Skid Plates - Who and What: for less corrosive than steel??

I have read pages of post from my searches here but have not really found a great direction for what I am looking for. Any suggestions, directions, or feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Truck: 2012 DC LB
If I get off road it is more of a cornfield/existing trail. I do not need plates that can with stand being smashed into and dragged across rocks on a regular basis. If I do accidentally catch something I would like it to protect the truck for a couple hits. I do like to play in deep snow. I also hope it will stave off catalytic converter thieves.

My two hang ups with regular steel is its ability to easily rust (very salty roads) and it's weight. I like the idea of Aluminum or maybe a stainless steel. (I know they also will corrode just usually takes a little longer)

I would like to plate from in front of the bottom of the radiator back past the transfer case.

Why & What material and company do you recommend? Any personal experience/pics?

Thank you for your help!

 

Aluminum also corrodes in the presence of salt.

Ask any salt-water sailor with an aluminum mast about what happens where fittings are attached.

 

This , I'm on my second set of factory Sport alloys and these ones are already bubbling too

 

Steel does rust easily but, if taken care of, properly prepped and painted recoated to cover trail damage, it'll hold up just fine. Plus, steel is relatively flexible as opposed to aluminum which is much lighter weight but tends to crack rather than dent.

Stainless would be an option but, if you're going to spend the money, go high grade. I've got 309 stainless steel side bars and they've held up great for the last 5 years.

 

Eric at Relentless Fab makes aluminum or steel skids from IFS to t-case (t-case only in steel though).

 

Just get steel and be done with it. just about every one makes 3/16" skids.

If your not scrapping it like you said you wouldn't you will have no issues once you paint them.

After 2 years in the salt belt getting beat up my skids are fine. At this rate it would take them 30 years to have any rust caused structural issues.




I would be far more worried about your frame then skid plates. At less then 1/8" thick it will rust away much quicker.

 

and you can always get them galvanized or strap a anode to them

 

I've never heard of that. Is this common with the factory alloys?

Frank

 

It is here on the coast apparently , the service manager said they are constantly replacing them . They didn't even want to see the old ones on my truck before ordering me a new set under warranty when I called in .

 

I'm surprised I haven't seen this on this coast... and with the amount of salt they throw down every Winter too. I'll look into this. Other than taking them off in Winter or frequent washing, is there anything to prevent or slow this? And do you have any pictures of your old ones?

Frank

 

Clear coat them yourself and that should help protect them.

I'm on the East Coast and mine started to bubble as well. I just painted over them.

 

Look here

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173667

 

My recommendation is BudBuilt. Bud is great and his stuff is true plate steel. Heavy as hell but they will take an explosion and anything else you can throw at them. I don't live in a salt-rich area so it was never a problem, but just some good maintenance and maybe a once a year cleaning and resealing with a rust-inhibitor-type paint/clear coat should make them last a while. Good luck.

 

Call Bud....he is very knowledgeable. He makes them in 3/16", 1/8", Stainless, and Aluminum.

He is the owner of Budbuilt.

 

I forgot to mention that I had the 3/16" steel on my prior hunting rig (a 99 4runner) and will be ordering another set for my new Tacoma. I may actually try the 1/8" this time. I really like the Budbuilt skids.

Before install prime and paint with rustoleum industrial grade (both sides) and you should be fine.

When I had the 3/16" I made several trips across the salty NV desert dry lake beds and struck a few rocks. Within a few weeks I saw rust appear where I impacted rocks. I used a wire brush, primed and paint the spots and it was all good. The frame accumulated way more rust then the skids.

 

Good info there. Thanks.

Frank

 

Just go with steel, as long as you do the prep and paint right you'll just need to paint the underside. You can also rhino line the non exposed side, and prime and paint the exposed side as to not worry about rust getting under the rhino coating.

 

Thank you for the feedback and information!!

What is this magical anode you speak of?

 

Cathodic Protection.

Frank

 

Did some calling around today on the Skids. I got a couple suggestions to do SS for the front skid. Then do AL the rest of the way back. They said this would still give me strength up front if there were ever an impact. Then the AL would help with not adding so much weight. Finally the whole package would provide a few extra years over the regular steel till I really had to pull them and repaint them.

Any thoughts if this would be a good way to go?

Anyone running AL or SS in a high salt area?