Off-road newbie -- what armor do I need?

Hi all, new Tacoma ('19 TRD Off-road) owner here.

I don't plan on doing rock crawling exactly but I do drive on rough, rocky dirt roads a fair amount to get to trailheads, and I'd prefer not to damage anything if what looks like a shallow puddle turns out to be a deep pothole, etc, so some armor seems like a good idea.

- What is a reasonable amount of armor for my purposes? Oil pan, transmission, transfer case, diff, ...? All of the above? Some?
- What about aluminum vs steel? Are they of equivalent strength but the aluminum is lighter weight, or what?
- What about rock slider bars? Overkill for what I'm doing?
- Any other advice?

I'm in Montana, so a vendor in the western US would be good to minimize shipping cost. Any suggestions? I don't really know what to look for, and I'm sure there are lots of good vendors, but a little searching found RCI in Colorado: https://rcimetalworks.com/product-category/toyota/tacoma/16-19-tacoma/

Thanks for any advice!

 

Literally just go offroad, be careful, and be safe.

Armor is for situations you plan for, not for situations in which your noobness gets you in trouble IMO

So if you see a puddle and you think there's a chance it may be deeper? Don't stick your wheel in it or go slow and steady. No amount of armor is gonna keep you from hydrolocking your motor or ripping your LCA off.

Find an easy trail with some friends and go have some fun. Then go on a slightly more difficult trail, and then another more slightly difficult trail. Don't be afraid to say, "nah I'm pretty sure I'm going to F my shit up so hard on this obstacle or trail". For what you have described, you need none of that. Which is great! Because now you have plenty of time to research all the questions you just posted. Plenty of threads discussing full skids vs only ifs, steel thickness or steel vs aluminum, or whether or not you need rock sliders, etc.

So just get out there and have fun! Don't get too caught up on NEEDING armor just to drive down a rocky road. Be safe, be careful, and know the limits of your experience. Once you need armor, trust me, you will know you need armor.

 

On my 2014 with 43k miles (about 10% of that offroad) the factory skids are barely adequate. I have one cracked and another dented just from rock flip ups. Have new skids on the way. Also have rock sliders ordered with fill plates after having more than once broken limbs kick up. Luckily no damage to anything so far.

Asked a friend who owns the tire shops around here and he said every truck has some sort of damage underneath by the time they hit 50k in northern or central AZ if taken off road at all.

 

Factory skids are thinner than most steel cookie sheets. Not a lot of protection.

 

I was going to type this same reply pretty much. If you’re not sure if the puddle has a bottom get out and poke it with a stick.

 

You probably be fine with a set of aluminum skids plates form front to rear on the belly of your taco, and some rock sliders with kick-outs. If your are really worried about it.

That's what I ran on my Fj cruiser. But i took rock crawling and overland alot.

But if you have a good spotter and don't do anything to crazy you should be fine with stock skids.

 

Stay stock. Save weight. Drive smartly.

 

you can barely call the factory plates "skid plates"