Tacos in St. Louis area

Just looked at the RCI, their product Is pretty slick, love the plating, only if my wife knew what it's gonna cost to make my future truck look like I want!

 

... I’ll make sure to bring my extra uca bolt next mod day just in case lol

 

Piece of advice from someone who owns RCI skids and bashed them (more like bent them a few times). Yea you can be careful but the inevitable will happen.
1. For the price and weight (steel) they are a great deal and a good choice.
2. If you want more thickness, if i am not mistaken rci is 3/16 thick (more weight, better protection) id look elsewhere.

Personally would not recommend aluminum skids unless you want to just cruise on asphalt and run easy trails.

 

Nah it's going to be used offroad. I'm stuck at the shipper in San Juan TX watching road kill wishing I got sponsored to break stuff for fun, I'm in the wrong business man!

 

Like Mike said majority of the skids out there are made of 3/16” steel or 1/2” aluminum. I definitely should have went with B A M F, or 4x innovations winch are built using 1/4” steel. Or another option would be a Mobtown set with optional reinforcement gussets

 

I called them about the group buy. They told me % off isn’t as good as the tax sale. I’m sure they could have been saying that just to get a sale. But I doubt it.

I bought the aluminum skids. They’re 1/4 in thick (which is more than the steel ones, which are 3/16 inch), half the weight of steel, and if they get dented you pull them off and beat them back straight. I work on diesel trucks and everything in that world is going aluminum for the weight reduction and strength when designed and made correctly. The aluminum RCI skids have beams welded into them for added strength. I’m not worried at all about going over any rocks with them.

 

I've got RCI sliders and rear bumper, they are definitely built well.

Oh, and 4 window decals. Only using one atm.

 

The issue is not them getting dented (which they will), the issue is them getting dented and they are sitting or shaped in a damaging way now against your transmission, your oil pan, your front diff, your transfer case. When i bent mine (steel) the diff left a mark on the inside of the skid, meaning my skid was sitting against the diff and thats no beuno. Again piece of advice, your money your truck

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bpf-skid-and-tow-hook.604002/

 

I wish they built a front bumper.
I have their sliders too. Kind of a pain in the butt to put on. But they’re on now finally.

 

I like popcorn too lol

I guess. I’ll figure that out what to do when they bend when the time comes!

 

I didn't think they were too bad, but I wish there were more mounting holes for the front angle brackets. I'm not 100% sold on drilling through my frame just yet. Might ask my buddy Matt (Toyota master tech) about it, just to be safe. Also need to relocate a box full of goodies that sits on the inside frame rail of the driver's side.

 

I didn’t like the front two bolts at all.
We had to fish them with wire for the driver side to get past those brake lines.

Frame drilling should be fine. As long as you prep and paint the holes prior to bolt install. And you need to fill the hole with a bolt. Obviously lol

 

JB Weld fixes everything!

 

Aluminum vs. steel.

Depending on how thick the aluminum is and the source it can be very strong if gusseted properly. The issue many many forget is that once bent aluminum tends to crack instead of bend back like steel. With that in mind, a weekend with a few good hits and the aluminum bash plate may very well be permanently damaged.

Steel however, does bend back easily and even heating doesn’t lead to cracking if done in moderation.

 

That’s very true too! Plus steel is cheaper. I’d go with steel again if I didn’t get the aluminum ones for the same price as the steel ones.

Edit. I have an aluminum attachment for my welder too. So if it cracks I can touch it up real quick

 

What drilling are you guys doing for the RCI sliders? i didnt drill in to my frame, just bolt ons. The only pain in the butt bolt is the front bolt where you have to stick your hand in the frame and sit in a weird position while you do that

 

Weird positions when working on cars? NOOO! never heard of such a thing!

 

Forgot one important thing, aluminum when you scratch and/or put a dent in to it, most probably will catch on the rock rather than slide on it which takes out the fun and the out of people's face