I think james did. He rallys his gv. I would order one if i was not broke

Ya I ordered one.  I was thinking it would've been nice if JDMCRX and Bzzr2 got them as well because then we could have all 3 shipped to 1 address in 1 box and maybe save on shipping.

Rallies in the area have been very slow in fact the last rally I did was the one before my front diff actuator quit, back in March.  Every one is either too far away or evening mid-week short rally.  I get off late in the afternoon 6pm officially, but sometimes up to an hour later, by the time I get home, wind down, eat, and shower, it's too late to head out to some rally mid-week.

And ya I'd like to go on another stock friendly ride but with less water!  I don't need to tell you that river muck and gravel gets EVERYWHERE when you're wading through ponds and streams.  I won't be going on that particular run again, I must've spent 3hrs at work after we closed with the GV up on the lift flushing out every nook and cranny with the garden hose, and cleaning out all the brakes.

James

Bzzr2, I was wondering if you have had many issues with your passenger side CV seals with the lift you have on your truck?  Do you have those spacers on your axle which drop your front differential down an inch and cant it to the rear a little?   I was changing the oill on Buster yesterday and noticed there appears to be quite a bit of oil accumulated on my passenger side diff where the axle goes into the housing.  I wiped it all off then poured in a couple ounces of gear lube.  I had it up on the ramps so the body was canted to the rear a little.  It took about hallf of the oil before it started spilling out the front of the diff, so it hadn't leaked much, but I'm think the seal is going - gping and will soon be gone.

Oh yeah, at the same time I also noticed a little oil on the housing of my new (less than 15K) front passenger side strut housing as well.  If the seal is blown on that I will REALLY be disappointed.  I haven't even had my truck out on a trail to beat on this thing yet!  I bought Monroes.  Ff Mopnroes are crap then I'm double screwed because I already bought a second set for my other truck.

For those of you that have sent in your deposits the wait is over! Please E-mail me immediately with your addresses and I will respond with the shipping costs and payment info.


The new AFTERMARKET4X4 1999+ Tracker, Vitara, GV, XL-7 Gas Tank Skids are finished! I picked them up today and here are the pictures of the first one that was quickly painted and immediately shipped off to the the Badlands in Attica, Indiana for the 2008 ZookiMelt this weekend:










The Gas Tank Skids have been designed a little differently than the 1st generation Track/Kick skids, but are guaranteed to be just as strong! They weigh approximately 40 pounds each and are made from 10 gauge steel and as you can see from the pic's there is quite a bit of protection from on and off-road damage as well as from gas theives!

As soon as someone receives their skid plate PLEASE post up a few installed pic's as I do not have a 1999 or newer vehicle here to install one on.


Sean DeVinneyAFTERMARKET4X4|removethispart|@cox.net
www.AFTERMARKET4X4.com

Bzzr2, I was wondering if you have had many issues with your passenger side CV seals with the lift you have on your truck?  Do you have those spacers on your axle which drop your front differential down an inch and cant it to the rear a little?   I was changing the oill on Buster yesterday and noticed there appears to be quite a bit of oil accumulated on my passenger side diff where the axle goes into the housing.  I wiped it all off then poured in a couple ounces of gear lube.  I had it up on the ramps so the body was canted to the rear a little.  It took about hallf of the oil before it started spilling out the front of the diff, so it hadn't leaked much, but I'm think the seal is going - gping and will soon be gone.

Oh yeah, at the same time I also noticed a little oil on the housing of my new (less than 15K) front passenger side strut housing as well.  If the seal is blown on that I will REALLY be disappointed.  I haven't even had my truck out on a trail to beat on this thing yet!  I bought Monroes.  Ff Mopnroes are crap then I'm double screwed because I already bought a second set for my other truck.

pm sent..

Sean, I haven't sent a deposit... can I line one of these up for myself however? Shipping would be to area code A1B 1B6 in Newfoundland, Canada. I can do PayPal, Western Union, etc...

Let me know,
-Glenn

I did have a large number of these Gas Tank Skids made so there are many more Gas Tank Skids (as well as other skids) available. Please E-mail me directly at AFTERMARKET4X4|removethispart|@cox.net regarding the skids or ANY of my products. The original reason for this post by Davboy was to get the "Group Buy" going. I am not to "sell" them on the ZW forum as it is against their policies so will I need to take care of it directly through E-mails/phone calls in order to adhere to their policies.

Sean DeVinney
AFTERMARKET4X4|removethispart|@cox.net
(757)685-6161

Already sent Sean an e-mail.  Rest of the money's on it's way.  I just wanted to post and say: man, that is some sexy steel.  It'll look even better with a good helping of rock rash.  Mmmm, rock rash.

sent payment out yesterday about noon...   

Here is #0001 INSTALLED!

The fit and finish is OUTSTANDING! It took me, literally 20 minutes to install...

Tank looks good. What was the hardest part of the install?  What tools did you need? Also how about some info and more pics of the your zuk 

Tank looks good. What was the hardest part of the install?  What tools did you need? Also how about some info and more pics of the your zuk 

The hardest part was.... The sand and dirt falling in my eyes while I was removing the stock skid.. lol
All you need is a 14mm socket/ ratchet and a floor jack (or another set of hands to hold the new skid in place.
I loosened the strap bolts, almost all the way... then put the skid in place. Removed the bolts and jacked it up into place. Then, it's just a matter of lining up the holes and putting the bolts back in.... VERY simple... I'll start a new thread with a few pics of my rig... 

My tank skid arrived wednesday, I think.  Looks good.   

The only gripe I have is that it doesn't use the same mounting points as the factory "tinfoil" skid.  Instead the new tank skid uses the same mounts as the actual tank-straps themselves, so I'm going to have to try to find or make some double-ended bolts to be able to drop the tank skid only and not have to support the tank.

Other than that, can't wait to put it on, hope to have it on by the end of this week.  I have a big exhaust system I got from JDMCRX  I still have to put on, maybe I'll be able to do both at the same time.

James

Ok I stayed late after work and got the tank skid installed.  Now remember my GV is bone stock as far as the tank skid is concerned, no body lift or anything.

Bell you must have been really lucky for it to have been easy.  I wasn't so lucky.  For me, it was simple (as in the concept of installing it) but it wasn't so easy for me.    And I had the GV up on the hoist and was using a tranny jack to hold the skid up!

Pulling off the old "tinfoil" skid was absolutely no problem.  I had it off when I was oilspraying it when I first got it, and put lots of anti-seize on the bolts when i put it back in.

The tank strap bolts were a different story.  I started working them loose but the left-rear bolt SNAPPED on me.    It was at this point I started cursing.  I'm going to weld brackets to the tank skid so that it mounts to the nice strong frame the way it should, sometime in the near future (before winter I hope!)

Oh, if you have a trailer hitch installed, I recommend pulling the hitch off the truck while the skid is being installed, just so you can get your fingers in there better while you fiddle around with the tank bolts getting all those holes lined up and not cross threading them back in!  Again my hitch came off really easy because it had only been installed in the spring.

Back to the installation.  Drilled out the broken bolt and tapped it for a 9/16" bolt (it's all I had, and it's 9/16" so a 14mm will still work).  The other bolts all came out allright.  Fast Forward.  Got the tank skid installed, up to the last bolt I'm about to put in, the right-front bolt (it's where the fuel filter is on my GV), and I'm wondering why it won't tighten in all the way.  Turns out the tank skid is hitting the frame, specifically the round tube part that goes from one side to the other, just on that side.    So yeah I'm gonna have to carve a notch into the skid too real soon, when I do those brackets.   I put the bolt in and tightened it up as much as I could for the time being.

James

As I recall, Jon had pulled his gas tank during his build (late last year or earlier this year) to check it out so he hadn't had it mounted back in his truck too long.   I'll probaby experience some of your issues as mine has never been out either AND I have a tow bar to contend with as well.   Onward thru the fog!!