Good luck.

I don't think that there is a good way to armor a car with out a large check book

Your car is made of nothing more than thin metal, plastic and glass, none of which will stop a bullet.

You can add skid plates to the bottom of you car to help protect against rocks, stumps and such when off roading but good luck with bullets.

 

not even thin plate steel in vital areas?

 

to much weight for a standard car to do it right. I was thinking of doing it with a bunch of old Kevlar inserts I have, just doing in vital areas.

 

car made bullet proof= tooo heavy to drive forget about going offroad.

its pretty much impossible for non-millionaires. forget it. work on evasive driving/ defensive driving/ offensive driving.

 

Easy armor for a POV, don't drive in places where yah gonna get shot!

 

armoring a car

While certainly possible, it is a lot of work. Years ago in South Florida there was a company that did exactly that for well heeled customers. To start with, you will need a large sturdy frame. Too much weight will be added for a compact car chassis to support. Most of the materials can be purchased via military surplus auctions. The hardest to find items will most likely be the windshield and window glass. To minimize this, you may want to pick a 1998-2003 Tahoe or Suburban that has a good possibility of some DOD bullet proof glass & bodywork being surplussed.

First thing to consider is that a Bullet Proof Vehicle is primarily designed to stop bullets. Head of state and some "high risk owners", opt for additional armor for protection from high explosive charges.

Basically, the body is removed from the vehicle and a protective layer of thick Kevlar is sandwiched between two thick steel plates formed to surround the driveline and engine. Next the Fuel tank is replaced with a self-sealing fuel cell. Most Gasoline powered vehicles are converted to Diesel in order to minimize risk of explosion. Engines are also routinely changed in order to increase power to weight ratio. The drivetrain is also upgraded not only to allow for a 2-3 fold increase in power, but also to accommodate the extra weight and allow for tuning in order to maximize maneuverability. An auxiliary Battery and Alternator are added with a completely separate electrical emergency buss for backup electrical to power engine systems/communications and installed weaponry.

The passenger and driver's compartments are converted into a "hardened capsule". This involves removal of all interior panels where all voids are filled with cross layered sheets of Kevlar cloth that are tacky with a fiberglass. These layers are pressed between layers of thick steel or more recently, Ceramic/Carbon sheets that are thermally or chemically welded together. This material covers the sides, roof & floor. Special attention is given to the roof, behind the seats, rear door panels and hood & Firewall. Also the door frames and front & rear glass areas are reinforced and widened in order to accept replacements that are built from polycarbonate that are often 2+ inches thick. All window actuators and door locks are replaced with high security high torque units. All tires and rims are replaced with high speed (130+ MPH) equipment.

This by no means includes everything but will give you a good idea of the standard rework.

Even with all this, the vehicle is designed primarily to provide initial protection from an assassination attempt. Protection from IED type devices, RPG's and other high energy weaponry is usually done by establishment of a protective bubble of security around the vehicle. The most dangerous adversary is still a well trained marksman with a large caliber weapon using Armor piercing ammunition. Something you hopefully will not require protection from while tooling around the farm.

 

I saw a show on the tele about a company that retrofitted trucks with armor plate. Maybe it was the same one. wow did they put a lot of work into doing it. Aside from the replacement glass the interior was basically stock. The amount of welding that went in to installing the armor between the outer skin and the upholstery was significant.

One thing you can consider for an armored vehicle is buying a old armored van at auction. The ones with the simple flat plates of bullet resistant glass replacing the wind screen. They are not usually driven very hard so they are in decent shape and they have large engines.

 

I saw a show on the tele about a company that retrofitted trucks with armor plate. Maybe it was the same one. wow did they put a lot of work into doing it. Aside from the replacement glass the interior was basically stock. The amount of welding that went in to installing the armor between the outer skin and the upholstery was significant.

I saw the same show if it was on last week (History channel maybe?). You're looking at several hundred thousand dollars to do what they did. Hubby can weld, and even he said it would take a ton of work to do - more than most people are willing to put into it.

Overall weight is definitely an issue. The company profiled on the show said they consult with the owner on what vehicle to buy so that it will meet the specs needed to handle the weight. They also have to train people to drive the modified vehicles because of potential rollover.

I'd do it in a heartbeat if moola wasn't an issue. Otherwise, I think you'd be better off buying yourself some Kevlar and a good gun.

 

Okay, you wanna armor your vehicle?, First I'd recommend buying a '73-'91 Chevy or GMC Suburban, then you'd have to axles and suspension from a K3500(1ton truck). You MUST have at least 3/4 if not 1 ton suspension/axles to support the weight of armored plates, which will need to be 1/4 in. plate steel(price 1/4 in. plate, VERY expensive right now), then you'd place the plates in the doors, firewall, and rear gate. As far as protection for the undercarriage, check out the 4X4 sites for suggestions on skid plates(which are very effective by the way), you'll want skid plates on your diff's, and along your driveshafts, oil pan, tranny pan, etc. As you can see, this would cost a small fortune, but is doable, with some basic metal working skills and equipment. By the way, in the axle department, you'll need a Dana 60 front axle, which sells for at least $1,500 for a used axle,new ones are double that. If you don't support the weight, your rig will break at the weakest links.

 

thats funny, when i shoot 1/4 inch steel plate with my AK, it goes right through. guess its .22 armor.

 

Take a good long look here and decide if you really want to rely on a car for cover...


http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/thebuickotruth.htm


Made me decide it was too risky to depend on armoring a standard vehicle.

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$£££££££££££££££££ and way to heavy will cost for fuel what you would rather be spending on camping gear.

 

The big boys are paying hundreds of thousands to uparmor a vehicle. These vehicles are designed to stop, anti personel mines, artillary rounds, and crew serve weapons. I dont know who you plan on coming in contact with, but the last one of those up armor suburbans i was in had a dillion m134. Now for small arms fire,there is a much cheaper approach and jusr as effectivefor protection. first you want a large truck or suv perferably mid to late 90(more steel), fill your tires with foam the stuff you get for a fix a flat. line the inside of your doors with phone books(cheaper than steal, weighs less than kevlar and cheaper and eaiser to come by than both). and buy and install real bullet proof glass. its expensive but its worth it after all this, on your average pick up. The added weight is nothing compared to the trucks allowed payload, and shouldnt affect handling dont forget skid plates. if ieds are a big concern sandbags on the floor boards add some protection... contact me if you would like to know more

 

wood, paper, etc offers surprisingly little protection against bullets, even handgun rounds. Better than nothing I suppose, but still not great.

I would suggest buying a few of teh 'bulletproof blankets' that they sell and attaching them to the inside of the cab area. It will be expensive, but not as expensive as many other methods.

 

I had some buddies that were experimenting with auto armor. they were using 5 layers of 24 ga sheet steel, bonded too eachother with Rhino liner.

sheets were coated and plyed wet and allowed to cure befor adding the next sheet. The plyable layers of bed liner absorbed allot of the impact.

they were testing with 30-06 at 20 yards. only about 1 out of 5 got through at direct impact. and most angled impacts got lodged in the armor. The weight came out to be about one tenth of the weight of the plate they were using previously.

I dont have any of the pictures of the assembled pannels or their test pieces. I was told they were also adding sillica sand to the mix to increase stopping power.
I should get hold of them and see how it is comming.

 

I would love to see how this would have fared with a sheet of kevlar in between the laminate layers. I also wonder how it would have worked if something a little thicker than 24 ga would have worked. 24 ga is pretty thin stuff!

 

Google soft armor, there is ballistics blankets available.

For windows, reference “The Punisher” movie There basically metal shealds that slide into place.

dont knw if it would work...best just to get away from all the shooting.

 

You can also look into acrylic laminates. You can get it rated for bullet resistance or the same thickness w/o the rating for less. Look at some of the pictures of contractors vehicles in Iraq for some ideas on what's being done. Whatever way you go you will have to upgrade your suspension and probably your cooling system.

 

tranny upgrades, axel upgrades...pritty much the whole car/truck will need to be revamped.

 

You can check these guys out: North American Bullet Proof ShotGard at http://www.shotgard.com/

I've seen a 4'x8' of BB-2/6 bullet resistant composite armor, 5/16" thick @ 3.0 pounds per square foot. (UL Level 2) selling for $375.00 from a private party.

I don't know what there 1 3/8 level 8 would cost, but at 13.6 lbs per sq ft better buy a diesel powered vehicle.

 

Clyde Barrow used to put a chunk of 1/2 " plate behind the back seat of his car. He would steal only Fords because they were the only one's who had V-8's. As long as the police are behind you it probably works alright. It don't do much good when the bullets are coming from every where else as he and the young Mrs. Parker found out.

 

Go to a Military Auction and pick up a 2.5 and go from there.

 

walley was on to something there and he is part right gm prodcts dont shut off for the fuel leak, they cant i was a service ad visor for a while befor i joined the army and i used to have vehicles in the dealer ship constantly for fuel system issues and the deal was that there were faulty seals on the gas cap it would regerster a leak because it wouldnt pressurize the the check engine leak would come on, reguardless a round through the tank on any vehicle could be detrimental...

 

Not sure if I'd bet my life on it but, on the USA network show "Burn Notice" they bullet proofed a car by stuffing the inside of the door panels with phone books. They also but some kind of material on the windows but I don't recall what they said. All sounds a bit A-team or Mcgyver ish to me.

 

Burn Notice Idea is workable



I saw the episode too, and I think the phone books would work to a point (better than nothing). Take some old phone books to the range & try them out. I was impressed, & I think most people will be.

Of course it doesn't do anything about the glass, but eh... why not try it.

 

I suppose you could do it yourself with plastic/rubber to mushroom the bullet and a steel plate to stop it. Sounds like something of many sundays.

 

Dude you are nube

Dose anyone know how to effectivly armor a car from bullets and impacts? Also, dose anyone know how to armor the bottem of your car to protect it from rocks when you going off road?

skidplates, no problem

bullets, not really
but i could do a good job for $100,000
when do you want me to start

also please be aware, you can't up-weight a vehicle that wasn't designed for it without suffering the consequences. broke car, manufacturers build cars out of the cheapest parts they can for that cars weight, if you add weight, well kiss it

How about these rules
#1. don't fight in cars
#2. Don't bring a car /knife to gunfight.
#3. CAR-15 is not a car

 

get you a thin peice of metal and a phone book and test it dont take my word for it

 

Im not aware of anycar in Aus that has pressure sensors in fuel tanks, its a fairly redundadnt feature because pressure will vary wildy depending on altitude, fuel load, temperature of fuel, ambient air temp.

And this would involve a seperate probe in the top of the tank, I can see fuel pumps registering a pressure drop because of a bullet hole and fuel leaking but nothing else.

If your armouring your car id be doing the things to stop people getting in wire mesh over the windshield and all glass to stop people smashing it and getting to you things like that, good driving courses, stout bumpers and a motor strong enough to push obsticals out of the way

 

and average buttlet will loose most of its velocity after travling through your car door. line the car door with phonebooks.

and you can buy kits (asuming you have a 4x4) to under armor your car wth dimond plate.

 

and average buttlet will loose most of its velocity after travling through your car door. line the car door with phone books.

Gonna have to call BS here, I have shot lots of wrecked cars with various calibers and its hard not to notice that the rounds go through both sides of the car (door to door) even with a .38 special. I know for a fact that at 20 yards, my .45 and 9mm will defeat a phone book, especially with FMJ rounds....Also how are you going to amass hundreds of phone books, and attach them to the inside of a vehicle in a way that they don't get knocked loose or come off during the kind of driving you would encounter when someone is shooting at you? Duct tape is great and all, but shoring up hundreds of pounds of phone books would be a trick, especially if you want the doors to still open! btw speeell czeck is usuusally F7 :

 

I don't care what you do to your car, In this situation your just plain screwed. LOL:::

 

na....stop drop and roll...


Pm me your e-mail and i'll send you a pdf of this;

http://d.scribd.com/docs/5cmjdf21x27vlml14q8.pdf