When using diamondplate, I thought the diamonds should be on the upper side so you have a smooth surface for the rocks to slide on. With the diamonds down, its more likely you will get hung up on something. I like the design though, good job!

While the diamonds up would result in a flat surface, it may be that the reduced surface area of the diamonds will give more slip. On dock plates the diamonds are up to give the fork lifts a little more traction, but they are based on hard rubber tires, extremely heavy loads on a psi basis and limited room to move. There also is the effect of very short turning radii and heavy loads grabbing for all they can at speed.. Another factor for diamonds down is more material to scrub off before you compromise the integrity of the plate.

And it is pretty too.

Would be interesting to see if there is an engineer out there that could shed light on this.

In my experience with skidding metal on rocks- the smoother the better. I wouldn't want the diamonds down because it would definitely prevent good sliding. You are almost never sliding over a broad, smooth rock. Its usually a smallish, pointyish surface. The broad ones aren't likely to reach up and hurt anything under there (making a skid necessary) anyway.

And its not likely you will "wear" it down. People have been dragging relatively thin (3/16") Toyota axles across rocks for years and years and I've never heard of any problems with them wearing down.

i agree. it is better if its smooth. i dont know what i was thinking <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. ive got hung up a lil before because of the lil bumps.

mentioned it in another post but Pro Comp has the T100 stainless steel skid plate on clearance for $69 in their "garage sale" section. I know it is for the 4" lift but it seems like too long would be way better than too short...