Tacos in St. Louis area

#rci why do your bash plates look like used McDonald’s napkins after a weekend of wheeling?

 

who would you recommend then? asking for a friend...

 

Mostly breaking balls but many buy bash plates that are just too thin in an effort to reduce weight for fuel economy. It’s counter productive in that you want something thick under there to be able to withstand the abuse.

@Tacomania and @Sasquatch3153 have both ridden with me and felt my bash plates being used to slide over obstacles as well as take hard hits when wheels fall into large holes.

My recommendation is to find a manufacturer that makes a set that have the design features you want such as easy to access drain plugs and such. The front diagonal plate can be 3/8ths but all of the horizontal plates should really be 1/4” steel to perform the task that they are there for.

Not everyone agrees with me on this and some will even advocate for alloy to save more weight. I don’t think I wheel that hard in my Tacoma and others think I’m a madman. I just know that my steel will do exactly as I expect it to and keep the expensive stuff where it belongs and functioning correctly.

P.S. bash plates without an exhaust reroute on a 2005 and later Tacoma is just lipstick on a pig.

*your mileage may vary.

 

Good ole Vienna.

 

so are yours custom via wolf fab or are they a "brand name" so to speak?

 

He's still asking for a friend

 

Eric @RelentlessFab made them and they are beef. I highly recommend them but I’m partial to armor that is overbuilt to take more abuse than even I will throw at it. So far I’ve tested the sliders, bash plates, and the rear bumper that he made me. All have passed with flying colors with missing paint being the only damage done. Might be some more scrapes and scratches on the bash plates after this past Labor Day weekend.

I became a customer of his when he was still a “one man band” in the PNW and the quality had only gotten better and better. He wasn’t a fabricator that just copied other people’s stuff and turned up one day to flog it off on us. He is a TacomaWorld member that figured it out and started making it the right way. Now I just need to talk him into making some sliders for the 77 that replace the factory running boards.

 

I should put some skids on the tundra but there isn’t a whole lot of options I’ve found..

 

sounds like these will probably be vetoed pretty quick but RCI does make a full set for the tundra and so does Victory 4x4.

@G.T. Im not even seeing them on Relentless'website anywhere

 

Chop chop chop.

You can faintly see the robotic total station in the center of the pic. This site isnt one of my favorites.

 

Thanks for the kind words Gary!

 

Your best bet with any fabricator is to call. Websites aren’t always updated regularly and products that are in development usually don’t get listed until tested and proven.

My local fabricator stays so busy this time of year doing dirt work that he doesn’t even plug in his welder for weeks at a time. I’m going to swing by his place in a bit but I reckon it’s a 60% chance that he won’t be there and the trailer with the earth movers won’t be either.

 

Mate, you’ve been a member here longer than me. We’ve both seen “fabricators” turn up with a familiar looking products and simply disappear a little while later. You’ve been here the whole time answering forum and private message questions all the while making it happen. If that’s not being a TacomaWorld family member, I don’t know what is.

 

should have gotten one of those silky saws that @Shellshock posted lol

 

Yup! And now all the people who hesitated get to spend an extra $40 lol

 

I’ve got a “Sven saw” and a “Stihl saw,” you reckon they will work?

 

Hahah. Good ole machete time. Had a skid steer with a mulch attachment but too many downed trees to deal with. I hate autumn Olive.

 

Just opened my Katanaboy up! When is the next Mod Day so we can do a Katanaboy photo shoot?

AAhhh too bad, I'll be in S. IL, but busy burying my Mother in Law's ashes in Heron. Priorities ya know

 

What is it totaling?