Skid plates came in

Does the install involve removing the two stock brackets/braces that go from the front diff mount area to the radiator support?


I see some skids keep them, others ditch them. Sucks that it seems like most aluminum skids, your options are getting to your oil filter with your sanity intact, OR having a front jack point. Not both.

I've beaten the living crap out of my RCI Aluminum skids and I need a fuel tank skid now, and it looks to me like the Rival units would have a bit higher clearance.

 

Those brackets are still there. The only thing I removed was the stock skids. I haven’t tried jacking from the middle, I have two floor jacks so I usually put one on each side.

 

Gotcha. I just bought the Rival fuel skid so based on how that goes I may switch my front skids from RCI to Rival.

One feature of the RCI skids that I really do like is that they offer a filler plate to fill that gap where the radiator is exposed at the very front/top of the skid. Not just for protection, but for airflow over the radiator it's a good idea.
I don't hate the skids, I just feel some of the design choices led to a lower ground clearance than really necessary.

 

Rsg has a filler plate now that’s supposed to work with any aftermarket or factory skid. I’m tempted to make one and maybe cat guard out of aluminum myself. Those small pieces wouldn’t be hard.

 

Hey man, new owner of your old 4runner. In the market for skid plates and came across your post. How do you like the Rival so far? Pics with most of my upgrades..loving it.

 

Truck looks good. I always thought it would look better with black wheels. I really wish I could have kept it and got the new one.

As far as the skids go, I’d definitely buy them again. They seem to be well built and were cost effective. I looked at RCI and Budbuilt as well. I might have gotten the Budbuilt steel if I was off-roading more. The Rival aren’t making any noise, cover nicely and best is the oil change doors.

 

Thanks for the input sir. I have 3 shopping carts full with skids right now and not sure yet which ones I am gonna get. RCI, Rival and RSG...

 

I wanted aluminum because I knew I wouldn’t be dropping mine on rocks. If I hadn’t found the Rival I would have ordered RCI, but I don’t think they’re worth the extra $400. The rival also is wider at the front.
If your wanting steel I would look at the Budbuilt. They’re in Hudson/Lenior NC, not far from you. The steel 3/16 or lighter overland is less than $1000 without powder coating.

 

Same here. Not going crazy rock crawling either but want some kind of protection in case I end up in an area where I wish I would have them on. RCI would still be almost $300 more despite the 20% off Laborday deal they have right now. Pretty sure I will pull the trigger on Rival. Thanks again for all the information.

 

I emailed Rival to find out if they considered the front jacking point as @Nitori mentions above and to see if I can pick them up from their location in Conroe as I live just a few miles away on pretty much the same road.

Regarding front jacking point, they said that their support bracket covers the crossmember and that they have not tested it as a jacking point. Bummer on that as I use that spot to lift the vehicle. Perhaps I could fab a piece but it looks like it may be a bit challenging as I would not want to modify their skid plate but build a new bracket instead.

For those that want to pick them up from Rival, they said they stock them in a warehouse in Houston and not at the Conroe location.

Still the best option for me IMO. Just need to consider if I am willing to fab up a bracket to make it work the way I want.

 

Installed the Rival engine and transmission skid plates. Fit really well and I am very pleased.

Couple of notes
1. Engine skid lowest point from the ground is 10-1/4". Stock skids measured 10-7/8". So the Rival skids mount 5/8" lower than the stock skids. Much smoother than the stock skids and obviously a lot thicker.
2.Transmission skid sits about the same distance (5/8") below the crash bars and exhaust pipe.
3. I had to grind about 1/16" on the rear mounting slot on the drivers side of the engine skid to get it to sit far enough back. All other mounting holes lined up really well. Very pleased with fitment.
4. Mounting HW is decent. Could not reuse the factory crash bars bolts due to the tapered nose. Also, the insert nuts had coating on the threads preventing the bolts from threading in. Although I could have purchased m8-1.25 and m10-1.5 taps to clean the threads, Rival sent me a whole new set of HW which solved both of the issues.
5. Still unsure if I can lift the front end from the center of the skid plate. Should be simple to fab something up but it would be a huge design win if Rival would integrate a lift point in the skid / mounting bracket
6. Also wish a bumper to engine skid filler panel were available from Rival. It can be thinner Aluminum or even plastic like ABS.Would definitely purchase if it were available.

Would I purchase these again? Absolutely.

 

I'm a bit less pleased but overall, for the price, I'll be happy to see how far these things get me. I think the mounting design leaves something to be desired. The stick nuts and and clip nuts will be troublesome when the time comes to remove the skids. Fortunately for me, that will be at least 30k miles barring any problems.
For my use, they will definitely get beat so we shall see how long they last. But for reference, pic of one (1) rock crawling trip.

 

Is it just the door that took the brunt of that hit? If so, can you hammer it flat?

Regarding the stick nuts...
I too scratched my head at the design and even considered making something else, like a plate with nuts welded to it that sits on top of the frame member. However, I figured I would try them out. They worked fine.

Agree the real test will come when it's time to remove them, which I will do in 5k miles to change the transmission fluid. My thoughts on removal are:

1. For the front, I will use the stock bottle jack with a hockey puck on it to keep upward pressure on the skid while I loosen the bolt. Hopefully that will keep the tabs stationary and keep the clipnuts from rotating. Worst case, I will use an open ended wrench to grab the clipnut from the top.
2. Although I don't need to remove the rear ones for any maintenance, if I ever do, I will let the weight of the crossbar keep downward pressure on them so they stay held by the bottom seam of the frame.

 

Did you try removing that access panel after the scrape?

 

You don't need to remove the rear plate to grease the drive shaft?

 

I know that I ensured all the fasteners threaded smoothly, but now I don't recall that I actually popped it out. I'm not too worried that I won't be able to pry it out so long as the fasteners come out.

 

Hopefully the allen head screws will come out ok. Anytime a plate bends like that you could put a lot of shear forces on the screws, making them really hard to remove due to binding.

However I noticed in a previous pic that screws go into u-shaped body clips instead of a threaded hole in the alumimum itself. The u-clips should give the screw shafts some room to breathe if the hole in the skidplate itself is big enough to let the u-clip room to float.

That said, make sure to use a really good allen socket that fits well. Seat the allen socket perfectly before putting any torque on it when unscrewing. One slip and you’ll round out an allen head, and then an oil change becomes a day-long project.

 

Yes, you do have to remove the rear plate (Although it may be possible to grease them without removing it).

However, I was referring to the rear crossbar that is supplied by Rival used to mount the rear skid furthest to the rear, not the plate itself