basic belly protection for 2009 SR5 Access Cab?

I have a 2009 SR5 Access Cab and I need to add some basic protection to the underside. I will be having the local muffler shop do an exhaust reroute for me to get that up higher than the cross member.

I'm not planning any serious rock sliding. I'm mainly looking to get up some logging trails through my woods and some land I own jointly with some friends. Most of the trails are in decent shape (I have no trouble on my tractor, but it has a shorter wheel base and higher ground clearance). The main problem in my truck is getting over the water bars (basically they are drainage ditches that runs across the trail to get water off the trail, preventing erosion). I very lightly scrape over some of them now, when unloaded. A full load of firewood will likely cause me more problems.

I haven't figured a budget yet, but I don't want to go overboard. If things get too expensive, I may have to piece things in, rather than doing it all at once. I'm looking for recommendations on what pieces might be the most important to start with, and what brands/types I should consider.

I've read through a bunch of threads here about skid plates, but I don't know enough about what I'm looking at to make a judgement.

 

Consider: larger wheels and or a suspension lift. Also take into account that sliders and body armor is heavy, it will make your (assumed) stock suspension sag. Note you will lose some clearance with armor since it hangs below what you are trying to protect.

 

Yeah, the suspension is stock. It does have four leaf springs, so I guess it had the Toyota leaf spring service done (possibly when the frame was replaced shortly before I bought it).

I could go up a little, but I don't want to go too high on any lift or larger tires: my wife is 5' 0" and has enough trouble climbing in as it is.

 

My current tires are 265/70R16. They will probably need to be replaced in the next year or so. Are there other sizes I could be looking at that don't require other modifications to the truck?

How much would a larger tire affect towing? The only time I'll be anywhere near max towing capacity, I'll just be making short runs - 20 miles or so - and on 40-50 MPH roads. I'll occasionally be doing highway towing on longer runs, but that will likely be a trailer weight of 3500# or less.

 

Did some reading up on tire sizes. It looks as though I'll be getting some 265/75R16 tires when my current ones need to be replaced. I have Cooper Discoverer A/T3 on their now. I'll probably stick with that model of tire - they have a couple of updated versions of it out there now that sound pretty good