Man-A-Fre skid plates review

D

diggerL

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Considering replacing factory skid plates for my 03 SR5 V8. Did a search on this forum and found a mention of plates from Man-a-fre but no reviews. Anyone have any first hand experience (install and use) with the plates from Man-a-fre?

4Runner 03-09 Skid Plates

Budbuilt plates look great but are kinda costly. I'm looking for 3/8s steel plates that bolt on (no welding...). The Man-a-fre plates seem to fit my requirements at much lower price point.

Thanks

Dave
 
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Hey there! I have them and I'm very happy with them. I replaced both of the factory skids with the man-a-fre (4plus) set-up and the sliders. I've got plenty of pictures on the link in my signature. I'm in a '05 v6. My sliders are from the same maker and I'm super happy with them too.
 
Ive been thinking about getting these for a while, my stock skids are pretty beat up. Whats your best guess as to how much they weigh?
 
To each their own but I would not trust my truck with Man-a-fres. They look waay too skiny (width wise). Looks like they leave a lot open to damage. Which is why i went with Budbuilts. Just my 2 Cents
 
Maybe I'm partial to the 4Plus products since the manufacturer is local to me and the guy is really nice and is very thorough with everything I've seen him do, but I think his skids and sliders are really high quality. I really couldn't say much on the weight of them but definitely heavier than the stock ones. I'm sure if you gave man-a-fre a call they could tell you. OP: if you'd like more pics or anything, let me know. I just realized I don't have many pics online of them and not really any from their installation.
 
GG Beast said:
Maybe I'm partial to the 4Plus products since the manufacturer is local to me and the guy is really nice and is very thorough with everything I've seen him do, but I think his skids and sliders are really high quality. I really couldn't say much on the weight of them but definitely heavier than the stock ones. I'm sure if you gave man-a-fre a call they could tell you. OP: if you'd like more pics or anything, let me know. I just realized I don't have many pics online of them and not really any from their installation.
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We all have our own opinions. Hope I wasn't coming off attacking you or man-a-fre. I just have happened to see budbuilts in action so I'm partial to them. Both are 3/16" steel. Anythings better than the stock!
 
GG Beast said:
Hey there! I have them and I'm very happy with them. I replaced both of the factory skids with the man-a-fre (4plus) set-up and the sliders. I've got plenty of pictures on the link in my signature. I'm in a '05 v6. My sliders are from the same maker and I'm super happy with them too.
Click to expand...

any pics specifically of the skids?
 
DSC00250.jpg~original


You Can Contact Kurt at www.expeditioneers.com

He sells Some great Stuff and Has 4 runner skids as well...He can Prob. Match or maybe beat anyones price ..its worth checking it out.
this is just a Pic of the front ..not the whole set.
 
teampwr2 said:
DSC00250.jpg~original


You Can Contact Kurt at www.expeditioneers.com

He sells Some great Stuff and Has 4 runner skids as well...He can Prob. Match or maybe beat anyones price ..its worth checking it out.
this is just a Pic of the front ..not the whole set.
Click to expand...

I already ordered the man-a-fre. Thanks for the suggestion though. Anyone know how easy the man-a-fre will be to install? I'm assuming the bolts line up with the stock ones right?
 
Thanks for posting a picture of your front skid, Teampwr2! This is built by the same guy (4+ Plus) that builds them for man-a-fre, so other than the O I II logo it is identical. Mine has the /// \\\ slits in place of the O I II.
 
GG Beast said:
Thanks for posting a picture of your front skid, Teampwr2! This is built by the same guy (4+ Plus) that builds them for man-a-fre, so other than the O I II logo it is identical. Mine has the /// \\\ slits in place of the O I II.
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what does the install consist of? can you also tell me if the skid becomes the lowest point of the vehicle? how much lower does it sit than the stock skid?
 
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bigwebb83: Installation was a piece of cake: I made the fabricator install them (I'm a girl, I don't do that kind of stuff) plus they are heavy and I would have needed a second set of hands to hold them in place I think. But I am pretty sure they just bolt to where the OEM skids bolted to. I am unsure if the lowest point now is lower than the factory skid - I can't imagine it is much since it does use the existing attachments. I'll try to snap a few pictures of the attachments, but Teampwr's pic should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

pearlj10: Thx! When are you going to hit the trails with us? Might be going to Crown King this weekend OR installing the winch (!!!)
 
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bigwebb83 said:
Thanks. Do you know if they had to take off both of the stock skids at the front of the vehicle or just the very front? I took the very front \skid off but I'm trying to figure out if I need to take off the one behind that as well since the man-a-fre covers way farther back.
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I replaced both the front (engine) and the one behind it (transmission skid) so I'll try to answer this. If you're jut replacing the front skid, I believe you'll need to remove both stock skids. The MAF (4+) skids use all stock holes, but you'll need to remove the transmission skid and the 2 support bars. I would suggest that you'd also want to pick up the transmission skid (if you haven't already) but you'll want to make sure you're getting the right one. I've got the V6 and it uses the exact same transmission skid as the FJ. If you have the V8, MAF may not carry them in stock BUT they are available from 4+, and I'm sure MAF would be happy to special order it.
 
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After abusing my 4 piece set for a year I have found some weaknesses that I need to correct. The crossmember for the transfer case skid has bent from contact with rocks and after I bent it back it keeps bending after almost every trip. I am going to try to reinforce it with some 1/4 inch angle and see what happens but I might try to use the Bud Built crossmember instead. The design of the cross bar is not strong enough for my use, but the rest of the skids are holding up very well.
 
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