Is a Fuel Tank Skid essential?

I'm looking at steel engine skids and I'd like to armor the whole bottom, but I'm pushing the gvwr.
I'll probably skip the other skids, but the fuel tank looks so vulnerable.
How easy is it to damage the gas tank, is that skid plate necessary?

 

It's a good idea but it all depends on how hard you go.

I never drag my frame across obsticles, and I refuse to hard wheel across rocks so I'd never bother.

I've seen guys torture their trucks and treat them like skate boards grinding down rails. They need the full skid package.

The tank is plastic but it takes a pretty good hit to damage it.

 

5 years with my truck. I have the 3 piece RCI steel skids to cover all the major lower stuff. Haven't touched the plastic gas tank skid though. I think I may have a couple scratches on it but thats about it.

 

Similar-ish on my 17, full RCI aluminum but I did add the gas skid (also alum), I never had a plastic gas tank....also depends what and where you're doing.
I did get the exhaust re-route.

I'm not in love with the way the RCI engine-trans-xfer fit, I'd look at what's out there and decide for yourself. The xfer case brace mount was kind of shitty and it looks like it sits lower than the others.

The gas tank fits great.

 

If you have to ask, you don’t need it.

I’m sure it has happened, but I have zero first hand experience with someone rupturing a fuel tank. Worry about your rocker panels and oil pan. Besides protecting the truck from damage, those two armor pieces are highly functional in even light rock crawling.

 

Ya, that transfer case skid does lack some. First time out after installing and I of course hit that skid on something. To which it bent that cross bar support upwards toward the 4x4 actuator. No damage though and that bend stayed, ha.

 

I can dig up a pic but to me it looked like the xfer sat a little low and oddly the mount only had one bolt to hold it in position.

caveat emptor

 

Ya, if you don't do the exhaust reroute, the original transfer case skid does dip lower than the rest to go around the exhaust. Maybe that bend helps structurally? I did the reroute so I could gain the clearance. So mine is flat like the rest of them.

IIRC, the cross "bar" did only have one bolt on each side to hold it in place. You get 2 more bolts for support when its installed with the trans skid though. Works well enough for me. I did finally have to repair one of the trans mounting points too. Replaced it with a rivnut. Easy peasy.

 

I did do the re-route....the issue is the rci cross-bar design could use improvement, and t is just one bolt so without the plate it can rotate...it's not horrible just not what I was expecting for the cost.

 

You will really want it right after you puncture the gas tank. In all fairness it's not as important as the other skids so you can prioritize those. Just put it on the list and get one sooner than later.

 

Half the people that think they need full skids on everything, don't. If you’re wondering if you need one you probably don’t either.

 

Well it is a plastic tank so...
My first off road trail ride almost ruined my day.
After crawling under the truck, I saw a 3' long 1" diameter stick jammed up between the bed and top of fuel tank. It barely missed destroying the lines and wires up there.

 

The short answer is probably not, but I understand why you would want it. You will learn that the better you become at wheeling, the less you’ll actually need to get by.

As someone who was new to the off-road world prior to getting my Tacoma, I asked myself a similar question and ultimately did purchase a gas tank skid plate(my first aftermarket skid plate actually)… mostly because of warnings I read here on TW. I felt like any damage to tank would be a catastrophic disaster that I could avoid just by simply adding more armor. Naively I thought it was an oversight by Toyota. The reality is that when you’re learning to wheel you’ll be prone to making simple mistakes that will cause you to get into some sticky situations that someone with more driving experience could simply avoid. Damaging your gas tank is possible for sure but In my experience so far is unlikely. Though I have suffered some minor damage here and there over my first several years of learning to wheel, my gas tank skid remains void of any damage, nor have I had any close calls involving the gas tank. I probably didn’t need it but I could afford it and at the time thought I would rather have it and not need it rather than the other way around. Hence why we’re all here spending too much money

Really you have to be honest with yourself about your driving ability and then ask yourself what type of wheeling you’ll be doing or striving to do.

I hope my insight has been helpful.

 

The 2nd/3rd gen Tacoma is unique in having the tank flush with the frame, so it's less likely to get punctured compared to a 4Runner or Land Cruiser. Over 8 years wheeling, I've cracked a rim, bent my plate bumper, and twice dented my Budbuilt engine skid severely enough to require straightening in a press, but the plastic tank skid has been sufficient. I'm running the Trail Toys 1/4" UHMW plastic skid, which is a good compromise on weight vs durability on our trucks, not necessarily so on other models.

 

look at yours and see if its getting scratched .....if not, forget about it and take a nap

 

Just from my experience the answer is no.

Ive been on some gnarly trails and done some water crossings that I shouldn't have. My front
skid and frame got scratched but thats about it. The gas tank is tucked in pretty good down there. My truck doesn't even come with a stock gas tank skid plate, OR and PRO does though.