Caught a shelf when off road

So I caught the front on a shelf when I was out on Saturday. Shouldn’t have had an issue climbing it, but took a bad angle, and neglected to see the hole someone dug out right at the base of the shelf. Front tire fell in the hole and the bumper bracket or whatever it is, and the skid plate took the damage.
Is it worth messing with and trying to fix? Put a come-along on it and try to bend it back out? Leave it be and accept it as a battle scar?

 

Maybe wait until you hit another rock that bends it back.

My 2 week old TRD Pro skid plate got its first scars last weekend. I think it looks sexier now.

 

I'd leave it be since it's aluminum. I'm not a metallurgy pro, but I believe aluminum just isn't as springy as steel, so bending it back you may weaken it even more.

 

Yes @EatSleepTacos , unless you anneal it, it most likely will start to develop cracks

 

Just keep swimming.

 

It looks like it has a relief cut on it that is opening up? Almost like it is made to bend? I think you can unbolt that inner piece and pull it out of there. Replace it or, I would put it in a vice and bend it back into shape and reinstall.

 

So what you’re really asking is which front skid should you buy next.

 

My ocd wouldn't allow it...

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lWM3o2v46KI

It seems to be popular opinion that steel is stronger than aluminum, but that’s only true if you are comparing two pieces the same size. You can make an aluminum part just as strong by making it thicker and it will still weigh less. The real disadvantage of aluminum is the way it fails. See video.

That said, I went with aluminum for my skid considering I do not intend to do much rock crawling. The weight savings and corrosion resistance seemed like a good trade off to me. Time will tell me if I regret the decision.

 

I'm just not sure if I should spend the time trying to fix all the metal that the skid is connected to. That shit is bent quite a bit.

 

You bent the frame cross members?

 

Don't bother. That all gets thrown in the trash if you get an aftermarket skid. Run it as-is until you feel like upgrading.

 

What gets thrown away? The trd pro skid is bolted to the frame cross members.

 

On the second gen pro skid, it bolts onto those little stamped pieces, just like the stock "skid". I thought the third gen one did as well but I think I misremembered.

 

That little metal block near the tire was put there to stop objects from flying into the front suspension parts and damaging them and it looks like it did the job.

 

On the 3rd gen both the OR “skid plate” and the trd pro skid plate are bolted to the frame cross members, but the trd pro skid has heavier duty bolts in the front four locations.

edit: my memory could be wrong about the OR skid plate bolt locations, but I’m positive about the trd pro locations. They share the two rear locations but not the other four.

 

I checked and I was right. These get tossed in the trash when you go to an aftermarket skid






https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=129&v=8hUlfO-unfE&feature=emb_title

 

The 3rd gen TRD skid has some commercial value to it. If I were in your shoes, I'd bend it back with heat/hammer or come-along, then sell it at a discount.

If the two bolt-on braces connecting the frame crossmembers are bent, and you want to continue running the TRD skid, you can get replacement braces from a salvage yard, takeoffs from another TW member, or new from the dealer. The braces are common between 2nd and 3rd gen, so literally millions of them out there.

 

Yup. I didn't realize that the Pro skid used those. Glad I went aftermarket steel. Those don't look burly enough for a decent hit. They did their job, but I'd put some steel on it.

 

The cross members do not get discarded. Only 4 of the 6 bolts do. The skid mounts into the same locations. I did the job myself a few weeks ago. Watch the video.