Skid Plate Discussion

[Taylor20]

It's been awhile since skid plates have been discussed. I am looking for opinions and/or experience with thickness and brands.
Keeping it on a budget I am considering Coastal Offroad or BudBuilt. Yes Savage are great skids, but the shipping price is ridiculous in my opinion.

So I am trying to decided between 1/8" or 3/16" skids from both companies. I don't do any serious wheeling but 1-2 times a year right now, and most trails don't have any major rocks to worry about. For that I am leaning towards the 1/8" skids to keep weight down. I figure that if they get bent any I can flatten and reinforce if needed.

What is y'alls thoughts?

 

[WeakSauz]

While pricey, I am thoroughly happy with my 3/16" Shrockworks skids. Very heavy and great powder coating quality.

The Savage skids are fine, too, but I'm OCD and didn't want "Savage" etched into my radiator skid. I understand it's the brand name, but to me, it makes the truck look like it belongs to a child (in the eyes of the general public)

 

[Joelzy]

The Savage skids are fine, too, but I'm OCD and didn't want "Savage" etched into my radiator skid. I understand it's the brand name, but to me, it makes the truck look like it belongs to a child (in the eyes of the general public)

I totally get that, not a huge fan of brands stamped all over things like that.



love to build my own full skids but we'll see if i can find some plate for a decent enough price that its not more worthwhile to buy someone else's design.

 

[Bad Luck]

Yes Savage are great skids, but the shipping price is ridiculous in my opinion.

I don't know what your shipping quote is, but mine is $127 for the full set. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[MStudt]

I love my RCI skids. Available in both aluminum and steel.

Mike

 

[JZiggy]

RCI wasn't making aluminum skids when I participated in the group buy. Lots of pictures and descriptions of them but when it came to purchase it they were not available. I don't see aluminum 3rd gen options listed on their site now anyway. Design has poor coverage of the bottom of the radiator. Sorry, but the whole experience with RCI pissed me off.

Savage makes a great front skid setup. The shape is similar to the factory skid. Having two pieces makes it easier to drop them (or just one) when you need to change your oil. They have held up fine to getting bashed.

What are you getting quoted to ship to KY? Being on the West Coast the shipping was like $30 for me.

 

[sleepydad]

It's been awhile since skid plates have been discussed. I am looking for opinions and/or experience with thickness and brands.
Keeping it on a budget I am considering Coastal Offroad or BudBuilt. Yes Savage are great skids, but the shipping price is ridiculous in my opinion.

So I am trying to decided between 1/8" or 3/16" skids from both companies. I don't do any serious wheeling but 1-2 times a year right now, and most trails don't have any major rocks to worry about. For that I am leaning towards the 1/8" skids to keep weight down. I figure that if they get bent any I can flatten and reinforce if needed.

What is y'alls thoughts?

++ for the 3/16" Shrockworks

I have a full set but I take them off unless I'm planning on trail riding.

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

how about BudBuilt skids?

 

[Ser1clymb]

I've been really happy so far with the RCI skids. 3/16 is heavy and beefy, but it helped soften my springs a bit up front and I'm not worried at all about anything happening to them.

When I was originally searching they were the cheapest option because they had a sale going on (20% or 30% I think) and came powder-coated. I had a great experience with them.

 

[Taylor20]

I don't know what your shipping quote is, but mine is $127 for the full set. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

What are you getting quoted to ship to KY? Being on the West Coast the shipping was like $30 for me.

$155 shipped for the full set.

RCI's are not an option, the coverage is minimal for the price.

 

[Taylor20]

how about BudBuilt skids?

Did you read my original post?

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

I did. but there were no comments about the Budbuilt skid plates that's why I asked

 

[Taylor20]

I did. but there were no comments about the Budbuilt skid plates that's why I asked

Ok, sounded like you were asking me about Budbuilt as an option.

 

[turbo8]

I had a budbuilt front skid plate for a little bit. It only uses the upper front mount,which is pretty weak. My front mount\cross member broke.

I was pissed that it broke, so I made my own skid\cross member.

 

[rickashay]

Element skids are pretty rad! 1/4" Aluminum and they are wide enough to protect the front of the alignment cams. IMO the RCI skids are a little narrow, even from just an aesthetics standpoint (width of that front skid doesnt really match the width of the grille/radiator center section of the 3rd gen.)

In Canada, but for you US people, the 35% savings on exchange rate probably make the extra shipping worth the cost!

LINK

 

[CaboRunner]

It's been awhile since skid plates have been discussed. I am looking for opinions and/or experience with thickness and brands.
Keeping it on a budget I am considering Coastal Offroad or BudBuilt. Yes Savage are great skids, but the shipping price is ridiculous in my opinion.

So I am trying to decided between 1/8" or 3/16" skids from both companies. I don't do any serious wheeling but 1-2 times a year right now, and most trails don't have any major rocks to worry about. For that I am leaning towards the 1/8" skids to keep weight down. I figure that if they get bent any I can flatten and reinforce if needed.

What is y'alls thoughts?

If you’re not doing any serious off-roading I wouldn’t spend the money on aftermarket skid plates. They’re expensive, heavy, and make any maintenance tougher. I have to use a flor jack to remove and install the middle one just to change the oil. I’ve used my Savage skids quite a bit, they’ve held up to the stuff that destroyed my stock skids but I do mostly rock crawling type stuff unless I’m using it to go to Baja.

As far as the Savage logo goes, once you paint them black it’s barely noticeable. I wasn’t a big fan of it either but it’s no big deal now.

And no idea why anyone would powder coat skids that are grinding on stuff. Just my thoughts. Couple cans of spray paint and good to go.

 

[blarblarjosh]

Element skids are pretty rad! 1/4" Aluminum and they are wide enough to protect the front of the alignment cams. IMO the RCI skids are a little narrow, even from just an aesthetics standpoint (width of that front skid doesnt really match the width of the grille/radiator center section of the 3rd gen.)

In Canada, but for you US people, the 35% savings on exchange rate probably make the extra shipping worth the cost!

LINK

I can't tell from their pic and I don't see a description; does that skid plate need to be removed to do an oil change?

 

[MAST4R]

If you’re not doing any serious off-roading I wouldn’t spend the money on aftermarket skid plates. They’re expensive, heavy, and make any maintenance tougher. I have to use a flor jack to remove and install the middle one just to change the oil. I’ve used my Savage skids quite a bit, they’ve held up to the stuff that destroyed my stock skids but I do mostly rock crawling type stuff unless I’m using it to go to Baja.

As far as the Savage logo goes, once you paint them black it’s barely noticeable. I wasn’t a big fan of it either but it’s no big deal now.

And no idea why anyone would powder coat skids that are grinding on stuff. Just my thoughts. Couple cans of spray paint and good to go.

^ this.

For super low use like 1-2 times a year and no major rocks, no need for anything. In fact, there is no need for anything no matter how frequently one goes so long as one stays on dirt roads and easy trails. And that is with no lift.

Thats why frequency also matters. Patience with stock skids and suspension wears thin quickly with a lot of offroading. Thats when upgrades come into play even without doing very difficult trails like Golden Spike or the Rubicon, etc.

Another factor is weight. A loaded 4R on stock rear springs may have issues on some trails that it can do just fine with little to no load.