1st Tacoma - side and door protection from gravel/slush/road dirt

Hey all, first post and first Tacoma..., I just bought a 2013 SR5 DCLB in white and brought it up to Alaska..., loving the truck.

Being winter there is a lot of gravel and grit on the roads, I have already noticed some new small rock chips on the paint up high on the doors and there's also quite a bit of snow and slush on the sides of the truck when driving.

The truck has some LT265/75/R16s on it, which I know is a little bigger than stock. Wondering if the bigger tires are partially responsible. It also appears to have a leveling kit installed. It does have mudflaps, I'm assuming those are stock.

Any ideas on better protection for the doors and sides? The truck is nearly mint on the outside, though it was down south before....

Wider flaps up front?

I was also contemplating running boards (oem) or some tube steps. The tubes look better but not sure if they would provide the protection I am looking for. Not worried about clearance though, will not be offroading.

Thanks and glad to be part of the forum.

 

Obligatory pic of the new rig:

 

keep the mudflaps on.

Running boards will help.... or better would be some legit sliders with fill plates.

 

Definitely keeping the flaps on..., anyone had any luck or recs on wider flaps?

 

Had OEM step tubes of all three of my wife's Gen 2 Tacomas ..2005, 2011 and 2015. She put over 100,000 miles on both her 2005 and 2011. Eight miles of gravel roads daily. Almost no rock chips. All three of her trucks have been white. The few (and I do mean few) chips were quite easy to touch up. The OEM boards would work too, but they would collect more gunk on the underside. The step tubes clean off easily. By all means leave the mud flaps on.

 

Thanks for the suggestions all..., I am going to start with some Rokblokz for some wider flaps and see if that helps. I would prefer not to go the running board/tube step route, I like the look better without. I may try some clear paint protection film in higher exposure areas.

 

You got white? In Alaska? Probably should have gotten something that matches mud a bit better!

 

Look into the Husky flaps. A bit shorter bit I think a bit wider than OEM. Also very reasonable cost.

 

Haha..., actually white stays surprisingly clean for all around road driving..., when you buy used you don't necessarily get a color choice!

 

x2 on sliders. They would probably technically protect the front of the rear wheel wells too as they go back. Good step, and they can protect from door dings if you see any parking lot time.

 

True, and for half the year it's like free camouflage in the snow! I like the look of white quite a bit but I never wash my vehicle so it's not a good choice for me!

 

Key word here being "can". They're really good for front car, minivan, and smaller SUV doors which probably accounts for most of your risk. Most rear doors are a bit curved for a wheel well though so they'll still nail you. So will anybody with a tall/lifted vehicle but fortunately those drivers seem to be a bit more careful of their surroundings than average.

I got my sliders primarily for having a convenient hi-lift jack point but I was also thinking about door ding protection when I got them. I'm still liking them but after having them on for a few months if the only reason I had got them was for door dings, then I wouldn't consider it worth the initial cost and the ongoing hassle of having to step past them while getting in or out.

 

The Rokblokz are wider and stick out past the edge of the truck. They do adjust in mounting location so you can stick more flap out, mine are adjusted all the way in. I have the short version, in your case you may want to go with the longer ones for ultimate protection.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/flexible-aftermarket-tacoma-mud-flaps-by-rokblokz.377255/

 

The tube steps definitely help. I like that they (the factory ones) go almost to the rear wheel well. Mine is 10 years old, and have been running without mud flaps for the last 3, or 4 years. The paint still looks pretty damn good for a 10 year old truck. I bought mine after the truck was ~ 6 months old when I started to notice a sand blast effect just in front of the rear wheel wells. I touched the spots up, and haven't had to do it since the tubes steps were installed.

They are just under 10 years old now, and the powdercoat is flaking off on the driver's side, so I'm looking at replacement options, and thought about sliders, but in the salt I think they'll look like shit in about 6 months to a year.