RCI vs CBI

Hey guys I’ve been looking at getting some aluminum skids for my 17 TRD sport and I’ve noticed that CBI is significantly more money the RCI. Is there a difference in quality or material or what am I missing? Anyone who has some info or comparisons would be great

 

I went with the front and transmission RCI raw aluminum. They are 1/4 and seeing them in person makes you feel a whole lot better. These babies are thick and sturdy so can’t imagine what the steel must be like. I don’t have much worry about rocks here in Nebraska so aluminum works fine for me. I vote RCI money well spent

 

CBI looks like they turn out great stuff, but the wait times drove me to RCI when I was outfitting my rig. I'm rocking the RCI front, transmission, transfer case, and gas tank skids - all in aluminum, all plenty beefy. I worked them a bit in Moab last year and they held up well. Of note, RCI offers a military discount and they have occasional sales; give 'em a call and see what they can do for you.

 

I did some research on this back in the day. For the full set bare aluminum (excluding tax and shipping):

BAMF $1175

MORE offroad (discount LETSCRAWL, I have these) $1162

Mobtown $1075

Victory $1048

Budbuilt $1037

CBI $899

RCI $890

Ricochet $802 ($1075 includes gas tank and A-arm skids)

Powdercoating brings the price up quite a bit. Some may offer TW or military discount if you ask. MORE, Budbuilt, CBI and Ricochet seem to offer protection for the alignment cam tabs. Some may or may not need cutting to work with the Marlin LCA frame brace kit. Some companies accommodate the exhaust re-route for additional clearance.

List of skid manufactures here. GL!

 

RCI for me. Get your exhaust modified so you can get the optional transfer case skid.

 

YES, this! On a sidenote, the Victory skid incorporates a replaceable "drop" section to accommodate both pre and post exhaust reroutes. It's a pretty cool design but I don't remember seeing it when I was in the market.

 

I have rci transmission and transfer case skids (made a review under the review section)

They shipped out right away since they had some, they bolt up to the pro skid plate. I did have to remove and cut my plastic blocker things on the frame to get it to fit after (where the crossmember bolts up)

 

I have a 2nd Gen, but I went with full aluminum RCI skid plates. The rear diff and sliders only come in steel however. After having these for a couple months, I can tell you that they are plenty beefy while keeping the costs down over steel skids. I've been to Moab and done Hells Revenge in the truck. They made contact with quite a few rocks on that trip, but absolutely no issues. I highly recommend them.

 

After a full day at Rausch Creek, I'm also in the market for a full set of skids. I came down just once on my stock TRD OR front skid and it' all bent to hell. I'm debating CBI or RCI.

Does anyone know a shop in the Balto-WashDC area that can do an exhaust reroute? Can I take it to any muffler shop? If that's the case, what, exactly do I tell them so it's done correctly? Is it as simple as "reroute the section that drops below the frame and make sure it doesn't"? I'd really rather it be done by a shop that has done this before.

Thanks.

 

@artieTwelve

Consider looking up MA-Motorsports. http://www.ma-motorsports.com/ They do a lot of Nissan, drift, race car builds. They seem to be branching out to the offroad scene, too. They are located just outside Baltimore on the north side.

They built an absolutely wicked Frontier for Sema:
https://www.thedrive.com/news/30862...-turbo-v-8-is-the-midsize-truck-of-our-dreams

 

I didn't look very close but there's a $9 difference for each of their full kits and the CBI look much nicer. Maybe I'm missing something obvious???

RCI:


CBI:

 

Help me out then. CBI full skid is $899, RCI is $890.

 

RCI is three pieces. Engine, Transmission and Transfer Case. CBI is two pieces. Engine and Transmission.

edit: wait, the CBI transmission skid includes the transfer case? I'm confused...
If that's the case, go CBI.

 

Yeah, they appear to have the same coverage. CBI is actually also three pieces if you watch their install video.

 

And here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=436&v=5vy6PPCyODY&feature=emb_logo

 

They both look nice to me.

 

How big is your lift? Mine is 1” in front, 2.5” rear, full Mobtown AL skids. I too did Hell’s Revenge including smaller hot tub, no problems. I did have to tighten every bolt on IFS skid the next day tho...bring full socket set. Local hardware store didn’t carry smaller sizes. Photo ; me and guide’s giant Jeep

 

Don't bother going based on what looks the best. You'll never see them as they're under your vehicle. Go for whichever is more readily available. I went with RCI and they shipped out immediately. Also the cost includes powdercoat on the steel set so take that into account because that dramatically reduces how much you're going to be paying.

 

I have about a 3.5 in lift. You can check my build for more details