Aluminum skids get used

[coltm4]

These are RCI aluminum skids except for the transfer case skid which is steel. I know many people think aluminum is soft, weaker, etc, but the fact is they do their job which is to protect more expensive components from getting trashed. I do highly recommend using steel for the transfer case skid to strengthen the back edge of the transmission skid (plus weight difference between steel and aluminum is minimal here). It should also be noted the transmission skid now comes with strengthening ribs that did not come with my set, hence the nice bend in that plate. My muffler guy was quite impressed with the condition of the plates (they actually got used) and commented that he sees way too many 4x4's with nice unmolested skid plates and questioned why anyone would spend money on such capable vehicles only to take them to the mall.

The trail we were on was newly created and we were one of the first members of the public to use the new trail. I can say that those in stock suspensions like myself all had trouble getting through the filter and as a result, the club in charge of the area will be tuning the filter a bit. That being said, I am in no way an expert at off road driving. I was glad that there were more experienced and better equipped vehicles to help us through the trails. The trails are commonly known as the Yacolt Burn ORV trails in SW Washington state.

yes that is a bend in the transmission skid.

Yes, the rivets were ground off of my "custom" addition to my gas skid

Steel transfer case skid

 

[gringo8251]

Great pics! Cool to see some of the abuse the RCIs can take. Thanks for the comment about guys buying full skids and never needing them. I think it's easy to get mod crazy and sink a bunch of money into parts just because "all the guys on the forum are getting them."

Also, really cool to see you hitting the trails in a pretty stock TRD Pro.

 

[Engineer]

BFH will fix that transmission skid :happy:

 

[Jetboy]

My biggest concern with Aluminum skids is more the friction issue. They just don't slide very well on rocks as compared to steel because of the softer material. Did you notice a difference in that respect with the TRD front skid? It's made of an alloy that's really hard. Probably a lot harder temper than the rest of the skids, but I don't know. Since the most of the aftermarket skids are formed, they're probably not 6061T6 which is the most common temper. Probably 5052. I'd guess the Toyota ones are a harder temper. Toyota has tools the small guys can only dream of owning.

Since last year I've swapped my steel engine skid for a TRD Pro version and also my transfer case skid for a custom aluminum one. Ive been thinking about skinning the transfer case with a thin sheet (16ga ish) of steel for less resistance sliding over rocks. What did you think about the sliding resistance on them?

 

[wfo9]

The aluminum skids work great and are pretty much ideal for the 5th gen. Weight is your number#1 enemy in these pigs. I've beat mine hard enough that the 3/16 steel brackets bent and failed for the gas tank skid. I made 1/4" gusseted ones and the aluminum skid is still doing great.

The trans skid is simply a design flaw where some additional support ribs will help. Unfortunately, the stock crossover pipe makes putting in a proper spanned support difficult. I modified mine after switching to a Y pipe and it has since stayed 100% true.


My gas tank skid has taken thousands of hits and scrapes.. and that is an old picture when it looked better.

I run 3/8 steel on my crawler.. Sliding resistance is a non issue in my book. I've never noticed any real difference. I feel it comes out as a wash in the end. There are situations where the aluminum will scrape off and keep you going where the steel will just stop you. But it sometimes goes the other way too. Bottom line, it does not take much contact to hang you up and no real difference in the end. Now, some type of uhmw replaceable sheet could make a difference, but clearance still always wins the day.

 

[Inv4drZm]

I don't seem them lasting too long if they already look like that, how many trails/years have they been installed? Of course getting a lift and increasing tire size will decrease the amount of abuse they see if you stick to the same trail difficulty.

I would much prefer to save weight somewhere else (and money) for what I use my truck for.

 

[Jetboy]

I'm a weight weenie absolutely. I don't put anything on that doesn't have a function in order to keep weight down. All my UTV friends tell me UHMW is the only way to go because they slide so well and UTVs of course have very low belly clearance so they need all the help they can get in the bigger rocks. But UHMW skids are both heavy and have limited structure. The only way they'd work for us is as a skin on something like Aluminum structure. I'm headed down to the Rubicon again soon and parts of it end up basically sledding on the skids with the winch. So slippery skids would really help. I might do some modifications in terms of adding UHMW to the lower rear control arms and possibly the gas tank and transfer case skid to see how it works.

 

[snuffleupagus]

I went with a mix. Shrockworks steel for the engine\trans\transfer, and AL for the gas tank. There's only a 32lb difference between the RCI AL skids and Shrockworks steel for the front three, and it's low slung weight that keeps the center of gravity low'ish. The size of the gas tank skid makes it a pig in steel though, and switching that to RCI AL saves between 26-36lbs alone depending on brand. I went with the mix as I seem to bash the front three much harder, so wanted the extra bend resistance of the steel...whereas I'm usually just dragging the gas tank skid across something.

 

[coltm4]

My biggest concern with Aluminum skids is more the friction issue. They just don't slide very well on rocks as compared to steel because of the softer material. Did you notice a difference in that respect with the TRD front skid? It's made of an alloy that's really hard. Probably a lot harder temper than the rest of the skids, but I don't know. Since the most of the aftermarket skids are formed, they're probably not 6061T6 which is the most common temper. Probably 5052. I'd guess the Toyota ones are a harder temper. Toyota has tools the small guys can only dream of owning.

Since last year I've swapped my steel engine skid for a TRD Pro version and also my transfer case skid for a custom aluminum one. Ive been thinking about skinning the transfer case with a thin sheet (16ga ish) of steel for less resistance sliding over rocks. What did you think about the sliding resistance on them?

The TRD skid is MUCH harder than the RCI. I suspect you are correct abut the types of aluminum and their tempers. I thought about skinning in thin steel as well, but having used them now, I don't think the friction issue is as bad as one imagines. I suppose if I did skin in thin steel, it would be in very strategic spots. I'd rivet on a small section towards front of gas tank skid and back half of the transmission skid as those areas seem to get scraped up consistently. I'm curious why manufacturers have not gone to 2.5-3mm high strength steel like SSAB Strenx.

 

[coltm4]

I don't seem them lasting too long if they already look like that, how many trails/years have they been installed? Of course getting a lift and increasing tire size will decrease the amount of abuse they see if you stick to the same trail difficulty.

I would much prefer to save weight somewhere else (and money) for what I use my truck for.

My truck is a June 2016 purchase so not that old. They will last plenty long in spite of what damage you see. The reality for me is I put 30k on every year so I figure the truck will need to be replaced in 10 years and I don't see the skids failing within that time period. Tires and lift are on the list of mods, but I am very weight conscious as that has a far more negative effect on performance than the "softness" of aluminum.