aluminum skids

i'm going for a c4 front bumper and just about to go grab some cali raised led rock slider, so all that's left are the skids. for interest of weight, what are some good aluminum skids that work with the rest of my stuff with minimal issues? i'm currently thinking rci for the amount of coverage i can get from them, but i also like the stuff from cbi, no clue what all is compatible tho, so help a brother out if u can.

 

Look at the entire skid package, engine, trans and Tcase if you see yourself going that route long term. Ideally you want a continuous smooth surface. Aluminum is great for saving weight, you’ll want 1/4” in aluminum, but it isn’t as strong as steel, which is fine if you are not abusing your skids in the rocks. I went with aluminum RCI.

 

If you plan on actually wheeling your truck anywhere with rocks, then I will recommend for you to save your money and just buy steel skids. I started off with all aluminum skids. Front, transfer, transmission and gas tank. I have had to replace the transfer and transmission skids to steel skids, from severely denting them on the trail. my reason for buying aluminum was to cut weight. Just isn’t worth it in my opinion.

 

i'm not worried about hard core abuse, and if i loose a skid i'll just replace that piece with a steel one for the future, yea i'm just trying to decide on either the full package from rci or cbi, leaning to rci but figured i would ask if anyone thought either was better or knew of another good set made by another company

 

there isn't really an issue with fitment with any of the skid plate kits out there, any of them work fine, but @crashnburn80 brings up a good point about planning for the future. If you think you might need more protection along the underside later on then try to find a skid that can be added to in the future. However, also consider that if you think you might offroad harder in the future (I mean you have a armored bumper and sliders right?) then just reconsider aluminum and go with steel.

 

i got the bumper for tire clearance and the sliders are for trees and other surprise things on trails in northern utah, i'm not planning on building a rockcrawler, hell i'd rather make a prerunner i'm just trying to build a fun and capable truck and i've had to hammer my stock "slash guard" back once so i'd like to get something else on there but it's still my dd at the end of the day so my dwindling mpg is a factor

 

I've been wheeling with these 1/8" thick steel skids for 3 years with no issues. 33% weight reduction from full-thick 3/16" skids:
http://budbuilt.com/2016-2020-Tacoma-Overland-Protection--Stage-1_p_738.html

 

well if you're planning on prerunning then dump the bumper and sliders. Can't really imagine a uparmored Tacoma with a canti lever bypassed rear end ever running smoothly. It'd look cool and everything but performance wise it would suck at everything.

 

yea, i just don't love the idea of caging my dd anytime soon soo ill just try and make it as idiot proof as possible and people are stupid so i'm gonna keep the rock sliders so people can get into it so i don't really have anything much else to do if you see where i'm going, no way in hell i get a heavy steel high clearance to work in the build tho, i need to find a tube bumper if i want anything back there

 

Yeah I would suggest just try and sit down and figure out where you want to go with this build. Like actually sit down and decide what your absolutely final goal for your truck is going to be in terms of where you are looking to make it perform best. Looking at your posts since you've joined it kind of looks like you are all over the price IMHO. Overlanding, hydros front/rear, LT, cantilever, bypasses, armor, SUA, archive towers, etc.

Not bashing or anything, but as much as we absolutely want our trucks to be able to be perfect and have every conceivable setup it is just not possible.

@3JOH22A made an awesome suggestion with budbuilts "overland" skid plate kit which is light and still steel.

You can also check out Ricochet Off Road in Salt Lake City, they have a 1/4" aluminum full skid package (engine, trans, transfer case, LCAs, fuel tank) for 3rd gens for about $1k

 

SOS Concepts is running a 20% off sale right now. $570 to your door for full steel skid trio.

 

i'm just dippin my toes around, and i'm really just going with "fun" and if i have to money to go lt while i'm at it all the better, and one day when i get a welding machine and another car i'll sell off what i have and start chopping it up, until then i'm just going for a good time and trying to keep it reasonable, the canti is easier than you would think, i know a few guys with it with similar spec trucks to what i'm going for

 

i'll give em a look