Considering aluminum skids?

[tigger]

Just wanted to give you a bit of a reality check if you are considering aluminum skids from RCI (may apply to other brands as well). Carefully consider what you will be doing with them. If you are thinking about any type of rock crawling, aluminum may not be the way to go. The skids will not hold the weight of the 4runner and will bend significantly.

They did their job protecting vital parts underneath, but it will be a significant cost to get them repaired.

Damage pics

 

[Jeremy556]

Steel skids bend, too.

 

[mrevilandy]

Iono, experience will vary, mine bend and flex but come back to normal and hasn't let me down yet. And if if put in a situation where they do fail I probably shouldn't have been there in the first place, or my rig would be a trophy truck with full armor bumpers long travel etc

 

[Inferno1]

There's a reason they're called skid plates and not act a fool plates.

 

[STX4Runner]

Steel skids bend, too.

Shit yeah they do. I bent the hell outta mine on Golden Spike this year. Gas tank and transmission skid are taco'd. Am replacing the gas tank skid with one that has all edges formed for strength and I will try to flatten out the transmission skid myself. Below is the front edge of the gas tank skid. The steel actually split. And I was being pretty careful. Sometimes it just happens.

 

[Antman]

BFH + 15 minutes = like new skidplates.

 

[STX4Runner]

BFH + 15 minutes = like new skidplates.

I'm hoping so!

 

[nmertz1]

Really well documented, all your posts. They have been very helpful and informative for a new member like me

 

[Knight-Errant]

Thanks for sharing the pics....i was thinking of aluminum RCI plates, but I might reconsider and go steel instead. Makes me wonder how my TRD pro front skid plate would fare....hmmm.

 

[Jetboy]

At some point you may need more ground clearance. Pushing a heavy sled over rocks doesn't work all that well. That said a flat sheet of steel or aluminum isn't a great structural design. I'm sure some gussets could add a lot of strength for relatively little weight penalty.

 

[Jeremy556]

BFH + 15 minutes = like new skidplates.

I need a bigger hammer for a few of my bends. My press could fix em, if only the damn plates weren't slightly wider than the legs of the press.

 

[Knight-Errant]

Steel skids bend, too.

I think the main difference is that while both will bend, the aluminum plates get "gouged" while steel plates get scratched. That is what I'm taking away from these pics.

 

[Titanpat57]

For the the 1% to 2% of the times you actually drive off road, the aluminum RCI will be fine for 99% of the drivers. If you're hitting your skids that hard you might want to take a look at some of your driving techniques and improve on them.

 

[Antman]

For the the 1% to 2% of the times you actually drive off road, the aluminum RCI will be fine for 99% of the drivers. If you're hitting your skids that hard you might want to take a look at some of your driving techniques and improve on them.

Hiiiiiii Pat! How's the Herpes?op2:

 

[Knight-Errant]

Hiiiiiii Pat! How's the Herpes?op2:

WHAAAAAAAA ? :wow::shocked:

can you get that...from aluminum...skids? :faint2:

 

[Antman]

WHAAAAAAAA ? :wow::shocked:

can you get that...from aluminum...skids? :faint2:

He's one SICK PUPPY.

 

[wfo9]

The aluminum 1/4" skids actually resist bending more than 1/8" steel. They do gouge easier. You would have bent any skid you were running unless you would have had better support under it (or picked a better line).

Bottom line. You have to use your head and even then a skid will be sacrificed from time to time when shit happens.

I've done plenty of rock crawling. still on my original RCI aluminum skids. They are beat up pretty good, but 100% functional still. I do pick lines and use spotters, though.

Considering you have stock bumpers and those cleared... I can pretty much guarantee you took a bad line...

 

[Titanpat57]

WHAAAAAAAA ? :wow::shocked:

can you get that...from aluminum...skids? :faint2:

I know you're laying there in the dark...touching yourself...thinking of me....















F'in creep....hoto:

 

[manofsteele2003]

Just get a big ass hammer, beat them back in shape and remount.

 

[Knight-Errant]

I know you're laying there in the dark...touching yourself...thinking of me....:

Austin Powers (a "rock" combined with "bad driving") does serious damage to the fembots ("aluminum skid plates"). This post is relevant to the thread ;o)