Skid Plates Installed, Finally.

We finally got our skid plates installed on our '17 TRDOR!
We've always believed that skids should be one of the very first mods you do on your overland/offroad rig, but for some reason we didn't get around to it until last weekend. We now have a nice, cozy, feeling knowing our underside is protected. :)
Just like we did with our '07 FJ Cruiser, we went with a set from RCI Offroad. On it they've held up fantastically under some very harsh conditions. Not just banging into rocks and such but road salt too!
The install went much better than on the FJ. The FJ was about eight years old when we did it and had been a daily driver for over 200,000 miles so every bolt that held the stock skids on snapped off, leaving us to drill and tap out the busted bolts. It wasn't pretty. The 4r is still in its infancy with well under 20,000 on the ticker. All the bolts came out and the new ones went in perfectly. Our only regret was not hosing more of the mud off that we picked up during a recent offroad adventure.
For the 4Runner we went with steel. RCI Offroad does make them in aluminum as well but we liked the price and availability of the steel ones. They came with all new hardware and a set of instructions for each plate; engine, transmission, and transfer-case, along with a cross-member to hold the back side of the transfer-case skid. In our opinion they are the best quality skid plates available, otherwise they wouldn't be on both our rigs.
If you're interested in seeing the details of installing a set of skid plates on a 5th Gen, we produced a video that's up on our YouTube channel and will be shared on our build thread too, very soon.
 

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We finally got our skid plates installed on our '17 TRDOR!
We've always believed that skids should be one of the very first mods you do on your overland/offroad rig, but for some reason we didn't get around to it until last weekend. We now have a nice, cozy, feeling knowing our underside is protected. :)
Just like we did with our '07 FJ Cruiser, we went with a set from RCI Offroad. On it they've held up fantastically under some very harsh conditions. Not just banging into rocks and such but road salt too!
The install went much better than on the FJ. The FJ was about eight years old when we did it and had been a daily driver for over 200,000 miles so every bolt that held the stock skids on snapped off, leaving us to drill and tap out the busted bolts. It wasn't pretty. The 4r is still in its infancy with well under 20,000 on the ticker. All the bolts came out and the new ones went in perfectly. Our only regret was not hosing more of the mud off that we picked up during a recent offroad adventure.
For the 4Runner we went with steel. RCI Offroad does make them in aluminum as well but we liked the price and availability of the steel ones. They came with all new hardware and a set of instructions for each plate; engine, transmission, and transfer-case, along with a cross-member to hold the back side of the transfer-case skid. In our opinion they are the best quality skid plates available, otherwise they wouldn't be on both our rigs.
If you're interested in seeing the details of installing a set of skid plates on a 5th Gen, we produced a video that's up on our YouTube channel and will be shared on our build thread too, very soon.

I had RCI skids on my Tacoma and they performed flawlessly. Like you, I was so happy with them that I just purchased some for my 4Runner. I ordered the IFS skid and filler plate, LCA skids, fuel tank skid, and rear lower link skids. I may add the trans and transfer case skids later on. In my experience, those areas don't generally receive much contact.
 
Very nice! Love watching your videos! I think these will be the next addition to the 4Runner.

On a side note, how are you liking the Toytech lift? I just installed the very same kit but only have a few miles on it. I'm curious as to how much thread you left between the top colar and the mount.

:cheers:
 
Very nice! Love watching your videos! I think these will be the next addition to the 4Runner.

On a side note, how are you liking the Toytech lift? I just installed the very same kit but only have a few miles on it. I'm curious as to how much thread you left between the top colar and the mount.

:cheers:

Lovin' the ToyTec! They put together very nicely balanced systems.
We didn't change the collar from how it came from ToyTec at all on the right side, and cranked the left up just a tad bit to compensate for the "Toyota lean". I'll try to remember to measure it this afternoon and let you know.
 
Looks very nice. How do you feel about the accessibility for draining oil/changing the oil filter?

Our FJ is the older filter location, on top, so no problem there. :) I'll let you know a few months from now about the 4Runner. We're still taking advantage of free oil changes from our dealership. Looking at how things line up, we don't see any issues with getting to the oil canister and drain plug at all.
 

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