Armor Priorities

I did some searching for this, but didn't really find anything. Please feel free to point me there if there is already a discussion on it.

Ignoring specific manufacturers (i.e. being manufacturer agnostic) in what order should armor be installed to get the "best protection"?

Stating it another way, let's assume you have $X per time period dedicated for armor. X and time period really don't matter. Throw in whatever numbers you want.

You want to have as much protection as possible, as soon as possible. As soon as you have enough money for a thing you buy it.

Rules (and these are probably negotiable):

• Lead times don't matter. They change too much to be relevant.
• Install costs don't matter: I can see this being a factor, for me it doesn't matter. I'm going to install it myself. Please feel free to include arguments, I'm going to ignore them.
• You can buy a $400 bumper or a $3000 bumper, and there's a lot of difference. Cool, include it in the argument.

I haven't completely thought this through myself. I was doing more of a "lets figure it out as we go approach", but I'm nearing the end of my beliefs.

My list had been:

1. Sliders (ordered in October, still not here, don't ask). Rational: Assuming an obstacle doesn't take up the entire width of the trail, a good technique for getting past the obstacle is to put a wheel on it. That obstacle, clearly then ends up mostly on the line between your front and rear wheels. Sliders prevent significant body damage if the obstacle is taller than the body on the outside. In addition, in at least some cases provides a "pivot point" for turns that are technically to tight to make (especially in a DCLB) without body damage. Not the cheapest piece to acquire. You can probably acquire 2-3 variable piece of "skid plates" for the cost of sliders. Based on how I pick lines, I'm still going with best bang for the buck.
2. Front Skid. Ordered. Delivered. Currently getting painted, should be done this week. Rational: Assuming there's an obstacle that I can't put a tire on based on the situation (trail is too tight, obstacle exceeds 1/2 of the trail width, probably other reasons) the front skid will be an "early indicator" of the fact that I won't clear the obstacle. I "hope" to feel the "clank" there first, at which time it becomes very important to make a decision to proceed or reassess.
3. Diff Skid. I'm questioning this now. Based on the fact that it was the "lowest hanging bit" in the middle I had thought it to be important to protect. It seems like a lot of people have put these through some abuse and they've been pretty resilient?
4. LCA Skids? Again with the low hangy bits?
5. Rear Shock Skids? More of the above?

I also get this is going to be situational, based on where you are, what kind of off-roading you do. That's fine. I don't expect to have "an answer" but things to consider.

Thanks.

 

If it were me I'd protect the oil pan, rocker panels, and gas tank, in that order.

Everything else is dead weight unless you enjoy mercilessly bashing on a 40 thousand dollar truck.

 

I run a trans skid and sliders all the time. I have very high tuck sliders (for reasons I won't clog this thread with but I am dying to chew someone's ear about). This is the minimum level of capability that I keep, because I drive a lot of really sketchy back roads (Northeast VT - turn a 30 min drive into a 3 hour drive, for fun). I also actually use a hilift just about any time the truck needs to go up, so the sliders are a must.

I have a mid skid that I put on if I plan to be taking certain routes, but I don't feel it's necessary for the majority of time I'm using the truck, and it's only a couple minutes to take it on or off, including putting in plugs (just some short bolts) in the threads on the truck. As a bonus I never have to worry about the skid bolts getting rust welded in.

I run the mid skid in places where I know there are tall narrow rocks that can hang up on/in the frame if I slip off a line, or if I'm going to be driving through a clearcut where there are a lot of anti-cavalry pikes sticking up from branches etc.

I looked at LCA armor but ultimately went with fabricated LCAs because I felt the price delta, compared to new OEM LCAs (which were needed) + LCA armor, was getting me a much better buy on that margin. It did cost a little more, but I picked up some great condition rebuilds off a member here and have really beat the shit out of them with zero ill effects. I suspect they will outlive the truck.

Shock armor or ABS sensor armor or whatnot... Some of that niche stuff is something that I think if you're debating whether you need it, it's not a product meant for your needs. (In other words, buy it if you start regularly doing stuff that makes you think you need it)

edited to add - I guess these days I also run a plate/hoop front and a high cut rear. Duh. Those definitely count as armor, even though they're replacing parts and not adding.

 

For my uses and life situation:

1) Protect the cats from theft. I already have the Toyota skid plates installed which are good enough for now, but I installed an RCI skid with the cat wings to cover the cats while adding protection from rocks.
2) Buy/build a front bumper with hoops to prevent a minor deer impact from totaling the truck, while also providing a winch mounting point.
3) Sliders are next. I have Toyota running boards installed which act as an early warning from impacts into the rockers, but no substantial protection.

Those are really the bare minimum for me, although gas tank protection and rear bumper are probably up after that.

 

So front skid, sliders, and a fuel tank skid.

Certainly doesn't seem to be a bad idea.

My current profile pick was within 10 days of purchasing my truck.
I managed to scuff my front factory skid (skid, used loosely) as well as my back bumper in 2 places.

If someone enjoyed said bashing, what would you put next?
I'm slowly coming to the realization that my goal is to build a bit of a "sleeper off-roader". I'm currently running skinny 33s. I have "just enough" lift to make sure they cleared.

While I don't really intend on mercilessly bashing things about, it might mean "exploring the limits" of things, just to figure out how far I can go.

No arguments with what you said, just promoting discussion.

 

Bumpers aren't bad either.

In my younger days I had a truck that I learned it's capabilities on, explored my limits as you say.

It was a routine of learning what the truck can't do, fixing the part I just broke, and deciding whether next time can be solved by better driving or a better part.

Also, unlike a lot of people here, I'm of a different philosophy. The mountain bike community would call it being a "weight weenie." The less cast iron a truck is carrying, the more nimble it is, and the more likely it is to float across that mudhole instead of bogging down like a hippo from fantasia. Hence, I try to clad mine in the bare minimum.

My old Nissan on which I cut my teeth came with a factory skid and a fuel skid and that was it. I didn't add to it. That truck took on some scars, but it always got me back home. It was a nimble little thing.

I'm currently rocking a front skid and a slimline bumper on the tacoma, but I've also slowed my roll. I no longer rock crawl, nor do I hit branches that could flip up and puncture the vitals anymore. I just want enough to safely clear the high grass when finding my campsite. Its heavier than the Nissan was, but it's still a nimble little truck. I wouldn't want to change that.

But still, I believe in carrying just enough to comfortably do the job. That's just my style. Light armor for dancing instead of heavy armor for plowing.

 

A slimline bumper and winch are on the "long term" list for me.

I had assumed a bumper would come after "all the armor" based on some people in the local offroad forums, but your point is interesting. It's certainly a different way of thinking about things than I have been.

At this point I've really only done like a dozen of our local trails (Technically mostly class VI roads here), but as I explore more I'm certainly going to be thinking whether dance or a plow would be better.

 

My take is slightly different. Instead of just considering off-road use, consider how some armor might help you and your truck in your day to day life also.

I'd go:

1)Front Bumper - Protect your truck from animal strikes if you live/recreate in a wildlife heavy area and especially if you find yourself driving after dark. While your truck will probably be jacked up after smoking a deer either way, a good bumper can be the difference between limping home and being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Also, it'll allow you to push other cars out of your way if need be and protect you from parking lot dings. Also an easy way to get higher clearance and better offroad capabilities

2)Front -> Transmission ->Transfer Case skids - These will be all the placed that you're actually going to hit offroad, and will protect most of your critical, hard to fix components. Also, makes it harder to steal your cats.

3)Sliders - Protect your rockers if you get into harder wheeling, but also protects you some more from parking lot dings and other cars sideswiping you (I actually bought my sliders with insurance money after I got sideswiped and the other car dented my door/rocker. If I'd already had the sliders, they'd have taken all the force).

4)Rear Bumper - Protection from some dings and scratches and maybe some higher clearance for wheeling, but mostly just added weight I feel like.

 

The stock armor will protect vitals for awhile, and I'd put replacement further down the list and focus on that which is totally exposed.

Sliders 1st, the long wheelbase of pickups makes rocker panels fair game once boulders are a thing, then TC skid.

I don't think lca and diff skids make sense unless you plan to do a lot of rock bashing.

The fuel tank is tucked up pretty high, and has a sacrificial plastic skid already. I haven't come close to dragging on anything, but if tree pikes are a concern, need to think this sooner

 

Sliders, skids (IFS, transmission & transfer case). Gas tank skid next.

 

I finally rinsed off my OR "brush guards" (they aren't really skids) after replacing them with a "proper" front skid plate as mentioned above.

They are more "banged up" than I expected them to be.

A couple weeks ago I also managed to scrape some hard bits, but haven't had the courage to look at what might have happened. So far there's been no fluid leaks, but there was certainly some scraping.

 

I have full skids. Ignoring what comes stock on the truck. Considering what has actually taken hits on the trails with controlled driving, I'd rate them as following:


Sliders > Front Bumper > Rear Bumper > Front/Mid Skid > Fuel Tank Skid > Diff Skid > LCA Skids > Rear Shock Skids > ABS Sensor Guards


Sliders because they can push you away from obstacles. Sliders because they are parking lot armor. Sliders because they don't ruin your ground clearance and your wife still thinks she has a step into the car. Get wide enough ones so you can stand on them while messing with your potential roof rack. Get ones that cover your entire frame where it's mounted, I'm not entirely happy with the coverage of mine, they are not from a vendor listed in the rest of this post.

High Clearance Bumpers so you can avoid obstacles and absorb them when you can't. I liked how the lines of the CBI bumpers seemed to mold to the truck, and I liked that their reinforcement brackets were not optional pieces, so I went with them. More Clearance for tires. Looks awesome as well as lightbar/winch mount points for more capability.

Front and Mid skid see a lot of action. Fat ones like CBI are worth it, I have scars at the edges of my skids.

Fuel Tank slightly less action. CBI with their ramp into the fuel tank was what I went with. The ramp has taken some hits so it's seeming to be a smart design.

Diff skid about the same as fuel tank. BAMF is the benchmark for this one.

LCA skids a notch below that. CBI is the benchmark here, good coverage. Not as much action as I would expect, proximity to front tires helps with that.

Rear shock skids rarely get touched due to the proximity of the tire. I went with Rago Fabrication due to excellent coverage.

ABS sensor guards for the same reason. Jomax Customs had the best coverage that I could find.

I would absolutely buy all of them again, the only thing I would change is a different vendor for the sliders.



There's no armor for the drive shaft...be careful out there!