SHROCKWORKS
Upgrading Undercarriage Protection With A Gas Tank Skid Plate.
Editor/Photo: Eric Bewley
ALBANY, OR – It can happen to anyone. You go out for a hard day’s wheeling and bruise your underside on several big rocks and the very next time you go to fill up your tank, it now magically only holds seven gallons instead of ten. This is not good. Samurai do get good mileage but we need every one of those ten gallons to make a full day of wheeling possible. Jim at ShrockWorks has come up with a sturdy solution to make sure that your gas tank is never threatened by rocks and trail obstacles again.
The addition of the ShrockWorks Gas Tank Skid plate is quite simple. The hardest part may be to figure out a way to brace your gas tank up while you remove the factory ‘skid plate.’ We chose to drain the gas tank using the drain plug centered in the bottom of the tank and then used a ratchet strap to hold the unit up.
1. After draining the gas tank, secure the tank, not the skid, with a ratchet strap on the driver’s side. Because the tank is extremely light when empty, we opted to let the fuel lines hold the tank on the passenger’s side. 
2. Remove factory Gas Tank Skid. There are four bolts holding it on. 
3. Using a floor jack position the new gas tank skid into place. 
4. Raise into place and fasten to the frame using the supplied bolts in the installation kit. 
5. Remove ratchet strap or chosen gas tank support, Sit back, and enjoy. 
The ShrockWorks gas tank skid was a very simple install that took less than 30 minutes to perform. We feel confident that there is no way we are going to dent this new skid and reduce our fuel capacity. The build quality was again supurb and the fit was correct and accurate. We opted to powedercoat ourselves so we can not attest to what the factory finish would be like but if it is anything like the build and fit of the product there is nothing to worry about for this is an excellently built piece of Samurai armor.
