Aluminium Armor vs. Steel Armor

What do you prefer for your bumpers and skids, and why?

 

Alum bumpers to save weight

Steel skids cuz i dented my alum ones pretty easily

Now.. i have the exact oppostie of that, do as i say not as i do. I have steel bumpers and sliders, alum skids :/

 

I already have steel bumpers, but don't have skids (yet), only the OEM one that I smashed at Pismo. How thick were your skids?

 

They are pelfrey, i think 3/8 inch

Edit: nvm site says 1/4

 

Voted aluminum because that's what I have.

That being said, it all depends on what you are using the rig for. If you're going to be hitting them hard a lot, then go steel. I went aluminum to save the weight and my intent is more of protecting for an oh $h1t moment. My Tacoma will never be a hard core crawler , I have my heep for that. On the jeep, it's steel all the way. My Tacoma does go off road and I have hit the skids pretty hard but I avoid it as much as possible. I definitely have some nice gouges but they are doing there job.

Something to keep in mind, most of these skids are probably made out of 5052 aluminum and are not as strong as 6061 would be. I recently fixed my all pro skid to tuck it up and I went to a flat plate of 6061 because it doesn't need any bends; most of the stronger aluminum does not like to bend. Probably going to replace my all pro mid skid soon with a steel subframe and another flat piece of 6061.

 

Alum skids def do the trick. To be honest neither will be pretty on a hit hard enough to dent alum. If youre hitting that hard. The skids will be unsightly regardless. They are there for protection and either will do that.

If you want to buy once, go steel. When mine gets too ding up to trust, ill be going steel.

 

Steel if you actually want "Armor" and will be bashing rocks or want extreme peace of mind

Aluminum if you want moderate protection and dont want the added weight of steel

 

If you intend on doing any rock crawling get steel with a 1/4" IFS steel skid. I have 3/16" and I routinely dent mine up and have it touch the front diff. I'm going to have to switch them out before I destroy my front diff.

 

I prefer steel for the skids just for the added protection

 

@Subway4X4

 

Steel for skids and sliders. Aluminum might be ok for the bumpers since those usually don't take nearly as much abuse.

 

this is a loaded question that has been talked out so much. It would all depend on what type of off road driving are you doing OP?

 

Agreed, if you plan on parking the weight of your truck on a skid you may want the strength of steel, if the occasional scrape against rock them maybe aluminum.

I have both, aluminum is cool because I don't have to worry about them when they get scraped, the steel gives me peace of mind in those areas I tend to hit a bit harder on.

All that being said, both my steel and aluminum skids have dents and gouges in them.

 

Everything from desert running to crawling. Scraped my stock skid a few times and it has a huge dent on it. definetly going with full steel after reading the responses.

 

I bought a IFS Alum skid - protection for the 'fuck, I didn't see that rock' moment well above and beyond the stock part, but I agree if you plan to go looking for rocks to crawl, go steel.

 

Whatever is cheaper

 

Well that gets a little confusing as aluminum is initially more expensive than steel, but if armored out in steel not alu, one is dragging an extra 250lbs+ around for the life of the vehicle. Fuel costs?

 

for people in Alaska (like me) and Hawaii, it is actually cheaper to get aluminum just because the weight is so much less, where you pay more for aluminum is made back in shipping charges

 

I just dropped off my front and mid skids at a fabricator to duplicate in 3/16" steel. Then to get the powdercoated...

 

Steel armor is a must for the Northeast. Trails are large, sharp rocks that you traverse over and around so aluminum skids are toast after one trip.