low ride = cracked case = skid plate

[1973ta]

My low ride height recently caused an unfortunate meeting between my Tremec TKO and a sample of Atlanta pavement.

Thought I would share what happened and the (hopeful) solution in case there are other 2nd gen F-Body Guys that can avoid it happening to them.

The car: 73 TA clone on DSE suspension and coilovers. Running leafs out back w the DSE leaf setup and sits pretty low to the ground. Has an LS3 with a Tremec TKO 5 speed. As anyone with a 2nd gen can tell you these cars sit low anyways, especially the exhaust. It has a modified pypes exhaust with the 2 chamber muffler mounted vertically between the rear end and the gas tank to try and keep the exhaust off the ground. Thought I was covered. The 3 in exhaust is the lowest thing under the car.

As much as I would like to give a crazy story about how it happened I can't. I was crossing onto a bridge and hit a transition in the pavement. I was in the throttle but not giving it all the beans, prob going 50 mph tops. Iv'e been over the same spot in my daily at the same speed with no drama at all. When the car hit the dip in the transition I heard a horrible noise and felt the transmission hit the top of the tunnel. Pulled over and didn't see any leaking so I limped on home. The clutch had some vibration but everything still worked fine. Got home and looked close and knew it was a bigger problem. Transmission case cracked bad at about 11'oclock and 2 o'clock right through the bolt holes. Now it was leaking. Here's the damage...

https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=111452&stc=1

https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=111453&stc=1

[1973ta]

Not sure why the photos doubled up there...

Anyways. After sitting idle for a while was finally able to get the car into to the shop for the new transmission (used the opportunity to go with Tremec's option of shorter 1st through 3rd gears on the TKO). Talked with the guys, I knew I wanted some sort of skid plate for both the car and my future sanity so they whipped one up for me. The idea here is that it will obviously not hold the weight of the car but will crumple in and / or dent to give a barrier between the road and the trans case. It hasn't hit the ground again yet but I do feel better about it being down there. There is about an inch of airspace between the trans case and the metal plate so it does hang a little lower but ended up being about level with the exhaust. Hopefully all I will have to do is spray paint it black after it gets scuffed up but we will see. The front of the plate is curved up to keep from catching a lip and sits flush against the bell housing. It is also bolted to the bell housing in the front so I am well aware of it's weight load limitations. I didn't want to attempt to weld tabs onto the powder coated DSE front subframe. Fingers crossed it's a good solution and I don't regret not including the oil pan and bell housing. The bell housing is already shaved down to try and keep it from catching the ground and seems to be in less danger because it's closer to the front wheels. Also put stiffer springs in the front and raised the coilovers about half an inch.

Here's the pics of the plate... nothing that fancy but looks like it should help if it happens again.

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[NOT A TA]

Skid plate looks good!

[Jano4]

Ouch. Good looking skid plate.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

necessity here in ATL...

but I go more with the Magellan approach.. I navigate hard.. I just hope I dont find myself in the phillipines.

[Arrowhead]

Well that sucks, sorry for your trouble. Elegant solution though, hopefully that will solve the problem.

Not to be a downer and hopefully it was considered in fabing the plate, but if it's solid mounted to the cross member and bell housing, will there be a problem as the engine/trans are rubber mounted (I'm assuming) and the rear of the skid plate is not? Hate to see you crack the bell housing. Hard to tell, maybe the plate is thin enough where it will flex and not be an issue. If it's a problem, you could always just modify the rear mount so it can flex. Maybe elongated holes with shoulder bolts so it can twist back and forth freely, but still be secure.

[vanzuuk1]

I went low tech and put a two by four on each frame rail. No, I am not joking.Painted them black and tapered the front to match the frame rail.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

you rocked a Amish skidplate, Zuukster... lol!

[1973ta]

Thanks guys... I think it'll work. City of Atlanta department of transportation won't get the best of me again! I'm still dodging potholes and dips like they are grenades though! Arrowhead you bring up a very good point but the engine is solid mounted. Shouldn't be much movement.

VanZuuk, honestly what you did is where I started my thought process... I was imagining the plastic grind rails I used to have on skate boards but never thought of wood! I bet it works great! As much as the car is built to be abused I couldn't bring myself to do that to DSE's frame rails. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best though.


I should prob shoutout my shop. Cheap plug but these guys have done a lot for me and are now good friends after the whole build process. (They built the car and did all the fab and paint work)

It's GTS Customs in Cornelia, GA. Jerry and Brian are the owners. (Not the corvette guys from Florida) ---- (706) 776-1487

[Jetfixr320]

Just curious as to what actually made the contact with the transition in the road? Was there obvious damage like scrapes on the transmission?
Seems like the bell housing and oil pan are lower in your pictures.

[icemanrd19]

that looks great

[1973ta]

Just curious as to what actually made the contact with the transition in the road? Was there obvious damage like scrapes on the transmission?
Seems like the bell housing and oil pan are lower in your pictures.

You are correct, the bottom of the bell housing is a bit lower than even where the skid plate s mounted but the contact was on the transmission case. There were obvious and heavy scratches on the bottom of the case from hitting the road. The bell housing sits lower but doesn't seem to have made any contact. (we did shave the bottom side of the bell housing flat for a little more clearance too)

The spot in the road was a big dip that was spread across the whole lane, not a hole or high spot. The bell housing and oil pan are further forward (just about between the front wheels or just behind) and seem to have risen up as the front tires rose up the other side of the dip and didn't hit. BUT when the front wheels rose up it also compressed the suspension and pushed everything BEHIND the front wheels even lower to the ground. The exhaust and backside of the trans case had the most damage and the spots on the underside of the tunnel (from the case hitting it!) were worse from the middle to the back of the transmission. From the damage it seems like the exhaust hit, then the transmission hit and pushed the backside of the transmission up hard, cracking the case in two spots.

I haven't had the oil pan hit on anything yet and the bell housing just BARELY kisses a high speed bump. I have driven lowered cars before so I am used to the old pot hole shuffle going down the road and avoiding high spots and holes. I haven't ever had any thing like this happen before. I hope the skid plate was overkill, it was a freak occurrence, and the skid will never touch the ground but better safe than sorry!

[gmorris]

The plate looks great! I need to build something similar for my chevelle after taking out my 4l60 last year. A truck in front of me kicked up a stone I couldn't dodge in traffic. It slid under my main crossmember, creased the engine oil pan and then rolled and punched up into the front of the trans pan. Like you there was no leaking so I finished my drive to work and then home. Once I pulled the pan I realized it had broken the filter off the neck and the trans was starved the whole time. Took out 3rd and 4th. I think this plate would have saved it for sure.