Skid Plate Selection?

Hello, I’ve got a 5th gen (2022) TRD ORP in Army Green, sitting on a 3” lift with OME BP51 shocks and Icon upper arms. I want to get a full set of undercarriage armor for this beast. I’ve been looking at C4, CBI, Cali Raised, LFD, and Bud Built. I want as much clearance as possible, so a tummy tucked skid plate is preferred. Apologies if my terminology isn’t right for the 4R as I came from the Jeep world.

I am looking for steel plates. I’ll eventually do rocks and boulders as I live out in the PNW. I love my 4R and am planning on driving it till the wheels fall off. I was also thinking of putting on the MagnaFlow Overlander cat back exhaust as I want as much clearance as possible for the skids. Plus, I want to slap the snot out of the Toyota engineer who designed the stock exhaust as it vortexes the exhaust into the cabin with the rear window open. Redirecting the pipe out the side like a Taco hasn’t changed it much either.

If anyone can weigh in on the skids I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

^"Tummy tucked"? So you've done the crossover pipe re-route already?

 

No, can’t say that I have. But if that’s what it takes, I’ll get it done. Nice picture, what all am I looking at there? I’m researching everything now, which why I came to y’all here. If anybody would know, it would be the peeps here. I’m still looking at the overland model from MagnaFlow, but was under the impression it would have taken care of that problem. Meaning to contact some of the manufacturers to check on that. Any advice on the skid plates?

 

I don't think the tummy tuck is a thing in the 4Runner world.

I have RCI steel skids on my 4Runner, I was just in Vermont at stock height on blue trails and beat the snot out of them with no issues. They're scratched, but no dents.

Honestly, I think they're all fairly similar, these 4Runners just have fairly low clearance to begin with. Other than selecting one that has a door and a hole to make oil changes easier, you really can't go wrong with any of them.

 

Thank You! The more I read, the more I’m seeing this, as well as slowly going cross-eyed…. Thanks for the input, it’s very much appreciated. I was reading where someone else did a type of tummy tuck but it was a lot of custom stuff, involving adjusting drivelines, which I really don’t want to do. I just want to get really solid protection for my undercarriage. I doubt I’ll be doing much rock crawling anytime soon. That being said, the land out here is very uneven, FULL of basalt, old stumps, big rocks that are sporadic, etc.. I’ve always had an “overland” type of vehicle. I just remember when I first started wheeling in 2005, I armored up the undercarriage of my LJ Rubicon despite the 3” lift and 33’s. If I had doubts, I used the skinny pedal and skipped across… By the time I was done with it I was 6” up on 35’s armored all around like something out of Mad Max. I was planning on going to 37’s, but the wife said differently….

Yeah, most of these skid plates look similar. I’m just weighing options before nailing it down.

 

I don't know how much value a tummy tuck would be on a 4R, because the IFS cross member still hangs down low and there's really nothing to be done about that.

With my RCIs, if I clear the front skid I'll clear everything else.

I think if one is doing the kind of wheeling in a 4R that requires a TT, they're probably in the wrong vehicle to begin with.

I know exactly what you mean by TT in the context of a TJ/LJ, btw. I'm thinking the 4Rs t-case doesn't hang down that low to begin with.

 

RCI has an armor sale going on now.

 

Thanks! I checked their website, it was a 5% discount, so not much. Anyone have any experience with LFD Skidplates? They go though ID ME and offer a military discount, which helps. They also seemed to be the fairest priced. If anyone has any experience with them, I'd really appreciate hearing about it.

 

There was a huge LFD thread on here a while back, I'm sure it'll come up in a search.

Their stuff looks good, I've never seen anyone say anything bad about them. I like the look of the Victory stuff as well.

I'd probably just go with the best price for the set. Engine, trans, t-case.

I only went RCI because I found them used on Marketplace.

 

YT channel T4R Garage has a video of a complete RCI skidplate install .

 

Thanks for all of the great info! I’ll have to give RCI a call on Monday as I’ve got a question. They only offer their steel skids black powder coated. I wonder if it would be even cheaper if I can get it bare steel. I can paint that stuff here. I’ve got Brownells Alumahyde that is tough as woodpecker lips and easy to retouch.

Question for the resident experts in here. As I tend to over think stuff like this, I’m wondering if I’d be alright with Aluminum? I’m just trying to play devils advocate to myself here. I live in the Inland Northwest and there’s a lot of basalt out here where I’m at. I’ll eventually get back into wheeling, but I don’t think I’ll do too much in the 4R, maybe some rocks? I just kinda figured if I want to do any serious crawling or off-roading, I’d get an old Land Cruiser, or another old Jeep to beat the sh!t out of. Steel is a lot more weight, but I just want to make sure if we’re all running from either zombies that my undercarriage will be able to take a beating. I’m not rich, but I do believe in doing things right the first time. I’m looking at the full skid package with gas tank, and rear diff. I’m completely open to suggestions from those that would know. I just want to get this right the first time. Thanks in advance!

 

Wait for Black Friday deals which are only 6 weeks away .

 

Hi. I went with CBI, whole set. Steel. Ordered bare steel, primed and rubber painted by myself. If I were to do it again, I would have ordered already powder coated and aluminum. I was debating between CBI and RCI. If no hard core extensive off roading will you be doing, get the aluminum ones. But steel is always way more durable and there are many videos about it on YT. It is just my opinion. I am very happy with my choice. Wait for some deals, they are coming soon. Black Friday, Xmas or whatever. You can save sometimes up 300 bucks, and 300 dollars buys you a lot of booze...cheers!

 

I too contemplated CBI and RCI for my skids. At the end of the day, I went with RCI because they are a Colorado company and allowed me to drive up and pick them up. I went with the black powder coated aluminum, and did everything but gas tank. The sale I was part of was a Memorial Day sale last May. Discounts were way more than 5% and I got the cat cages for free.
As suggested, I would definitely wait for Black Friday.

I went with aluminum because I’m not going to be on technical 4 wheeling trails. I mainly get up on forest roads and other trails that aren’t littered with obstacles. Not adding the extra weight was a concern since it is my daily driver as well. My goal is to get away from crowds and go camping and fishing with my kids.

For the record, I like CBI and have their sliders and a Prinsu rack. It would’ve cost me more to go CBI and have them shipped from Idaho.

 

Yeah, for the daily driver and forest roads aluminum is a better choice. I should have done that. I dont do any technical stuff. Too slow. And dont want to damage my vehicle too much. When I bought my set of skids, I did not see much of a difference in price, and on top of that I was getting CBI stealth bumper, so I wanted them to match perfectly.

And deals are coming soon, yay!!

 

I don't do much technical stuff, but there are a lot of rocks in New England and I was worried about possibly cracking an aluminum skid.

I think maybe a steel front skid combined with aluminum transmission and tcase skids would be good protection. I recall seeing a post on here when I was shopping skids where somebody hit their front aluminum skid on a rock and cracked it.

Another option is to look into lighter duty steel skids, like the ARB and iron Man skids. Not as much coverage as the RCI or CBI, etc, but more than the stock skids.

 

Well, I think you are right. What a relief, I feel much better now about my choice of the steel ones.

 

I went with the RCI steel skids (don't forget the filler plate, up front) and don't regret it. I can change my oil without taking it off. But also, after a couple years of ownership I'm finding some big dings that I know would've destroyed the stock skid.