Thanks for the detailed and informative reply. I went out and re-measured just to verify my memory - which is apparently failing, as the front skid clearance is actually 8.6" except at one low point on the driver side, where it is just over 8". So I'm on spec after all.

The winch is mounted on a hitch plate and I put in a front hitch receiver so I can put the winch on either end of the vehicle. (I well remember trying to winch out of mudholes with a front bumper winch many years ago...) It only goes on for trips to the backcountry. Anyway, these measurements are without the winch, just the front hitch, which I think is about 40 lbs. Maybe I had measured with the winch on earlier... I'll stick it in and see how much it changes.

It sounds like a 1" front spacer lift will get me most of what I want. I might try one of the Cornfed or Daystars, they are cheap and I can probably DIY. This is my all-purpose vehicle and I like the way it drives on pavement, so don't want to mess that up, or spend a ton of money just for the few moments when I need that extra clearance. A shovel is cheaper and doesn't change the ride... and it's probably just as well if I stay away from snowdrifts...

I rented a SR5 and compared the skid plate on it with my stock trail version with KDSS. I measured 8 1/4" to the lowest part of the drivers side of my trail version. The lowest point on the SR5 was toward the back. I measured 9-1/4"

The main problem I have with the KDSS stock skid plate is the approach angle. When I bottom out the front suspension, The skid plate is more exposed and sometimes scrapes the ground. I do prefer the KDSS version over non KDSS as the on road performance is better.

The photos below were taken from the same vantage point to show the difference between the two different skids:

Attached Images

   

I can offer another data point. I have just installed a full set of RCI skid plates on my 2016 Trail with KDSS. The lowest point are the bolts that connect the front skid plate to the transmission skid plate. At that point, I measured the ground clearance to be 17.2 cm.

One must be grateful in life. That 17.2 cm is a wonderful improvement over my other vehicle, a Volvo V70, which has a mere 10.1 cm ground clearance at its lowest point.

A note on the RCI skid plates: They added less weight to my vehicle than thought. Engine, transmission, transfer case, fuel tank, rear differential, lower control arms, lower links weighed about 50 kg on my bathroom scales, which is less than the theoretical weight gain given on the RCI site. The removed factory skids and hardware weighed over 10kg. Thus the net weight added to my underside of my vehicle is under 40 kg.

Together with my LFD roof rack (20-22 kg) and console safe (4kg), my vehicle is 65 kg heavier than stock. The after-market kill switch, and electronic front parking-aid that I added, doesn't count for weight. The only planned other mod is to direct the exhaust to the side, so that it does not continuously blow hot gases towards my hitch basket. When my stock tires wear out, I'll replace them with the Toyo M55, which have the best puncture resistance.

Man, M55! I have been extremely happy with my ATZ P3. They are about as strong as it gets. But maybe the M55 is perfect for your offroading, I don't know. I do like Toyo and I have looked at M55.

It's just that I like to minimise my risk of getting a flat on the thousands of kilometres of poorly maintained dirt roads my truck sees every year, in the sparsely populated provinces of the Canadian Maritimes. I looked into various tire options, and the M55 is the most puncture resistant tire I have found in my research. The M55 is heavy but not crazily so, my memory tells me the added tire weight, over stock, comes to about 30 kg (including the spare).

Edit: I have looked up the weight of the stock tires (Bridgestone Dueler HT 684 II) and the M55. The stock tire weighs 17.7kg and the M55 weighs 24.1kg.