3rd gen body armor, fab or purchase?

[kilowhisky]

The 3rd gen needs some armor. Would you all suggest buying kits and installing/welding them or using a local fab shop to piece something together?

I'm located in SD and i've been looking at a few kits (sliders & skid plates) but the shipping on them is outrageous.

 

[Hunter_eg]

either way it is going to cost a pretty penny I'm in the same situation

 

[Lionel_Hutz]

I had the same question on a 5th Gen. I asked one good local shop what they would charge to fab a set of sliders with a top plate. The price they quoted was slightly more than what I'm paying for a pair of RCI sliders powdercoated and shipped to my door.

The shop thought that the sliders would needed to be welded (the 5th Gen actually had tons of good bolt-on sliders), so that may account for some cost difference, but I wouldn't expect to save a ton by going local.

 

[T4rBoris]

If you have someone to weld for you, id go with $200 ebay diy kit. if you have a friend whos a regular mechanic with a welder.. that should do fine. I got lucky to buy mine at a scrap yard for $40 but had to shorten them by 20"... My only issue was me and my mechanic got drunk and welded them backwards lmfao... dont drink and weld hahaha

 

[BrianSD_42]

Sliders:
I had my sliders built right at T.he Truck Shop on Miramar Road, installed and painted for like $400 + tax. That was a few years back but I doubt it has gone up that much.

Skid plate: Savage Offroad, located in Riverside. Local pickup is possible and cheaper than shipping, at least if you take your DD to pick up the skid.

This is the way to go!

 

[theesotericone]

Sliders:
I had my sliders built right at T.he Truck Shop on Miramar Road, installed and painted for like $400 + tax. That was a few years back but I doubt it has gone up that much.

Skid plate: Savage Offroad, located in Riverside. Local pickup is possible and cheaper than shipping, at least if you take your DD to pick up the skid.

This is the way to go!

Savage skids are the way to go.

The other way to go is Stubbs Welding for sliders. Richard will make a set and ship them for cheaper then your local welding shop. I can't say enough about the quality of his work. They are beyond bomber. Here's a little story about mine. Read from post 48 on.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/242884-theesotericones-trails-bs-thread-4.html#post2815240

 

[BrianSD_42]

Yep. One of the things I like most about the savage front skid is that it comes in two pieces and you only have to remove the lower piece to access the oil drain plug.

 

[ChaseRunner]

Go with Savage. Great customer service and local. I just got his sliders welded up today.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kilowhisky]

Thanks for the heads up guys.

Ended up picking up a skid and sliders from Savage. I ended up shipping them because shipping was $34 lol...