The VW is a rugged little car as it comes from the factory , but for
off road use , there are many areas where you can improve on Dr. Porsche's
design .
Wether we play on fire roads , desert trails or deep mud , protecting
our vehicle from rock damage is a primary concern . Desert Racers and
rock crawlers have known from the begining that one well placed rock can
quickly end thier day , and cause a healthy repair bill , once they manage
to get towed home . While many of us will never race the Baja , or run the
Rubicon Trail , protecting the bottom of our Beasts is no less important .
Some off road vehicles spend thier entire life in the dirt and rocks without
a scratch to be found , but that is a rare Beast indeed . Most of us have
hit stumps , banged rocks and abused parts of our vehicles not designed to deal
well with sudden impact .
A 4x4's steel differential housings are the part most susceptible
to damage . In most cases , a dab of silicon will keep the truck
going and get you home under your own power . A VW however has a more
sensitive underbelly , and the same rock that caused a minor repair
on the 4x4 , can gut your Bug or Rail , leaving you with the oily
remains of an engine and transaxle .
In days of old , when men were bold , and low cost , premanufactured skid
plates weren't invented , off roaders would build thier own from 1/8'th to
3/16'th in. steel plate . Today there's still the need , because of the
many custom applications creative people , such as ourselves , come up with .
Sometimes a pre-fab skid plate just wont do the job , sometimes it will . For
the purposes of this article , we will use a pre-fab skid plate . The skid plate
itself is a VW universal model , which covers the engine and transaxle
thoroughly , and is quite rugged .They are available from a variety of
sources in Dune Buggies & Hot VW's or VW Trends , among others .
One point to be made before I go on is that while most instructions are accurate
and provide you with the correct information , these were not . According
to the instructions included the plate mounts with " 3 " bolts
, one of which an engine case bolt !
. While I'm sure this was done to make the plate a bolt on kit , one
solid hit from a large rock would most likely cause your engine case to break
. After talking this over with a friend , who is a metal fabricator by trade ,
we were left scratching our heads in disbelief . If you install this kit
according to the instructions , remember , you have been warned .
This is really a 2 person job . I did it alone and don't recommend
trying it yourself . Replacing the included hardware with Grade-8 pieces
and the use of "loc-tite" or other thread locking compounds ,
are "good things" to consider as well .
Mounting the front .
We begin by jacking the car up to a comfortable level and securing it on
jack stands . The front of the plate is secured by the transaxle (= txl)
to frame mounting bolts . . First , remove the two mounting bolts and
carefully lever the txl up a small amount with a pipe or bar .
Second , position the plate mounting point BETWEEN the frame mount and
the txl mount . With the plate in position , line up the bolt holes and let the
txl back down . Insert , loc-tite and tighten the bolts . Now comes the fun part
.
How to mount the rear .
Other than following the wisdom of the instructions , you have to custom
mount the rear of the skid plate . The tube chassis of the Rail makes a
strong secure area to mount the included brackets (see
special note below ) . First , jack up the rear of the plate , leaving
at least 2 inches between the bottom of the engine/txl and the plate itself
. Next , align the brackets alongside the lower chassis tubes and the
plate . Mark the plate for where the new holes will need to be
drilled . Lower the skid plate and drill the new mounting holes .
Now , loosely bolt the brackets to the plate and before lifting it
back into the previous position , prepare the tube of the chassis for welding
. With the assembly back in position , weld the brackets to the tubes .
After reinstalling the bolts with loc-tite , Tighten securely and congratulate
yourself on a job well done !
With a Baja , the tube steel of the bumper may not be strong enough to
support the plate in the event of an impact . We can use the above method safely
with one exception . Weld a 12 inch section of one inch angle
iron along the outer length of the lower tubes to distribute the load
.
With a rear skid plate installed , your VW is much better prepared for
dealing with mother natures little suprises . In a future installment , we will
be bringing you a custom build up of a front skid plate / pushbar combo ,
for keeping the Desert Beast's nose safe and happy .
* SPECIAL NOTE *
The included brackets are not suitable for hard useage . If you
anticipate "using" the skid plate often , you will need to make
stronger brackets .
Well this concludes part 2 of "Beefing the Desert
Beast- chassis / suspension" , the second in an ongoing series of
articles on upgrading the VW's running gear for off-road useage . It is our hope
that you find this information useful and informative . Remember to work
safely , and always secure your vehicle before begining any work .If
you have an interest in writing tech tips or how to articles for Off-road-com. ,
we would love to have them . Send comments / questions to
lenhart@off-road.com
