Pro skid plate, how much protections?

Does the pro skid plate really offer that much more protection than the off road piece? I understand that the pro plate has a handy door for oil changes, but does it offer anything else that would justify the price difference and switch?

 

For the price, I would just get an aftermarket steel skid. The TRD pro ones are pretty thin and steel would offer better protection off road. Most aftermarket skids now come with an access point for oil changes

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sometimes-you-luck-out-at-dealerships.587777/#post-19614894

 

Yes, it offers more protection than the cheap stock OR one, but for the same price you can get a much better aftermarket one.

 

All the protections.

 

The OEM skid kinda sucks. Bent mine pretty easy. Looks great when new, but if your really getting serious about going off road you'll want something else.

My .02

 

I think people are confusing the oem and the TRD skid plate. The TRD skid plate is 1/4 inch aluminum thick and will suffice for most people. The skid plate offers the same protection as any other aftermarket aluminum skid plate. Now if you doing some serious off roading or rock crawling then I would get a steel skid plate.

 

It can handle abuse and if you can reinforce it, you can take it further!

 

He has a Pro, his OEM skid is the Pro skid.

 

Kill it!

 

That's what mine looks like right now haha.

Nice! Need to look into doing this!

 

Yeah, just noticed. I missed that

 

This was the first skid to see where the most bends will occur
Then got second skid and reinforced it in those areas, no problems or bends since then!

 

Your pictures are why I have a Pro skid on my truck right now. I thought well shit if it can take that abuse then what I do won’t hurt it at all.

 

Great idea. I have some aluminum 1/4 inch flat bars at work. Might have to do the same.

 

It can take some hits. Plan on switching to RCI one eventually got this one on the cheap because customer return. All my other skids are RCI.

 

An alternative theory is to gobble up take off plates cheaply and replace on fail.

It's the concept of disposable cheap aluminum foil roasting pans vs. a nice high end one. Take offs can be found on CL for $0 to $50. I have three extras.

Some Tacoma owners upgrade but live in apartments and will give them away on CL as they don't have room for something they see as having no value.

Drive it, bash it, bend it, remove it, replace it.

 

I threw mine away. I wouldn't trust those pans to protect my undercarriage.

 

I guess everything is in degrees.

I don't consider the Tacoma my first choice for heavy off roading where I would need to worry about having a really heavy skid up front.

 

That contributes a lot to this thread.