mrbeggins 04 Tacoma Build

hey man i just ordered the all pro ifs and tranny skid, do you have any pointers on installing them or do u have any pics or ur set up?

 

Hey Jake,

When I put on my skids, it was easier if I loosened the front bumper a bit as there's four holes on the skid that bolt to the bumper. Easier to do if the bumper can move around a bit as you're working.

BEFORE you mount up your skid, I highly recommend that you go get some extra bolts, washers, and lock rings to duplicate the four sets that All Pro gives you for mounting the skid to the bumper. Those bolts can work themselves loose and if you ever have some work to be done that necessitates the removal of the skids, you'll be thankful that you have some extras in case some go MIA on you.

The tranny skid bolts that All Pro provided me weren't long enough so I had to source some longer bolts myself. Test fit them right away before you get too far into the installation in case you run into the same thing I did.

Just speaking from personal experience.

 

awesome thanks man! ^^ was it a fairly easy install?

 

Easy. Floor jack helps! Just take your time, nothing too complicated about it!

 

alright sounds good! how are the skids holding up? fairly decent?

 

Skids are doing well. They are great at punching through snow windrows. Dragged them a bit on the rocks over in McLean last summer and are all holding up well. I am happy with them.

 

sweet man! ya i really needed something under there before i broke something, i got them alittle sooner then i was planning but all pro had free shipping this weekend so i couldnt pas it up

 

Yea, as said before a floor jack is a must. My skids fit....~ok haha. They definitely needed some "working" to get everything to line up properly. However I didn't have to loosen the bumper. The powder coat on the bumper made for an extremely tight fit when putting it on. My biggest problem was getting the 2 back bolts to line up properly after the front 4 were loosely in spot.

My skids now fit not bad. They have been well well used so everything has kind of settled into their homes. I dropped a ~4ft rock ledge in the fall and it was all tranny and transfer case skid that took the brunt. All 3 of my skids look like they have been drug down a gravel road for 500km. Extremely dented and lots of scrapes. Especially with the low and wide thing I have going on. It's more of a slither across stuff than anything.

A good set of skid plates goes a long ways. I'm sure they'll get a work out come Easter jeep safari

I'll get some pictures for you of what it looks like under there.

 

Hey Tanner, how do you find your tires for city driving? The tires look like they'd be good for snow, anything in the summer, but I'm wondering how they hold up with somewhat icy roads.

 

Haha funny you ask. I just had this conversation with spoonman about 2 weeks ago. It basically went like this....

Me=These tires are hell on icy roads arnt they.
Jamie=dude, it's not even funny
Me=you pretty much gotta brapp it around corners just to be able to turn
Jamie=ya, I had a hard time even getting in my driveway a couple of weeks ago in Daisy.
Me=yup. It's either full throttle around corners or take out the curb because the truck just wants to go straight.

Soooo...ya. They are however awesome tires on the trail. Deep snow, slushy snow. Rock. Mud. Best tire I've owned. City winter driving is pretty much 4HI all the time. At least for me anyways with the locker in the rear. I've become accustomed to driving with them though. I know when to brapp it and when not to, to be able to turn haha.

Truthfully...not a good winter tire for your daily driver haha. Especially with are 4000lb little trucks. 35's is like 4 big skis. It's very exciting.

 

Yeah, I think I might get a set for summer/autumn/wheeling in 33"s and keep my Duratrac 31"s for winter driving.

 

good to know they hold up to some abuse! im hoping these suckers line up..... bleghh haha

 

That is an excellent idea! Haha. Order from disoucnt tire direct! 4 days and I had mine for $300 cheaper than any fountain tire I called locally.

 

They will!! Don't worry. Just loose fit everything like 3-4 turns on the bolts. Jack the skid up equally so it's level and keep checked all your bolts. I've got mine down pat now. I can drop my ifs, tranny and transfer case all in 1 big unit

 

did you make ur transfer skid?

 

I did yes. 3/16 cold rolled steel

 

Pretty beat up

image by Tanner Tucker, on Flickr

image by Tanner Tucker, on Flickr

Passenger side is bent to shit. This is after I beat the plate back down with a sledgy

image by Tanner Tucker, on Flickr

Front part is bent as well. You can see the crease pretty much across the entire front skid

image by Tanner Tucker, on Flickr

Front is bent from a creek crossing after the local floods we had in the spring

image by Tanner Tucker, on Flickr

 

dang! haha they look pretty thick though.

 

Yah, I think I'll take the transmission skid off an add some ribs to it in order to strengthen it. It's kind of flexy the way it is.

 

Wheel that steers the truck showed up today. At 8pm! Wtf. Guess I'll have to put it on sometime this week. With pictures to follow of course