What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Open tire carrier, drop tailgate, close tire carrier.

 

He meant he drives with the tailgate down. So the tire carrier would be in the way because he puts his dirt bikes back there or something.

EDIT: Basically i think the dirt bikes extend past where a tire carrier would be.

 

http://www.budbuilt.com/index.php?p...tegory_id=23&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=170

Check the pulldown menu marked "Product Material"

 

IMO if you went with a 3/16" steel skid you wouldn't regret it. It barely adds any weight compared to the stock one. Besides you have a 3.4L. I can almost guarantee it will make little to no difference in performance/MPG.
You will be protected. Its cheaper.

 

well I'm 2.7 and i have front bumper, sliders, rear bumper, 3/16 skid (used to have headache rack too). Im running 31's though. Im not saying I'm gonna win any races but its definitely not as bad as i imagined it would be.. but then again my truck was never very fast to begin with haha.

 

This why aluminum bumpers aren't worth it either IMO...

 

x2..
Aluminum armor is hard to find for a reason.

EDIT: I guess a few places do aluminum bumpers.. but not skids.

 

Jeeps don't really have as much of a need for (front) skids as our Tacomas do. Awesome approach angle will do that for ya.

 

FINALLY got my sliders on. I used VHT roll cage paint on them. Cheap, and easy to touch up.

 

Here's a pic of my old skids from Bud. Note that anywhere that's is a rusty streak was gouged...that was with 3/16 steel.



I personally wouldn't do aluminum skids....the whole purpose of skids is to protect your junk, and steel is just better for that job than aluminum.

Remember you're putting them on a 3500lb+ truck 30lb isn't gonna make a difference.

 

Spray paint will work fine on aluminum, even gouged up aluminum.

If I were looking to shave weight, I'd go steel skids and aluminum bumpers. Skids will see way more abuse than the bumpers will.

 

Where is this?

 

Nice bro. looking good.


Just got my truck back from the alignment shop. All i have to say is wow. I didn't know what i was missing lol. My truck had been out of alignment for so long that it feels weird driving with it aligned. I can tell that it is much improved but i just need to get used to it. Another thing is i noticed the brakes are definitely more responsive now too (wasn't expecting that..?)

Anyways heres my numbers:

 

Why are you running your hands along... nvm.

Why grind down the aluminium? Just going to gouge it up again. Then you blast it with spray paint again. Problem solved. It isn't even going to rust so the spray paint is optional.

Yes, Al is soft and so if used, won't last as long as a steel skid. I don't get why you say spray paint can't be applied.

 

Just my opinion which I know nobody cares about but me,....but here it is anyway. You're wasting your time using aluminum for any armor that will actually get used. If your truck is just a pavement pounder and you want it to look tough, you can go with aluminum if you want but it's still a waste IMO because you're generally paying quite a bit more to get aluminum and the weight savings aren't going to offset that cost in the real world very much. Maybe a 1mpg difference in fuel economy? You don't have a race car where even losing an extra ounce can make a difference.

Bumpers and skids are for protection. Sure there are people using aluminum for skids, but the ones that really get used a lot in the rocks get pretty trashed, and like has already been pointed out you have to use a lot thicker aluminum to get the same strength that you would from the same skid made of steel and the weight savings are gone at that point.

Aluminum has its place. If your truck is light duty and you're sticking to fire roads and the skids are mostly just to keep tall weeds and branches out of your undercarriage then I don't see a problem. I supposed I'd consider an aluminum bumper since they aren't dragged on the rocks in the same way skids are, but even then I don't think I could justify the extra cost for minimal weight gains.

Speaking of aluminum bumpers....Pronghorn Overland Gear has a modular bumper for Tacomas. It looks like it was made from my kids tinker toys. Seriously hideous IMO but some of the ideas they're using are cool, just not executed well. :barf:

 

No way, you're completely wrong Adam! Not like you have experience from using your stuff at all anyways haha

Thought I wanted aluminum bumpers, but for the price I gave up. It's a truck and is going to be a pig from everything else I throw on it anyways.

 

I'll just stick with steel. Don't really care so much about weight anymore haha

 

Any steel bumper/skid I'm looking into will be less metal than any aluminum bumper/skid variant

 

Great explanation as to why I'm wrong.

 

density matters.

And if worried about weight and material, there is a whole slew of steel tube bumpers to choose from. Plate bumpers are overkill in some respects.

Did I mention I like overkill.