Remove the differential drop on your 05+ Tacoma

ok so heres my thoughts on the subject.

as far as the damage sustained to mikes truck from the impact, yes the modified skid played a roll in it, would it have just skidded over if it had not been modified, possibly but possibly not. it may have held strong and allowed him to continue on, or it may have bowed up still impacting the bottom of the diff.

as far as the diff drop, it played a role as well, obviously it pushed componets down far enough to have them take a large impact from the skid causing lots o damage... but would it have been fine without the diff drop? hard to say. there may have been ample clearance and he could have continued on even if the skid did get damaged, or it may have still gotten hit.


i think the main thing here is to be sure not to modify the skid with little drop down boxes... and to insure there is ample clearance between the skid and front diff. on my personal truck i used to run the diff drop, but removed it when i saw how little clearance it left between that and the skid plate. i feel much better knowing there is plenty of room just in case the skid does deform. and the debate of wether it does any good in the first place... in my opinion i didnt see where it made much of a difference, maybe 1/4" at best... then if you think about how much the suspension cycles when your driving that almost becomes void in itself......


and as far as an ATO skid holding up just fine to that... i'll be the first to say mikes truck took a heck of an impact! i know my skids are tough, but they've never been tested for impact at roughly 20 mph onto a solid object so who knows.... things to consider when dealing with a truck like mikes that will be raced at high speeds... so you build the actual skid strong enough to hold up to the impact, well now those forces have to be transferred to the frame somehow.... thus the mounting points need reinforcing to insure they can take 20, 30, 40 mph hits without failing... building componets for a race truck require a total different train of though compared to building something that will hold up out on the trail.........



ok.... fire away!

 

ahh, ok, i missed that.

so part of it is the driver. if i was approaching a rock that i knew i couldnt clear, i wouldnt try to drive 20 mph over it.

 

yes you wouldn't in your truck... however mike was in a race so its a little different circumstances than just normal trail riding.....

 

X1,000 a lot off guys get skids on and think the truck is bullet proof. Low & slow in rocky conditions It sucks to break things on your truck but with a little more careful driving this could of been avoided.

 

Not too familiar with MJP's hobbies eh?

 

I haven't been offroading in my new(er) Tacoma yet, but I got the DD as I have my 5100's @ 2.5. My old 03 Tacoma saw much recreational offroading and I wacked the skid plate on that truck 4-5 times doing perhaps 2-3mph. I wasn't going fast enough for the object to rip along the plate. It put a small dent in it.

I feel bad for the OP...I damaged my sled on rocks under the snow and it can be a messy job to fix. I know its a bad comparison. But I am still comfortable with my DD but this thread will stay in the back of my mind when I do take my new rig off the beaten path.

 

Artists re-creation of MJP's incident:

 

ahh, ok. i get it.

i wonder if the truck would have still been damaged even without the diff drop?
with that kind of hobby, one should assume that you are going to damage your vehicle. i guess now, he found a weak point on the vehicle and its time for modifications to prevent this from happening again (if thats possible). is there room behind the skid plate for more structural reenforcements?

 

yea its really unfortunate that it happened.. but all that can be done now is to fix it. and i would still say, although i make a pretty HD skid, mike needs some sort of super skid on the front of that rig... its going to continue to see alot of heavy hard hits, theres no avoiding that.

 

i was thinking about it some more.

for the OP's extreme hobby, the diff drops probably arent a good solution for him (as seen by his pics), but for us "normal" people who arent racing our trucks, they probably work just fine. in racing, (i would wager) many of the conventional after market parts may not be sutable or appropriate. if i was going to race, i would over-build the shit out of my truck and not be suprised when a part fails or is the cause of other damage.

using this extreme example as proof that everyone should remove their front diff drops is unwarrented.

 

for the OP's extreme hobby, the diff drops probably arent a good solution for him (as seen by his pics), but for us "normal" people who arent racing our trucks, they probably work just fine. in racing, (i would wager) many of the conventional after market parts may not be sutable or appropriate. if i was going to race, i would over-build the shit out of my truck and not be suprised when a part fails or is the cause of other damage.

using this extreme example as proof that everyone should remove their front diff drops is unwarrented.
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What NetMonkey said ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

 

It's common knowledge that diff drops are useless.

Use the $20 on a bottle of Jack.

 

Sorry, I didn't read all 7 pages. Perhaps this has been answered.

How fast were you going?

I have a diff drop and a custom 3/16" thick skid plate with a smooth bottom. It has squarely landed on rocks and never so much as dented.

I'm a crawler though.

 

It's common knowledge that diff drops are useless.

Use the $20 on a bottle of Jack.


OR you could celebrate with the jack knowing your CV's will have a longer life. CV's Vs. Jack Daniels.

 

if you want to quote someone....use the quote button. its over there --->

 

he was racing and going about 20mph when he hit a rock.

 

So you're saying that you think diff drops actually do something?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by durf4694
It's common knowledge that diff drops are useless.

Use the $20 on a bottle of Jack.


OR you could celebrate with the jack knowing your CV's will have a longer life. CV's Vs. Jack Daniels.

if you want to quote someone....use the quote button. its over there --->



ill quote however i please