Exhausting work

Two weeks ago I put on a new Savvy aluminum gas tank skid plate. A week ago I took it out on the trail to test it. The skid plate works great -- it tucks the gas tank 1 1/2" higher than the OEM skid, and combined with the longer/stiffer rear springs means that I no longer bang my gas tank skid on every friggin' rock I drop off of. Unfortunately it also means that my exhaust pipe and my tow hooks were what now dragged.

You can see where the tow hook was mounted, I've already removed it in this picture, but it mounted through those two bolt holes to that tab welded to the bumper bracket. I don't need it anymore because I've added a receiver hitch D-ring. You can also see that the exhaust pipe extends well beyond the gas tank skid, and that it's somewhat beat up. In fact, it even got knocked upwards when coming down onto a rock to where it got a dent in it from that tab. But never fear, I have a solution to this issue:

Yes, Mr. Sawzall, complete with welding gloves and goggles to protect me hands and eyeballs. You can also see how far that exhaust pipe sticks back beyond that gas tank skid. If I ever backed up over a rock, I'd destroy my entire exhaust system. So I'm going to cut it flush with the gas tank skid with said Sawzall, and...

And voila. Cut off flush with the gas tank. Actually, slightly angled, so that the part near the gas tank is flush with the gas tank, while the part near the outside of the Jeep is a little forward of the gas tank. This should keep the exhaust pipe somewhat safer than when it was out there dangling in thin air. If you clicky on the picture to embiggen it and look at the piece on the ground, you can see that the tip of the exhaust pipe had been beat up so often over the years that it wasn't even round anymore!

And that's the end of this exhausting (heh) episode of Mod My Jeep...

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin