How To: Drilling holes for OEM R/T & SRT sideskirts

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:42 am

***WARNING! measure your clips first to make sure they are in the same location on R/T skirts. I ASSUMED they are but don't have access to them to verify!***

If you buy used R/T or SRT sideskirts you have mounting clips unlike the plastic rails that the mopar kit R/T skirts come with. You are either left with removing them and using 3M tape, or figuring out where to measure all the holes. I had a stripped SRT shell so I took advantage and gathered the measurements.

As a side note, I completely forget what size drill bit was needed to drill the final hole size.

I just kept drilling a little bit bigger until the clips would engage fairly effortlessly with a light pound of the fist against the skirt. If it doesn't snap in easily, DO NOT force it. Drill the hole the next size large and try again. As you want a snug fit, but not too large that it will fall out. If I see the shell again I will find out what size the holes are and update.

Ok. To begin you will need:

- A tape measure
- masking tape
- Sharpie
- Drill and various size bits
- center punch
- hammer

first take the tape measure and sit the end 90* ledge of it (circled in red) on the top of the rocker panel door sill while the door is open. Hold the tape against the body and measure down 3/4" and mark this on the rocker panel. Do this every few inches so you can lay the tape straight.

Now lay a length of masking tape along the rocker either with the top flush with your 3/4" marks or with the marks covered up and you can measure and mark again. This line parallel to the ground 3/4" below the sill will be your line for marking off the locations of the holes to drill.

This is where patience or a friend comes in handy. You need to tape the end of the tape measure inside the rear wheel well and run the tape the length of the rocker panel and mark the measurements I have provided in the diagram.

Double or triple check your measurements because once you drill that's it!

Start with a center punch to mark the holes then start with a small bit for the pilot holes and work your way larger until the final size.

You will also need to drill 2 holes in the rear wheel openings to screw the ends of the rear skirts in place. I still havent done this yet as I've been too lazy to take the wheels back off.

As for the screws under the skirts, I used self tapping Teks screws for this. Use the shortest ones you can find. Maybe use the roofing ones as they have a rubbery seal on them which is what the OEM ones have with the mopar kit to avoid rusting.

Hope this helps.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:50 am

Good info here, I'll be trying this once I decide to remount my drivers side skirt, thanks Ryan!

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:50 am

Excellent write-up sir

One question...the last pic you have shows the tape measure with the tip pointing towards the front of the car. Should it be at the other end of the picture with the tip pointing towards the rear since the first measurment should take place at the back?

I just want to make sure I do this right the first time.

Oh, and this is stickied now as well.

Johny · Post by **Johny** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:51 am

Nice write up Ryan

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:53 am

John, that's correct. the little end of the tape measure should point the other way for clarity. I will edit the image and reload.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:56 am

Sweet. Drilling into Chtear is much less scary now

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:58 am

haha. It's always scary doing cosmetic surgery on our girls

FAC3L3SS · Post by **FAC3L3SS** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:19 pm

I like this write-up. Makes me feel better knowing that quite possibly the most anal Neon person ever wrote it.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:35 pm

I am very anal....

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:56 am

Well, that explains your back issues.

akirony · Post by **akirony** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:26 pm

Sorry for what Im about to do (picture whoring)
So I finally got around to do this and it took me all day for just this side.

but this is how it looks for now.

Yeah phone pics at night suck.
I got this drill bit set from Home depot.

I measured the thickness of the r/t clips and found that the 5/16 is almost a perfect fit for them. Did manage to get a few off center so I skipped those few. And for the bottom I used some clip-ins from the job at mazda by using the 3/8 bit and clipping them in.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:57 pm

very nice. Thanks for adding your pictures. Sorry it took you so long to do that man

Came out good though

FAC3L3SS · Post by **FAC3L3SS** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:51 pm

I'm contributing now, but don't take all my shit to be exact. Basically, I'm saying they may not all be this way, but here's what I encountered. . .

I followed this how-to to a "t" and texted Ryan a few times to clarify where I was still slightly confused. My R/T skirts are used like shown here, NOT the Mopar skirts kit from the dealer.

I measured 3 times. First (he said it's helpful with a partner, and this I believe since I did this alone) I measured the entire length and got all those base measurements marked and labeled on the rocker panel. Then, for funsies, I did the math to find the distance BETWEEN each Christmas tree clip to make sure my markings were accurate. They were increasingly off. First one was maybe 3/8" and by the last two or three I was basically an inch off on the holes. THEN I physically measured the clips on the skirts, which turned out to be difficult and gave me awkward measurements. When it came down to it, I used this write-up for the back three holes on the skirts, then just mocked them up and marked where they needed to be screwed (eyeballed, yes, but I was 3/4" down and taped off, so I wasn't WAY off), and made "proper" markings this way. Then I just slowly made them bigger until the clips snapped in. Not all of them are all the way snapped in either lol, but they aren't moving. Are mine perfect? Hell no. I cut my front splash guard PROPERLY though and secured them bishes tight.

Yeah, Adam half-assed it. Umad? What'd you expect?

That being said, I'm not saying everyone else's are this way, and Idk why they'd differ or whatever, but I know my R/T skirts definitely did NOT match up with the SRT measurements.

BTW that squirrel is boss.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:48 pm

Sorry your results were different. I feel bad

In my defense though, since I didn't have these I DID put a red disclaimer up top

Still looks good! Now slam that bitch!

FAC3L3SS · Post by **FAC3L3SS** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:30 pm

I agree. Without this write-up, I wouldn't have even known where to start. They'd probably be 3M taped

Bump for a solid write-up, regardless of my results.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:32 am

FAC3L3SS wrote:Bump for a solid write-up, regardless of my results.

Hehe...you bumped a sticky

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:36 am

Danteneon wrote:
FAC3L3SS wrote:Bump for a solid write-up, regardless of my results.
Hehe...you bumped a sticky

...Giggity...?

FAC3L3SS · Post by **FAC3L3SS** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:11 am

Lol. Shewsh Dante! I was trying to let people know this is still a good write-up even though Ryan is a misleading a-hole who can't handle roller coasters.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 12:51 pm

butthurt, backhurt, AND guthurt! fml.

Thanks for the props though. Now everyone knows it works for SRT skirts!