Aluminum Mid Skid that is TRD PRO compatible?

Is it? For some reason I was thinking it was 1/8".

 

I have RCI aluminum on mine and have hit it hard enough to know it works for what I need. Post above about not everyone rock crawling is 100% on point. Not sure if the RCI one is compatible with the PRO skid, but it’s worth a look.

 

RCI just confirmed theirs is compatible with the TRD Pro front.

"Thank you for your interest in our products. Yes, our aluminum transmission skid plate will work with the TRD Pro front skid plate. On the Tacoma the front skid plate will overlap the transmission skid plate just like our front engine skid plate. On the T4R you'd want to get the "integration" skid plate to cover the gap between the front skid plate and the transmission skid plate. Then also get the transmission skid plate. "

3 RCI Aluminum skids = 56lbs (I don't know the weight of the pro skid, so using theirs to approximate)
3 Mobtown Steel skids = 152lbs
3 Mobtown Aluminum skids = 77lbs

A 96lb reduction may not seem like a lot, but when you start talking bumpers/sliders/racks etc it adds up. For those of us not getting into big rocks on the regular, aluminum seems like a good option (especially if we already have the pro front skid).

 

In for this as well..

 

100 lb savings is huge. On an airplane that would be worth $5000 or $10000 in manufacturing costs easily on a 'normal' airplane, let alone a specialty application.

Crazy thing is how much heavier mobtown alum is than RCI if the data is apples to apples. By the looks the mobtown has additional reinforcements fore/aft (couple of pounds max) and maybe a little bigger coverage, but I doubt that is 20 lb. Maybe the difference is the steel cross tube on the mobtown?

 

Our skid plates also cover more surface area underneath so that’ll add some weight.

 

Which I mentioned, but without actually running numbers I wouldn't put it more than a few pounds delta. Do you know if the rci has the cross member? If not, that is the delta as far as I am concerned.

(This is all academic for me. I have a full mob set of aluminum skids)

 

Have any underbody pics showing coverage so we can compare? RCI's is attached. A steel cross member comes with their transfer case skid. I think we're all just trying to optimize between cost/weight/protection. 20lbs for a bit more coverage seems like a fair trade in my book. From images, it appears Mobtown does have more reinforcement ribbing.

 

Some good ones in old skid group-buy thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...te-3-0-group-buy.496541/page-30#post-15910002


That is steel with exhaust reroute I assume. (Same coverage steel vs alum for mobtown I think, dont hold me to it)
Stolen from @tw0leftskis

 

Me too.

 

For the wheeling I do aluminum was the way to go. I got the pro skid for a steal and couldn't pass it up. I bought the Pelfreybilt aluminum mid skid and gas tank skid awhile back. I've smacked them (exept the gas tank skid) pretty good and they are holding up so far.

 

Isn't there suppose to be water in that picture?

 

Yeah, the old standard TRD skid was thin and kind of a joke, it might have helped against small birds, pebbles or pieces of tire kicked up on the highway. The newer TRD Pro skid is almost a proper skid. It works for my fire road/light trail purposes, and I already broke it in, seems to be pretty tough. I trust it for those "whoops" moments, but if I was coming up on an obstacle where I could see there was a high likelihood of hitting the skid hard, I would certainly think twice.

 

It's Lake Tapps in Washington State. They drain it during the winter months. It's a man made reservoir that's used for power production... Or at least it used to be. I believe there's talks about leaving it full year round now. I know some people like it to be drained, as they can work on docks and bulkheads in the winter months. Definitely not the prettiest time of year.

 

After their sales department told me their rear skid wouldn't work with the TRD Pro front, got on the phone with one of their engineers and he has confirmed that the CBI rear skid will work with the TRD pro front. Looks like it covers pretty well to the sides too - I have one on order!

 

I don’t see why someone would want steel sliders but not steel skids. You’ll bang skids far more often than sliders. If you aren’t rock crawling then sliders aren’t needed either.

 

Coming from someone who regularly uses their skids to include destroying one set already. In my opinion you either need skids or you don't. If you do, you need Steel.

If you aren't rock crawling then you probably don't need skids at all, the roads you are running are likely moderate and their is no extreme obstacle that would require you to bash your skids up. Even random rocks and logs will have little effect on your transmission and transfer case. Keeping in mind those items sit a few inches higher than the skid plates themselves.

The debate about weight savings for skids to me is a moot argument. If your driveline is worth protecting why would you not put the most protection there and save weight in other places like, aluminum bumpers and racks.

Aluminum also tears, any legitimate hit will likely destroy the skid plate or cause it to tear. You may even get stuck due to the tearing. I have aluminum rock crawling domes on my beadlocks and they are shredded, most will need to be cut off.

For the cost of aluminum I just don't see the real value in it.

 

This is why I passed on purchasing a house on the water there...because the power company didn't sign the agreement to bring the water level back up to 100% during summer. But not too long after they resigned. Was really tempting though especially for the price.

 

I'm a old man, I have no desire go looking to bash my truck off rocks. I will do everything in my power to avoid them when I encounter them, including avoiding trails that I am guaranteed to have to drag my truck over them. However, even with research on trails beforehand, sometimes you end up in a situation where there is no good line, in which case skids come in handy. In this situation, I don't just send my truck over ledge, I take my time and take it easy, in which case 1/4 aluminum is more than sufficient to get the job done.

I would buy aluminum sliders if they were reasonable in cost, and you could jack the truck up with them. But they dont, and won't likely ever exist, so I'm stuck getting steel sliders.

Lastly, the payload capacity is so low on a tacoma that it seems crazy to burn through all that payload by bolting a bunch of steel to it. I rather use my payload for camping gear and family.

 

Ive got a Pelfry Pro Mid Skid available. Aluminum of course