Skid plate recommendations
- Thread starter FoozGrind
- Start date
Jetboy
New member
I haven't really compared all the available sliders. I built my own. What I would look for is a few things that - for me - indicate a proper design. The first thing I would look for is that the inner square tube aligns with the pinch weld on the bottom of the body. That's where all the force will transfer on a hard impact by design. I hate to point out a less than ideal design - but here's an example of what I would consider a good design next to one that I would consider a not as good design.
You can see in the second photo that if you drop off a big ledge onto the slider it's going to bend up into the door most likely. No matter how you build it - it's not strong enough not to flex. So you should design it to flex to where it makes contact with the strongest part of the body - the pinch weld with a large surface to spread the force.
I would choose bump outs next time. I have used them both ways and put very low profile outer rails on this 4Runner. They're perfect 99% of the time. But on the 7-8 rated trails, the bumpouts keep the rear fenders off the rocks, so that's worth having for harder offroading. I don't find them useful as a step no matter what because I'm tall and I can reach the roof from the ground. YMMV.
Finally - you don't need 1/4" tubing. Why would you need a slider thicker than the frame rail? And all the weight. I'd go for lighter weight sliders to the extent possible.
Some that look good to me would be SSO, Shrockworks, White Knuckle, C4 Fab, and probably a bunch of others.
4RunnerBoise
New member
majorh
How do you feel about the amount of support on the drivers side of the gas tank skid? I felt like Shrockworks should have provided an extra support towards the back so had a local shop make one, cost me $125.
How do you feel about the amount of support on the drivers side of the gas tank skid? I felt like Shrockworks should have provided an extra support towards the back so had a local shop make one, cost me $125.
majorh
New member
Kenny Powers
New member
Hey guys! This is likely a dumb questions but am I reading correctly that for mall crawlers, we are likely fine to stick with the stock skid plates? Thanks!
majorh
New member
Hah, sure! It will certainly save you lots of weight. I've made a few "errors" on trails and quickly discovered that my factory skid plates were taking a good beating.
Jetboy
New member
Stock skids will take a lot of abuse. Easy rule of thumb would be if you're not damaging your bumpers - you're probably not going to need upgraded skid plates. Once you are on trails where you're regularly dragging your rear bumper - that's about the same time you should be thinking about skid plates. When you're at the point of using your winch to drag your self across rocks - then you definitely need some upgraded skids.
If you're running around places like Hells Revenge or Elephant Hill or the high mountain passes of Colorado (emogene, engineer, black bear) - no need for upgraded skids. OEM are just fine for that level of trail use.
Jetboy
New member
Pro skid is coated. I think it's anodized in some way - but it's thicker than normal anodizing. I have no idea what it actually is that's on there. But the coating is very hard. So it slides pretty well on rocks for aluminum. Unfortunately the structure isn't all that strong on the TRD Pro skid, so it's not great for rocks anyway. But it's pretty good for everything else.
Kenstaroni
New member
The TRD skid has a couple problems....at least IMO Biggest one is no access plate for oil filter. So you've got to pull the skid every oil change and every time you do you risk stripping the threads on the skid bolts which happens way too often with these trucks. For that alone I'd go RCI all the way.
I went with the full RCI aluminum and steel everything-else skids from the last group buy. So happy I did. They did their job and got dinged up in the Sierras on my trip last month. I tumbled a rock and the fuel skid has a long dent in it. PHEW! Couldn't be happier.
Install photo.
Install photo.
I've looked at quite a few aftermarket parts and it seems like most of the time this is the best solution.
Kenny Powers
New member
Thanks guys for your time and info. This is my first 4WD and I’m more than a little clueless about it. I had to do a google search to even know if my ride had any skid plates.
Anyway thanks- I learn a ton from you guys that have it all figured out.
JAXJeremy
New member
Just got my RCI powder coated steel skid in the mail yesterday. Waiting on the filler plate, but that should be here today. Will try to get it installed when I get home from work..
First observations are that this skid is well designed and super beefy..I've got armor on my off road rig and this is definitely on par with that..It is heavy as hell, but that's to be expected.
First observations are that this skid is well designed and super beefy..I've got armor on my off road rig and this is definitely on par with that..It is heavy as hell, but that's to be expected.
