Skid Plates comparison, 4th gen

Has anyone had any experience with the difference between CBI and BudBuilt skid plates on a 4th Gen T4R?

I've got the rest of the underside on the build finished and now it's time to get the skids sorted out (hoping to get them delivered, painted, and installed by October for RT in Moab so I need to order soon) and I've pretty much narrowed it down to those two options, along with probably the BudBuilt fuel tank skid with either set.

 

Which did you wind up going with? How do you like it and why did you choose it?

 

Ended up buying from RCI (not CBI like I put initially) steel due to the combination of price and lead time. I haven't installed it yet or put it to any kind of test, but it's definitely impressively heavy and seems like it'll be at least as solid as the other alternatives. The rear cross-member is a fabricated channel (others seem to mostly use a tube), but looks to be well designed for the ways it's going to get loaded.

Because of factory nut locations that were either broken off or have old bolt parts rusted into them (heads sheared off while removing the factory skids), I'm going to need to rig in some rivnuts and drill out some of the old hardware to get the installation done

 

I finally pulled the trigger on the RCI's as well, just the transmission and transfer case skid as I have the TRD up front. How did your delivery compare to the projected lead times?

 

They must have had a set in stock. I think they were delivered in 7-10 days after I ordered.

Did you verify that the RCI trans plate will hook up with the back end of the TRD engine plate? The RCI plates do use the factory mounting points, but they're designed to overlap at the joints because there's only 2 attachment bolt locations at the spot where they meet and both plates connect to them.

 

I did. They offer a special hardware kit to mount the lip of the Trans skid under the TRD plate for an extra like $6. One of additional reasons I went with RCi as they specifically state that they will work with the TRD skid. .. most won't

 

From what I've seen, it looks like there's not a ton of difference in overall configuration for the trans and t-case skids from brand to brand (some details vary, but the broad strokes seem pretty similar).

 

I agree. My guess is some little flanges or gussets that are intentionally put their to persuade people to buy the matching front skid. Gotta love that proprietary mindset

 

Without coordinating designs with other shops, it'd be insane to guarantee that interlinking components would fit together.

Mixing and matching bumpers/sliders (mine are from 5 different shops on two vehicles) is easy since they don't connect to each other. Skids or roof rack accessories are a different story (although enough shops have copied Prinsu on roof racks that a lot of their accessories will almost certainly fit together).

 

True.... although I would say that not integrating a flat mount to slide under the TRD skid is (not going to say intentional) I doubt an oversight

 

I mean, I get it... it makes sense from a business perspective

 

There's a 1-2" height gap between the engine skid plate and the frame that supports it. Different shops take different approaches to connecting through that gap, so it can be a bit more complicated than just having a flat spot to overlap the two plates.