Drain valve safe offroad?

Not safe in my opinion. Should have been another door there. Come on RCI

 

Lol it's fine

 

Ha!

 

Yeah, it kinda seems like a small thing.

That said, it’s worth knocking wood before a branch finds that opening and runs itself straight through the oil pan lol.

 

The kind of luck that I have, anything can happen brother

 

The drain plug is fine, but I'm installing a Fomuto drai valve

 

I’ll stick with my OEM skids.

 

Well there is your problem. Don't run a cheap valve as an oil plug

 

From the guys in my off-road club that run RCI skids, after a few trails, the oil filter door gets mangled and won't line up. They've all welded the door shut and drop the skid for oil changes.

You haven't used your skids yet? It looks scratch-free.

 

Unless you find a rock that is pointed and long enough to hit the valve or even the pan without the valve, you will be fine.

Maybe a shocker rock will hit it. 2 in the oil pan and one in the tranny pan.

 

I guess I need a skid plate to protect the RCI skid plate.

 

My 4runner is a woodland creature. Every stick and branch get’s the stink eye from me. Those things can be vicious lol.

 

I thought Fumoto was the best

 

Just did my 1st oil change since adding my RCI skid and fumoto valve. Went well except my fat fingers couldn't reach the valve lock thingamajig once it fell inside the skid. I don't do a lot of offroad yet but wish there was a plate to unbolt or maybe even the hole was a little bigger for access.

 

A plate would have been very helpful and safe.

 

Exactly what I did, but my door didn't get beat up. I always drop the skid plate for oil changes so I don't get any residual oil on top of the plate dripping on to my concrete.

 

Just replace the skid when it turns into this:



Note the cave-in just in front of the differential bump-out.

 

Good idea. That thing is the component of the lift in this garage.

 

Honestly, if one is worried about potential damage to a drain valve, I’d just remove it and use a regular drain bolt. Flatter profile and nothing to break. And with the size of that hole, easier to remove than to manipulate the valve

 

I think the duct tape idea is great. A couple of layers of heavy duty tape will do the trick.

 

you are replacing a bolt with a valve. The valve will be inherently weaker and more failure prone. It's hard to smash off a drain plug while it's easy to smash off a valve.

 

^Better off using a snap-in plastic cap than duct tape.

But put some gouges in the skid plate first. Wouldn't want to be a showverlander

 

Suggest a product

 

^Measure the hole diameter and search on Amazon for plastic dust caps or grommets. My skids aren't RCI, so the hole diameter may be different.