a couple pieces of 3/16th plate steel that were about 18" wide X 24" long that had been cut out of something.  I brought them home and started measuring under my truck to figure out how to fabricate the skid.  I came up with two measurements.  I transferred the two measurements to one of the steel plates, then used my 4 1/2 grinder (with a metal cutting wheel in it) to cut a channel along both of the lines so I could break the plate over and get the angles I needed where I needed them.  After I had the folds to the angles I wanted, I used my wire welder to run weld beads across the cuts to fill in the cuts and stiffen the metal plate back up.

I measured the two holes that exist in the transfer case cross member and then drilled the two holes into the new skid to support the front of the skid plate.

For the back plate support, I decided to use the same mounting clamps as the stock skid had used, but again, I wanted them made of beefier metal.  I had some 1/4" steel plate strap that was about 2" wide, so I took some measurements and cut them to length.  I had a piece of heavy pipe that was about the same diameter as the rear crossmember on my Tracker, so I chucked the strap up to the pipe in my oversized bench vise and used my 1 1/2# hand sledge to coax the strap into the shape I needed.  Then I clamped the new skid and these two new mounting straps into place on the truck and drilled through the skid and the straps to ensure i had a nice, tight alignment of the bolt against the cross member of the frame.

I also cleaned off my transfer case crossmember and the rear tube crossmember and put a couple coats of POR-15 on them to prevent rust formation where the plate contacted these crossmembers.

After I had the plate shaped and the attachments drilled, I cleaned the rust off, then wiped it all down with some Xylol and gave all of it two coats of POR-15 (that I had left over from doing my rockers).  After letting it dry overnight, I gave it a coat of Rustoleum semi-gloss black.  Yeah, I use a LOT of Rustoleum semi-gloss black.  I should be on their board of directors.

After all the paint dried, I mounted the transfer case skid into place.  I mounted it with four bolts.  No, this won't survive turtling the truck atop a rock, but it works for the midwestern areas I drive in.  If i venture out west, I might pull it off and weld some of the 1/4 angle iron around the edges to make them even more stiffer, like boardhnter suggested and as he did for his skid.

Here is how my transfer case looks from below now.  Best of all, I made it myself.  I think I have about $30 in it, including the new grade 5 bolts and nuts.  I didn't count the POR-15 because it was left over from an earlier project on the rockers.