Skid plate experiences

coltm4

coltm4

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I plan on going up a rocky road that was made during the turn of the century. Roads were paved with mining spoils because they did not wash away (large cobbles) in the rain. The question is if I am spreading out my purchases for armor, what gets scraped up more often due to location/angles, transfer skid or transmission skid? I know the most likely is directly under the differential due to location next to wheels, but further back, what are peoples experiences?
 
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My trans skid has some pretty good sized dents in it. I also feel like I made a mistake with aluminum skids, sure its lighter but man do they bend easily.
 
The transmission is up higher, IMO the front engine skid and a full gas tank skid are the first to do. I have scrapes and dents in both.
 
tcase, fuel tank, transmission, front skid in that order for me. The front can be mitigated by taking the right lines. When you come off a big rock is when the tcase and or the fuel tank skid get bashed. It is often hard and big when it hits those. That is my experience, but I really don't know if you are doing rocks as big as where I like to slam around.
 
The first pieces I installed were the front and fuel skids. The only damage I had incurred before that were significant gashes to the stock fuel skid after cresting a steep ledge, probably because that has the most surface area. I think it also hangs down a bit lower than the t-case or trans.
 
In my experience, the most common spot to contact is the front skid followed by the rear diff. The front plate - while only 1.5mm steel - is pretty strong. It'll look like a raisin pretty quick, but it's going to be really hard to actually puncture. Steel is significantly tougher than aluminum and resists abrasion better. I suspect it would be easier to puncture a hole with a sharp object in a TRD Pro aluminum skid than the Trail edition steel one. But the OEM steel plate will bend much easier. The place I contact next is the transfer case/ crossover pipe area. I built my own low profile skid for that area and I have used it a lot. In the rocks, that's where I tend to get hung up.

After that I tend to hit the front right corner of the gas tank skid. After that I tend to hit the rear control arm link brackets on the frame. I've never had a significant impact on the transmission pan area that I'm aware of. So for me - I'd add transfer case first. Then front, then gas tank, then Transmission if I had to choose an order that was not based on the parts fitting together or other considerations.
 
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I'll simply throw this little tidbit out there. I had pretty much scraped up both the engine and gas tank skids, but not really done either any damage. But when I began to install my Budbuilt set I found 2 small but obvious dings on the transmission pan. And I had no clue they were there until that point. And while I was wheeling with that setup I was trying to be VERY careful with my lines and how crazy I got.
 
Thanks guys. It seems I have a nasty habit of doing things backwards. I'm not worried about denting aluminum or abrading it since I treat that material as sacrificial in nature and used to protect against hard hits. That said, I also don't plan on "pounding" my new $40k vehicle just yet, but it will NOT be a mall crawler either. Looks like I need to expedite the transfer skid since I apparently made the mistake of doing transmission first. My reasoning was to not have plates that have a gap that could possible hang me up, but now I'm a little worried for my transfer case.
 
I do not rock crawl consistently like many on here, but I am stock height so when I get out on more difficult trails I do tend to bump and scrape bottom a lot. I have had no issues with my full set of aluminum skids. Yes there are some gouges in them, but I have not had any bending or cracking issues. The front 1/4" TRD skid and RCI skids are thicker/beefier then you think if you have not seen them in person. Since my vehicle is also the family hauler I do appreciate the weight savings.

I will third or fourth that the front and gas tank seem to see the most action from me. I am installing the steel rear differential RCI to at least have something along the entire midsection of the truck. It also gives me confidence in picking the right line knowing what areas are fully protected and which ones are not.

I think go steel if you know you will be scraping along granite or other hard surfaces a bunch. For most other stuff aluminum would be more than adequate (down here it is mostly loose sedimentary rock or hardened clay). If if I take a hit that is hard enough to crack and or completely ruin one of my skids I will more than gladly sacrifice it and get a new one.
 
The rocks near me are a mix of rounded cobble, basalt outcrops, a little granite (mostly weathered). I think aluminum will be fine for me since I'm stock TRD height daily driver. If it gets too damaged, I'll have it pounded back/welded, or just get new ones. My main concern is minimizing risk of damage asap, but with the understanding that it will come piece by piece as time and money allow. For some reason, I'm not feeling the urgency for the fuel tank, and I think it may be because there are a few threads that make me think the factory skids are good enough for abrasion and light bumps (no damage to tank in spite of damage to skid) for now, unlike the nonexistent transmission and the really curious transfer "skid".
 
Like you I was wondering the same thing when I got the skids.

The TRD skid is capable of taking some pretty good hits and it won't go through. I lucked out where after I had bought the mid-section skid, transmission and transfer case skid RCI put out a group buy deal and that helped me justify jumping onto the gas tank and front-lower-control-arm skids.

This is my daily driver so I went with aluminum for the weight savings. I will admit the transmission skid has taken some goose-eggs and scrapes but I think it was due more to it being so much farther down than the transmission that if the skid wasn't there, there would not have been any contact. Like you I did get it because I wanted as smooth a surface as possible under there so as not to get hung up on rocks between the oil-pan skid and the cross-bar for the transfer-case skid.

In the end it is better to have something (including the thin factory skids) than nothing.

One word of caution though, at least from my noob-ish experience even with full skids, pick smart lines and go slow! My first outing with the skids and I thought I could just push on through the rocks. Basically sounded like the scene in Hunt for Red October where Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) directs the sub driver to head into the oncoming torpedo closing the distance sooner ending up in smashing the torpedo apart before the arming mechanism on it was set to active. Lots of "dumb" scrapes and lumps on the aluminum skids after that trip! Since then I have been a bit more conservative, at least with the speed. I still need practice picking good lines on the really rocky stuff.
 
Your money is better spent on lift and tires. Skids come later once you start reaching the limitations of the stock skids.


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CharlestonFisher said:
Your money is better spent on lift and tires. Skids come later once you start reaching the limitations of the stock skids.


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Normally I would agree. Except that in this case, I'm afraid that if I get a lift, I will need new UCA's which from what I gather require lots more maintenence than the factory UCA's and if I don't get UCA's alignment will be an issue and will become squirrly on the highway. Or put another way, a lift is pulling on that loose thread on your sweater. I know what will happen and the wife will not like that. I do plan on going up to 275/70 tires though. I really am trying to keep conservative and remain as stock as reasonably possible, hence the armoring vs lifting to avoid the rocks to begin with. I still toy with the idea of the toytec TRD lift which is really mild, but again, I worry about the collateral effects that I may not want to deal with.
 
coltm4 said:
Normally I would agree. Except that in this case, I'm afraid that if I get a lift, I will need new UCA's which from what I gather require lots more maintenence than the factory UCA's and if I don't get UCA's alignment will be an issue and will become squirrly on the highway. Or put another way, a lift is pulling on that loose thread on your sweater. I know what will happen and the wife will not like that. I do plan on going up to 275/70 tires though. I really am trying to keep conservative and remain as stock as reasonably possible, hence the armoring vs lifting to avoid the rocks to begin with. I still toy with the idea of the toytec TRD lift which is really mild, but again, I worry about the collateral effects that I may not want to deal with.
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If getting a lift is that much of an issue, get a set of Bilstein 5100's and call it a day. If you're at or bellow a 2 inch lift UCA's are not a must. I will say even a mild lift will look a little weird if you do not get wide/taller tires. 275's would be perfect imo.

About UCA,s they DO NOT require additional maintenance so long as you get the correct ones. Light Racing UCA's had a ton of issues with there first batch but beyond that I have not heard of needing additional maintenance. I am currently running an ICON stage II setup with Dirt King ball joint UCA's which are fully box welded and have had zero issues. No squeaks, rattles, etc...

Most people upgrade the stock UCA's because they have a 2.5-3 inch lift and want stay within the alignment specs and/or are looking for something stronger than stock.

As far as a lift v armor goes, you will gain a lot more from lifting your vehicle rather than adding metal to parts you know are going to get hit. Skids are not there to be hit, they're there as a safety measure. There's no substitute for a taller vehicle with more capable shocks and good off-road tires
 
bimrunner said:
tcase, fuel tank, transmission, front skid in that order for me. The front can be mitigated by taking the right lines. When you come off a big rock is when the tcase and or the fuel tank skid get bashed. It is often hard and big when it hits those. That is my experience, but I really don't know if you are doing rocks as big as where I like to slam around.
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I did this.... went RCI steel for everything except the cross-member skid, got pretty aluminum for that for looks
 
If you're spreading out the purchases because of money, the first purchases should go to where you need it most.

You have OEM front and transmission skids already. They are thin, but they are steel. Don't abuse them and they are better than air.

Speaking of air, that's what you have protecting your transfer case and the rear of your gas tank. So IMO that's where your money should go first. Gas tank, then transfer case, then the rest.

And you're in luck, [MENTION=140132]coltm4[/MENTION]; there's a group buy for RCI active until 11/2 for a decent discount: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/group-buys/226360-rci-off-road-fall-group-buy.html
 
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jwkilgore said:
Speaking of air, that's what you have protecting your transfer case and the rear of your gas tank. So IMO that's where your money should go first. Gas tank, then transfer case, then the rest.

And you're in luck, [MENTION=140132]coltm4[/MENTION]; there's a group buy for RCI active until 11/2 for a decent discount: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/group-buys/226360-rci-off-road-fall-group-buy.html
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Dang it, I need to stop reading posts on this forum - I end up buying things I didn't know I needed :-). Looks like I am going to buy an RCI T-Case skid to replace the stock tin foil that is there now.
 
It looks like a lot of the aftermarket engine skids, while offering more protection than the stock piece, reduce ground clearance, especially models with KDSS. The lower bars sit well in front of the front wheels, which make the skid plate the first thing to hit lot of obstacles.

Anyone have input of the best front skid, for models with KDSS?
 
Here's a recent video from a few weeks ago. I was completely high centered and not able to drive of this one. You can sort of see the relative height of various items on a fairly rounded rock. I had to winch off the rock or I could have used a jack. I took a bad line thinking I could clear the rock, but I misjudged by about 1 inch. (A lot of the video is just waiting while I reel in some of the winch rope so I don't run it over).

My skid is very low profile just barely covering the exhaust cross over pipe and transfer case. Keep in mind that with most full skid sets I would have been sledding for the full length of them. But I also would have been fully protected along the length. It's a balance depending on what you do with you vehicle.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fpSiA1bCU9c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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