Which Armor to Buy Next?

I don't do much as of now due to fear of damage to my truck. I definitely do more than fire roads though, that's for sure. I'm just trying to decide which armor is best to buy first so I can upgrade and prepare my rig smartly. I'm not letting the internet build my truck, I just don't have the off road experience that many on TW do, so I figured I'd test the waters and see what everyone else thought.

 

Man, somebody needs a hug.

I have rocker panel damage from a stump that almost prevented use of my P side door. I wasn't on a trail, I was at work. I hunt/ fish/ camp in unrated areas that will make you sweat, I don't wheel in rated parks. I have sliders and skids - they get used. Let's quit swinging our little wee wees and acknowledge that skids and sliders are the most important armor for the beginning off road driver, and they're way more functional than just as armor.

 

I started out the same as you barely having driven on a dirt road but you can see A LOT without sliders, they are far from necessary when "overlanding". Yes they do have benefits, but in the back country proper route planning(avoiding known bad areas, or being prepared to turn around if you cannot find a line that won't damage your truck) and picking smart lines trumps all the armor in the world.

 

Pretty much this. I've put some pretty good scrapes on my BAMF diff skid in places I had no danger of touching the rocker panels. That being said, sliders are the next mod on my list.

 

Tetten... I like your Taco.. that high clearance rear bumper is SEXYYYY!!!! and I want it for my next mod. Let us have our difference of opinions. it's cool.. lets go ride!!

Remember the wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.

 

My notion, with trucks and mountain bikes, (yes they're very different things.) Has been to equip myself and my equipment so I don't regret anything. Obviously there's no such thing as perfection, but I try to strive. My thought process is that it's cheaper to buy armor in the first place, even if it's a bit much, because it's more expensive and more of a pain to fix my truck than to buy armor and install it before I damage/break anything. Sliders wise, I also want them because they can act as a step for the short GF and after somone slammed their door into mine WHILE I WAS IN MY TRUCK in the parking lot today, they sound better than ever, even if they only see door hits for years. I'm not trying to pick a fight, and everyone is totally entitled to their opinion and to build their truck as they please, but my preference is to overprepare.

 

Yeah, different people have different experiences, for instance I don't DD my truck so people hitting it with car doors didn't factor into the purchase of the sliders. I don't know how far you will be venturing from Colorado, but if hit up any of places I frequent you'll want to start researching high clearance rear bumpers too, I still drag mine even with the high clearance. Good luck with your travels.