I'm skidding out of control

I have been looking into a full set of skids for my taco and as far as I can tell they are about $800.00 to $1000.00. OUCH ! Does anyone know of other cost effective options?

 

nope... they are expensive as shit. you should talk to avid though.... me and him were talking about custom skids and the price really suprised me.

i like your thread title too haha

 

Quality metal costs money.

Do you actually need skid plates for what you're going to do with the truck?

 

only way to get them cheaper than what you've seen is to buy used or build your own.

 

$600 for IFS, Trans, and T-case skid from us here at All-Pro.
That's with the 10% off sale we have going on right now. Which expires in just a few short days (July 31st).

Shipping those 3 to Mentor, OH (44060) would be around $135.
That still come in under your previous figure of $800.

IFS skid is in stock, trans skid is in stock, T-case skid needs about 2-3 weeks for production.

Call me if you need more info.

 

you're under $800 until you go get a gas tank skid elsewhere, in which case you're right where he was estimating.

 

Its not quality metal. Its just regular old plate steel.

So yes skid plates are way over priced.

 

x2

 

Blame China for buying all the steel up running the price up here. Around here the scrap yard rarely has anything left when you go by cause they sold it to be shipped overseas.

 

$800 is probably nothing compared to the repair bill you'd have if you actually needed them.

I'd recommend ATO especially since you live fairly close to PA. Probably save a bit on shipping.

 

ATO is in Lexington Va. not Pa.

 

i’m with you OP. i been thinking about better than stock ones. even tho i’m stock still would help. also i would hit more than a lifted truck may.

 

You act like all metal is the same.

Ever wonder why chinese made cheap-as-shit tools off Amazon break so easily while Snap-On made in USA tools last a lifetime?

All steel is not created equal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_steel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_alloy

If you want metal that's going to hold up, buy from a reputable manufacturer. If you want cheap shit, buy from the lowest bidder.

Your call.

 

oh....
I was hoping for an All Pro dig...

Now I'm disappointed John...

 

Yeah... hot rolled plate is the cheapest shit available. Worst alloy.
No special heat treat. This aint 4130 or anything... its the cheapest steel you can buy and its a commodity, not something special or different. Everyone uses the same 3/16" stock. Not different from one manufacturer to another.

 

Ops, my bad. Thanks for the correction.

 

I've said my piece on that topic. In the interest of fairness, their new products are much better designed than the stuff they were shipping 2+ years ago.

 

I'm guessing you are one of the 2+ year ago-ers?

 

And that's fine. But how pure is the alloy? Are Chinese suppliers as consistent with their quality control as counterparts from other countries?

Bear in mind, I'm not talking about hardness alone. Other material characteristics (particularly ductility, for repairs, but not too much) are important.

Then of course there's the cost of labor. Even if the materials are cheap, there's no good reason why the manufacturer doesn't deserve to recoup the costs of their labor to measure, prototype, refine, test fit, and produce their product. Then of course there's the cost of equipment, facilities, waste disposal, etc. in that production process. And on and on.

Who do you want working on your metal? Someone who is adequately compensated and can pay attention to doing a proper job, or someone who is rushed, trying to make the product profitable in a low-margin/high-volume strategy pumping out a quota per day?

Of course, the nice thing about the US is it's a capitalist economy. There's no government or union saying you can't learn to cut, weld, bend, grind, deburr, paint, and produce your own skid plate. Hell, plenty of people on here have done it.

However, the economy being what it is, most of us purchase services and products we can't perform/make for ourselves. And purveyors of those goods and services can set their pricing as they see fit. Seeing as how there is plenty of competition in the 2gen Tacoma skid plate market and they are all priced within spitting distance of one another, I think that tells you roughly what a skid plate has to be priced at for it to be worth making at a fab house.

I have seen the products that were shipping around that time used (as in, wheeled with those rigs). Carnage resulted. There are threads on here covering the topic.