Why You May Want To Consider Skid Plates

I am not a hard core off-roader that goes in search of the giant rock fields or muddy terrains. My wife and I do enjoy exploring. In October we took a trip to Vermont, along with our daughter and son-in-law. They have a 20 year old Land Cruiser imported from Australia. You can see pics of our trip at the link below.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/5th-gen-4runners-in-scenic-locations.7967/page-89#post-395728

They took us on a multi-day trip through Vermont and on one occasion we went up a narrow rutted road in order to get to the top of a mountain. The ruts were somewhat deep and the rocks ranged in size from potatoes to slightly larger than a basketball. I was in 4wd low and crawling. We went up and back down the same road. Nothing hard core, but definitely near the limits of my un-lifted 4R. We heard numerous scrapes and a few hard knocks.

Once we returned home, it was time to change the oil and I also needed to do a complete cleaning of the 4R. This is what I found:

My RCI skid plate had taken some real scrapes and it had gotten filled with mud.







The fuel tank cover had also taken a few hits. You can't really tell from the photo, but a section in the middle had gotten pushed in a good bit. You will see in the next photo where rust was forming where the paint scrapped off on the inside, where the round indentation is.







So, I cleaned up the RCI skid plate and sprayed it with Rustoleum Truck Bed Coating. I like this product because it applies easily, but is not as thick as truck bed lining like Rhino Lining. I like painting it because it is then easy to see if I have taken other scrapes on future trips. I also just enjoy taking care of my 4R. Below is a pic of the touched up front skid plate. I have driven since then, so there may already be blemishes in the paint.




Upon seeing the condition of the fuel tank cover, I decided to buy an RCI fuel tank skid plate. I ordered it in bare aluminum and prepped and painted it with the same material as well.

Here are a few pics of it.









The dirt you see above on my RCI rock sliders is not rust. Just dirt I had not yet finished cleaning up when I took the pics.

The road that caused all the scrapes was not an unreasonable off-road trail, but certainly at the limits of my 4R's ground clearance.

My reason for sharing this is simple. You may, like me, not be a hard core off-roader, but you could easily find yourself in circumstances where having some skid plate protection could be very valuable insurance. I cannot say for certain if the underside of the front of my 4R would have encountered serious damage without the skid plate, but I am certainly glad I did not have to find out.

As a side note, my Christmas present from my wife is an Old Man Emu BP-51 lift kit. Looking forward to installing it sometime after Christmas. Merry Christmas to all my 4R buddies.

 

Thanks for this information - I'm looking at upgrading my skid plates too.

 

And you did it all on Nitto Ridge Grapplers! Nice!

 

Those are RCI's aluminum skid plates, right?

 

Thanks for this post - I just ordered a full set of steel skids from RCI, and I don't even have my 4Runner yet! They have 20% off right now for orders over $1000 and free Cat guard if you order the Transmission skid. The whole set came out to $1025 including $165 shipping to NM, no taxes. Considered RSG also, they have a 2 piece system with cat guard incorporated which looks like a solid way to go but with the discounts RCI was a better deal and they have a great reputation.

NOTE: Today is the last day for their 15-20% off sale so get on it if you're considering RCI. I ordered Sliders from them as well a couple weeks ago, and have been waffling on the skids but decided to pull the trigger today.

 

Nice truck and pics. I've read that the RCI fuel tank skid hangs a little lower, did you lose any appreciable ground clearance?

 

I learned the hard way to get a real gas tank skid. I high centered on The Lockheart Basin Trail near Moab. It is a moderate rock crawl trail.The factory tank skid took the full brunt of the weight ( all 4 tires were off the ground ) and we had to winch out. Factory skid is now mashed against the gas tank. That will be fun to get off.

I ordered an RCI skid middle of Nov. Hoping to have it by March. I went with steel as it'll slide on rocks better than aluminum.

 

Great post, thanks for sharing.
Happy New Year!

Cheers
Mike

 

Are RCI skids the best (or most recommended?) I see them a LOT and I was just wondering (if price were absolutely no object) if there are better options.

Thanks in advance!

Happy (almost) New Year!!

 

I'm not sure if they are the absolute best, but they seem to get good reviews for quality and service, and as far as I can tell from shopping around online, their products are very well made and an excellent value for the money. I think that's why you see a lot of them around.
I've called and emailed them with questions and they were very responsive and helpful, and not at all pushy about making a sale. I also like that they don't upcharge for DOM tubing on the sliders, or powder coating on the steel skids - they just do it right at a reasonable price.

You can definitely spend more, but I'm not sure you'll get a better product. There seem to be a bunch of small shops all making quality stuff, and it's all a little different so it may come down to personal preference on the design, differences in coverage, how well it integrates with other stuff you have (existing TRD Pro skid, KDSS, etc), two plates vs three, etc. Not to mention how long their backlog is vs when you need it. I liked that RCI is fairly local to me, they seem to be a smaller shop with good customer service, reasonable shipping charges, and a good reputation for quality. This is my first time ordering any of this stuff and I'm not likely to beat it up too much though so for me it just had to be good enough. And if you do really beat it up you may need to replace it eventually no matter who you buy it from.

Depending on where you live, it might make sense to go with a shop closer to home as shipping big heavy pieces of metal long distances can be expensive.

 

Looks like your OEM tank skid did its job. I would have just cleaned it up and put some paint on it.

 

I ordered a full set of aluminum at the end of November. Still waiting.

 

I just found this one about Steel vs Aluminum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTajhFtvQlc

wondering what everyones opinion is for Steel vs Aluminum

 

First thing I bought were RCI skids from the radiator back to the transmission. Haven't gotten to really abuse them yet, but they're on there for a reason........

 

I'm sure you are aware but for others who may not be, approximate lead times are posted on the RCI website. Current lead times for skids and sliders:

Skid Plates – Steel Skids & Catalytic Guards: 1-3 weeks. Aluminum Skids : 3-5 weeks (Updated 12/19)(Depends on order quantity).
Rock Sliders ~ 4-7 weeks average (Updated 12/19)

 

We waited waaaaay too long to put on a tank skid.

 

Does anyone know if the RCI full skid package protects the gas tank?

 

Pretty sure it doesn't after looking at pics on their site. They do sell a fuel tank skid but it is not included in the 3-skid package which covers the engine, transmission, and transfer case. The Fuel tank is further back and not covered by any of these 3.
https://rcimetalworks.com/product/10-19-4runner-fuel-tank-skid-plate/

 

When I purchased my RCI skids, the “full package” did not include the gas tank skid and I ordered separately.

Before I had the RCI skids on my 2021 OR, I attended an off road driving school weekend class in North Carolina to build some skills as I was brand new to off-road driving. Although we did not do any real rock crawling, we did plenty of other things that caused some degree of contact with the underside of my rig.

When I got home and did the clean-up, I was quite surprised at how much minor damage I had done to the factory skids. Lots of scapes and a few minor dents so they did their job. However, I didn’t take any hard hits so quickly saw the need for better protection than what comes from the factory.

I’m very happy with the RCI skids as they fit great and give me the extra protection I need…

Cheers,
Bob

 

Thank you @roadrunner44

 

Did you guys find any damage to your gas tank when you took that skid plate off? My skid plate (gas tank) has some damage and needs some work...guess I'll take it off when my skid package arrives.

@WanderlostOverland @Cowboy59

 

and what about the RCI rock sliders - anyone have / recommend those?

 

Good video, he definitely makes a strong case for going with steel.

I’d like to see a comparison between an aftermarket skid and the factory skids. Although the front factory skid is thinner steel, it has quite a bit of internal bracing.

 

Yes

 

None that I can tell. If any, it can't be much as I had to use a wire to fish out a nut I dropped when hanging it. And after tightening everything up I felt it was right up against the gas tank.

When installing one, I recommend inserting the bolt from the inside out, and attaching the nut on the outside. This made the installation much easier.

 

I went with the steel RCI, and I think it was a good idea. I'm in dirt pretty much every week. Here's about two years on the stock skid:

 

I considered it. But felt I would be shy about going on similar treks without better protection.

 

Was thinking that too !

 

We were shocked to find no damage at all to our tank!