Skid plate to change oil, can you permanently leave it off on 2004 V8 4Runner!

[coopma]

Skid plate to change oil, can you permanently leave it off on 2004 V8 4Runner!

Pros and cons?

 

[Kevin G.]

You can........at your own peril.
I've scraped my skid plate(a 2008 Sport V8) on parking curbs......more than a few times.

Kevin

 

[rdruss]

I run no skid plate on my '03 V8, but I do no off roading. I wouldn't recommend leaving it off if you off road.

 

[4R005]

I do all the oil changes for my '05 4R w/V8 and I find that the two back bolts for the skid plate were the most vexing to line up with their respective holes after doing the oil & filter changes. The two front bolts/holes were not a problem to locate. I did this process to make it easier. Undo the two front bolts and only the back bolt driver side. Loosen back bolt passenger side just enough to allow skid plate to pivot out of the way to expose oil filter ( for V8 ). You may have to bend ( not permanently ) to clear SP of any suspension arms ( if memory serves me correctly ). Also place an MT plastic bottle ( antifreeze size ) under SP to support its weight when hanging only by one fastener. Hope this helps.
BTW, its perfectly OK to drive w/o the SP on. I've done that too. I don't do any OR and so far no scraps from curbs either yet.

 

[Parks Junkie]

The 4Runners have pretty good ground clearance stock, if you're scraping the skidpan on curbs you're either way, way up there or downright reckless.

 

[Kevin G.]

The 4Runners have pretty good ground clearance stock, if you're scraping the skidpan on curbs you're either way, way up there or downright reckless.

Not street curbs.
In parking lots, that would be individual parking spot curbs............so......sooner or later, you'll find one. None of them are created equal.......

 

[gomiami]

I have three to remove for my GX to do an oil change. Takes me about 15 minutes to remove and reinstall them. Even if I have no plans of going off-road during that oil change interval, I'd rather have them on there in case there is some road debris I can't avoid.

 

[Cezar]

I assume the V6 skid plate is the same as the V8.

I haven't had a skid plate in at least a decade.

 

[Moist]

It's good armor. Mine's beat to hell from many impacts over the years. It took a big hit from a Prius chunk a few weeks ago. (Large accident right in front of me, avoided the cars but not the parts.) Chunk penetrated the plate and would have obliterated the oil filter if it wasn't there.
I say it's better to have it and not need it rather than the other way around. No-one plans on getting hit.

 

[gomiami]

It's good armor. Mine's beat to hell from many impacts over the years. It took a big hit from a Prius chunk a few weeks ago. (Large accident right in front of me, avoided the cars but not the parts.) Chunk penetrated the plate and would have obliterated the oil filter if it wasn't there.
I say it's better to have it and not need it rather than the other way around. No-one plans on getting hit.

Yup. Might as well take advantage of it and keep it installed. As people hold onto cars longer due to the cost of new, more rusted-out exhaust and the like will be littering the roads. I'd rather be over-cautious than lucky.

 

[Parks Junkie]

Not street curbs.
In parking lots, that would be individual parking spot curbs............so......sooner or later, you'll find one. None of them are created equal.......

I'm not saying you can't find a place and abuse it, but my gawd, you ought to try driving a car for a while with sport suspension. Not lowered and slammed, just a sports sedan. It's crazy where my '02 BMW E39, AKA 5 series, the basic mid sized sedan in the US, will drag on parking. And tear itself up on the way out. A 4runner will literally roll right over those same places.

Doesn't mean one is better, just that they have different design goals.