"Felt" engine cover swapped out

In case anyone is wondering about replacing flimsy engine cover on the Sport/SR5's.

I ordered the part used on the Off road trucks and the crossmember from RCI. Less than $200 spent on this and I should be good for the long haul. Plus it looks much cleaner.

I know this will get hate from the folks that think I should spend many more hundreds for steel skid plates. You do you. I have a 2wd. I like the look of this, and have no need for a heavy plate. If I ever bottom out I am sure it will be on sand or Mud as I live in FL.

The stock cover may last forever, but I have had issues with similar ones on my F150. This one looks worse than those did but it may not collect dirt and mud on top of it which led to the one on the ford sagging and eventually ripping off. (twice)

 

"Hate"?........you gotta be kidding! This is exactly what I've been asking for my Sport. I was concerned about the little scoops on the plastic/felt thing with winter coming up in the Midwest. I don't do off-roading so this will be perfect for me. Much thanks for posting this! BTW, can you post the crossmember link?

 

https://rcimetalworks.com/product/f...mber-24-present-tacoma/#hidden-custom-element

Here it is.

 

There's a rear cover too if you want to protect further back.

 

An excellent upgrade from the flimsy fiber cover. Mother Nature will destroy that in no time. I have a Limited hybrid and already took off the air dam and added the 8 hole plugs to prevent whistling. But the fiber cover just sticks out. I will get on it and order the cross-member skid plate bracket and new skid plate. I don't need the entire underbody protected, the most likely rugged driving it will see is a gravel parking lot at a football game! My only question is (yes some will laugh) but does the existing bolts for the fiber cover work on the bracket? Likely it does but just asking. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE RESEARCH FOR SUCH A SIMPLE UPGRADE!!!

 

It looks like you could overlay the felt one on the metal one and drill holes in the metal one where the felt one had them so you wouldn't need the cross member.

 

the existing hardware works. RCI provides clip on nuts.

 

you absolutely could. I like using the stock holes with the grommets since it has to be removed for every oil filter change.

 

Yeah, I was looking at your pics. You wouldn't have the metal grommets giving strength to the plastic. Also, it looks like if you drilled holes, the 'skid plate' would not be flat up against the mounting holes, which would put more stress on the plastic. (I'm assuming this new plate is plastic, not metal.) I can get your skid plate locally for $132 and the RCI cross member will be $39, so $171 for this mod. When I took the air dam off a couple months ago, I was hoping to get something for around $200 to fix the issue. So, we're under budget!

 

My goodness, Toyota cheap-a$$-ness has gotten really bad--and its counterproductive. They should consider how many owners will immediately toss away the cardboard skid plates. Total waste by Toyota.

 

Not really. I'm buying the skid plate recommended in this thread, so that's at least another $132 in Toyota's pocket.

 

This in on my list of things to do. Thanks for the info!

 

Thanks for posting this. Still trying to find a solution for my driver's side wheel well that ripped.

 

That is perfect! Added to the list.

 

Dear wamerritt, thanks for posting, what may be one of the top posts of the year……thanks……

TW ……this is how you post mods…….pics, part numbers and links……well done sir

 

I wouldn't like this felt garbage on a econo-car.

 

Does this hole serve a purpose?

 

Far more owners will never even see what the underside of the truck looks like than those who want to remove the splash shield.

 

WOW, that is look flimsier than my friends ~2009 Mazda three piece we had to remove to change his oil