How to keep the oil pan out of harms way.

[Bullet Ride]

found this one from about two weeks after original install.

It's hard to tell, but has your right offset CAB rotated? If you don't drill into the lollipop and put a set-screw they have a tendency to creep over time.

And just to stay on topic, here's my home made skid plate. The plate is 3/16" thick stainless steel. The hoop is 1.5" square tube with a 1/4" thick wall. Luckily I haven't had to bash anything too hard yet, but overall it's a pretty solid skid plate.

[mpowerful]

I do it with a rake.

[Bullet Ride]

The good old disposable factory skid plate lol.

[mpowerful]

Disposable? I seriously beg to differ. This thing is a beast. It has taken massive shots and so far itbhasnt even bent a little. Id say it takes a knock atleast 2 times a week. Potholes in uptown new orleans can swallow a car too so id say this thing is holding its own.

[TobyB]

Dry sump?

ARE pan? D'oh, nope, they don't list one...

t

[doktor_b]

It's hard to tell, but has your right offset CAB rotated? If you don't drill into the lollipop and put a set-screw they have a tendency to creep over time.

i will have to get back under there and check. the lollipops and CABs were already in place when i bought the car. MOF, they're the only part of the front suspension i haven't replaced. it's about to come off the road here very soon for a lot of surgery this winter, so i'll be sure to get that sorted before spring.

thanks!

[JGee]

i have some pics of the damage on my instagram and in my phone. i'll dig some up or you can scroll thru the instagram (user handle doktor_b)

when i offered the HIK FAB skidder up to my car originally, it hung down way too far for my application. so i removed ~1" from the ends of the bash bar. required a little coaxing to get everything together, but a press-fit is a solid connection, right? lol *had i not trimmed the bash bar, my skidder to ground clearance would have been 0 to -.75" i then had ~.75" from road to skidder. as stated previously, i raised the engine a half inch as well as lowered the rear of my car to unload the front suspension and level the car. i have ~1" from skidder to road now. although it contacts the road frequently, it doesn't sustain the jarring impacts it once had to endure.

when i broke the pan thru the skidder, it did deform the pan pretty severely. it was bent up into the pan and had collapsed both angle iron supports at the point of contact. i straightened the skidder and the supports. i then re-welded the supports to the skidder to help add some more rigidity. the supports are now fully welded to the skidder.

the bash bar also was deformed slightly. the bar was 'pushed up' in the middle and subsequently opened up the "U" shape and slightly separating the posts where they bolt to the cups welded to the chassis legs. i was able to overcome this during reinstallation with just a ratchet-strap to squeeze the "U" back into shape.

couldn't tell you my serial number off hand, but i can tell you that my name is Chris Balich and that i live in Indianapolis.

if i can be of any more assistance don't hesitate to contact me on here or via email. drb.loa@gmail.com

i'll work on some carnage pics...





you can see the only crack in the oil pan in the first pic.
the second shows how well the ribs wear from a lot of abuse. the bend is between the front 3 holes for mounting and the large centered hole.
the third is post-straightened and re-welded (not pretty, but strong and with good penetration).

found this one from about two weeks after original install.


you can see some bending up a few inches behind the bash bar, but you can also see just how tough the skidder is. i am not nice to it and it chews up whatever i run over. lots of sparks, but being steel, it can be repaired or reinforced as necessary. it is really a quality product and i would recommend one to anyone who drives an e30. i love this skidder.

Very interesting, Cutting an inch off the hoop bar means you are well into the bends and ya defiantly a press fit. The skid plate it self is now angled instead of flat which is evident by all the wear on the rear of it. I believe it is also why the oil pan cracked since the hoop bar is no longer taking the brunt of the lower obstacle impacts, the plate is. I can not recommend doing this but, Nice job.;) I can recommend building those "V" ribs up again with weld beads.

Maybe we need a super severe duty plate. One that you would have to raise the motor to install it. One made out of heat treated chromoly and so on.

JH

[doktor_b]

Very interesting, Cutting an inch off the hoop bar means you are well into the bends and ya defiantly a press fit. The skid plate it self is now angled instead of flat which is evident by all the wear on the rear of it. I believe it is also why the oil pan cracked since the hoop bar is no longer taking the brunt of the lower obstacle impacts, the plate is. I can not recommend doing this but, Nice job.;) I can recommend building those "V" ribs up again with weld beads.

Maybe we need a super severe duty plate. One that you would have to raise the motor to install it. One made out of heat treated chromoly and so on.

JH

the bit that i cut off the bar leveled the plate. it also brought it very much closer to the pan. i raised the engine after all that just to increase the distance between the plate and pan.

i still like this skidder setup a lot. kudos for a well thought out and well executed product.

*my only input for revision would be to make the straights of the uprights (of the bar) longer and to tighten the radius of the 90 degree bends. (to ease any adjustment to the height of the bash bar.)

[Northern]

I have thought about raising the engine, but that is difficult because I do not have a engine hoist that is accessible. But before I automatically cross this option off of the list, I want to know more information about the engine raise. I have heard it causes several drive shaft and drive shaft bearing problems, but some people say its harmless. Also I have heard that it causes shaking and vibrating in the car. This would be a decent method to raise the pan up a little, but I would need some solid evidence that this is a safe method.

Alright, I have raised the engine in my M20. I bought a full set of the shitty lencas bushings 2 years ago and installed them. One of many side effects was that the motor mounts were an inch or more taller than the OEM ones they replaced. My oilpan now sits somewhere between 1/2" and 1" higher than my subframe.

My steering rack has a flat spot all the way across, and my subframe has multiple spots of damage, but I haven't hit my oilpan since.

I don't have a skidplate because I was too cheap to buy one when I wanted one. Now, I haven't bottomed out the pan in a long time, so I feel like a skidplate would only take clearance away. I have about 2" of clearance on a good day, and a skidplate would hang at least an inch lower than that.

I will say that the "shaking and vibrating" is bullshit. The only way that will happen is if something is broken already, and as far as driveline problems, I still have none, with the OEM guibo, csb, ds, diff, halfshafts, etc. Two years of 50mile commutes with autox days in between and nothing is noticably worn, even on old parts that have had 23 years to weaken.


Also, you do not need an engine hoist to change motor mounts or add shims. Use a jack with a piece of 2x4, plywood, whatever under the oilpan. It works fine.

[bigredguy]

Alright, I have raised the engine in my M20. I bought a full set of the shitty lencas bushings 2 years ago and installed them. One of many side effects was that the motor mounts were an inch or more taller than the OEM ones they replaced. My oilpan now sits somewhere between 1/2" and 1" higher than my subframe.

My steering rack has a flat spot all the way across, and my subframe has multiple spots of damage, but I haven't hit my oilpan since.

I don't have a skidplate because I was too cheap to buy one when I wanted one. Now, I haven't bottomed out the pan in a long time, so I feel like a skidplate would only take clearance away. I have about 2" of clearance on a good day, and a skidplate would hang at least an inch lower than that.

I will say that the "shaking and vibrating" is bullshit. The only way that will happen is if something is broken already, and as far as driveline problems, I still have none, with the OEM guibo, csb, ds, diff, halfshafts, etc. Two years of 50mile commutes with autox days in between and nothing is noticably worn, even on old parts that have had 23 years to weaken.


Also, you do not need an engine hoist to change motor mounts or add shims. Use a jack with a piece of 2x4, plywood, whatever under the oilpan. It works fine.

Thanks. I plan on doing that as soon as the car gets put away for winter this weekend. Just curious though, you raised the motor a full inch? That seems like alot, even for the fwd Volkswagen guys who dont have to worry about driveshaft clearance. Have you had any issues with clearance or anything of the sort?

Everyone who I have spoken to who has done it said they went up a 1/2 inch and that would be about the max. I will probably only do 1/2 of an inch but I was just curious.

[Northern]

Thanks. I plan on doing that as soon as the car gets put away for winter this weekend. Just curious though, you raised the motor a full inch? That seems like alot, even for the fwd Volkswagen guys who dont have to worry about driveshaft clearance. Have you had any issues with clearance or anything of the sort?

Everyone who I have spoken to who has done it said they went up a 1/2 inch and that would be about the max. I will probably only do 1/2 of an inch but I was just curious.

The lencas motor mounts I still have are a shitshow. They have a stud secured in a 1" long cylinder of aluminum, with a 90a polyurethane cylinder above that, and another aluminum piece sandwiching the polyurethane. with a They were originally so tall that when I closed the hood, the hoist attachment at the front and the throttlebody screw hit the hood (and dented it :hitler:)

After that happened, I replaced the top aluminum piece with a 0.070" piece of scrap aluminum I had lying around to not have the engine as high. no problems since. I don't know exactly how high the engine is compared to OEM mounts, but it is a decent amount higher.

Motor mounts are similar to the large one below, except the M20 ones have a single stud right through the center instead of the offset.

[supra89t]

I'll vouch for the E30Motorwerks/HIK Fabrication skid. My first e30 came with Bilstein/H&R and (thank God) the skidplate already installed. Incidentally, it was also my first lowered car. The look on my face the first time I whipped into the grocery drive and BAM! was probably priceless. I put the plate to good use on a curb, sideways, and many more times pulling into drives a little too quickly. I consider this skid to be a prerequisite for lowering my '91 I just picked up.

[bigredguy]

I'll vouch for the E30Motorwerks/HIK Fabrication skid. My first e30 came with Bilstein/H&R and (thank God) the skidplate already installed. Incidentally, it was also my first lowered car. The look on my face the first time I whipped into the grocery drive and BAM! was probably priceless. I put the plate to good use on a curb, sideways, and many more times pulling into drives a little too quickly. I consider this skid to be a prerequisite for lowering my '91 I just picked up.

Nothing against you, or anyone else on here, but I just simply cannot comprehend how alot of you guys actually hit things. My car has been on coilovers all the way down and modified to go lower for 2 years now, used for daily driving, and I rarely hit my pan. I know I am not the lowest, and there are people who manage much lower than I am, so Im not trying to have a big dick contest here, it just doesnt make sense to me. I just dont see how you guys lowered on springs with over an inch less drop than me are hitting things. Sorry to come off as a dick, but I think its more so how you drive than how low your car is. Oh and I forgot to mention I drive on Pennsylvania roads. Some of the worst around the US haha.

[doktor_b]

Nothing against you, or anyone else on here, but I just simply cannot comprehend how alot of you guys actually hit things. My car has been on coilovers all the way down and modified to go lower for 2 years now, used for daily driving, and I rarely hit my pan. I know I am not the lowest, and there are people who manage much lower than I am, so Im not trying to have a big dick contest here, it just doesnt make sense to me. I just dont see how you guys lowered on springs with over an inch less drop than me are hitting things. Sorry to come off as a dick, but I think its more so how you drive than how low your car is. Oh and I forgot to mention I drive on Pennsylvania roads. Some of the worst around the US haha.

O
M
G

[font=sarcasm] you're such a jerk. i can't believe you would say such things. everyone has the worstestest roads in the Milky Way and your car sits like a 4x4. you have no idea how hard it is rolling this hard. [/font=sarcasm]

[mpowerful]

I live in uptown new orleans......ill take the pepsi challenge on the roads. Streets built on swamp mud.