Aluminium Chequer Plate

[Rob5464]

I have been looking at this stuff: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-...#ht_1574wt_648

I was hoping to bolt it to the bash plate; manly for cosmetics but it should strengthen it up slightly, It needs it I have already bashed the hell out of it.

I was also going to cut the tow bar arm off and use some of that to trim the bar.

What stops it from rusting? Is it the poly coating referred to in the advert?
Also Is it going to reduce cooling as the standard bash plate has holes all over it?

[yoshie]

I have been looking at this stuff: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-...#ht_1574wt_648

I was hoping to bolt it to the bash plate; manly for cosmetics but it should strengthen it up slightly, It needs it I have already bashed the hell out of it.

I was also going to cut the tow bar arm off and use some of that to trim the bar.

What stops it from rusting? Is it the poly coating referred to in the advert?
Also Is it going to reduce cooling as the standard bash plate has holes all over it?

What's it made of?

[yoshie]

A ######## just realised you are the "intake in the wheel arch" troll.

So the what stops aluminum checker plate from rusting question is the next installment.

[yorta2]

I would not bolt an aluminium alloy plate to a steel one, particularly without having a very dry rubber/plastic etc. sheet in between. As your bash plate is subject to lots of water ingress you would be asking for trouble. That trouble is in the form of galvanic or electrolytic or dissimilar metals corrosion (all the same, just different terminology). For such corrosion to occur, three conditions must be met. The metal join must be wet with a conductive liquid (of which water is definitely one); there has to be metal to metal contact (which you seem to want) and; the metals must have sufficiently different potentials (steel and aluminium alloy are far enough apart to cause this - just look at alloy boats where non-stainless screws or bolts have been installed).

Perhaps you should Google the type of corrosion as named above before making your decision.

[POPEYE]

I was wondering if he was asking why alloy dosen't rust!! it's alloy!
and in fact it does corrode after a time, it oxidises (?) ya get a white powder form on it (aluminium oxide) however it generally lasts much longer than steel, and some "mixes" of alloy last much longer than others,
anyway apart from that i dont see a real problem with faceing off a steel plate with a decent quality alloy plate, (chequerplate is useually pretty good) it's not strong tho, not a lot of good as a bash plate (on it's own), electrolytic
action shouldnt be much of a problem on a bash plate, it is/was in the plumbing game tho, in the sixtys copper shortage they used a tube called "truweld" which was basicly a steel tube with a coating that allowed it to be soldered to existing copper pipe, the result was a furring up on the inside of the joint and eventually blocking the pipe, came across that several times, all the right elements, two different metals, conductive liquid (water) and the household plumbing connected to the mains electric earthing,

anyway of you want to face off the bashplate, just clean off the old one and give it a couple of coats of red oxide, before ya stick the alloy one on, it'll probably last as long as the truck

[yorta2]

Go for it then, Mate.

[Rob5464]

Rust was obviously not a good work. Corrode was what I mean. I was under the impression it would oxidise pretty quickly.

Trying to think outside the box is not being a troll. I like alternative ideas and asking for additional opinions is what a forum is for.

Thanks for all the advice, I will red-oxide the steel first before I go ahead.

Would it be worth tiger-sealing around the edge as well to stop corrosion? If it lasts a year or two it will be more than enough.

If anyone has any thought on the cooling as well that would be good. I already know every little helps when it comes to cooling.

Thanks for your help so far guys.

[Rob5464]

(Double post)

[POPEYE]

You shouldn't have too many cooling issues with a 3lt, i know the 2.4's are the ones to watch, (i got one) gone to somewhat extreme lenghts to help cool mine, i believe the 3lt dosen't have a back up fan that cuts in on a temp sensor but you could always get an electric fan and a cheapo thermo switch, or just a flick switch in the cab to switch it on when your towing or going up hills etc, easy to wire, if you need any help with that give me a call, all ya'd need is the fan, some 30amp cable for the fan main runs, some thinner cable for the low current lines, a 30amp relay and a switch, thermo switch is a little more involved but not too bad,

[shokenore]

If anyone has any thought on the cooling as well that would be good. I already know every little helps when it comes to cooling.

Thanks for your help so far guys.

You could try using the air con I find that helps a bit with cooling.

[Rob5464]

You could try using the air con I find that helps a bit with cooling.

I don't have air con. Scrap men must have taken it.

[shokenore]

I don't have air con. Scrap men must have taken it.

Then you could use your aluminium bash plate as a heat sink that should help.