Toyota Front Skidplate

[greytandy]

Just curious, what is the point of Toyota's accessory front skid plate? Does this imply that the skidplate already there is inadequate, or is it because the aluminum plate "looks good"? Does the front end take more abuse? Thanks.

[jfonz]

I wonder that same thing. I also wonder how thick it is. There other skid is very thin and almost pointless, so I wonder if this other one actually has some beef to it...

[Weedo]

I put on the Skidplate myself and it appears to be a very heavy duty piece. Its definitely vulnerable underneath of there until you put a plate on. It was, what, $200? I've already scraped it running up rocks. I wouldn't have wanted to tear up that part of the truck without it...

[TexasBadlands]

The plate is probably 6061 T-6 Alluminum, and if that is the case, it will be VERY strong. That's a good question for Toyota to see what kind of Alluminum they are using for the plate.

[k9crazy]

Originally Posted by Weedo

I put on the Skidplate myself and it appears to be a very heavy duty piece. Its definitely vulnerable underneath of there until you put a plate on. It was, what, $200? I've already scraped it running up rocks. I wouldn't have wanted to tear up that part of the truck without it...

I dont' think it is as heavy duty as it could be, but it's fine for what I need. I tested mine at Tellico, and although I am a total wimp with the new rig, it did it's job well (as did the factory sliders). The one thing that I have noticed is that the drivers side lean does make the plate sit crooked on the frame. We fixed that with a couple of rocks, so it does bend. I am not hard core, so it will do what I need it to.

I do have to say that the skidplate seems to be mounted low. I would like to see it tight up against the underbelly of the beast instead of on brackets and 1-2 inches lower. And as long as I blabbing about it, I'd like to see a third tube on the sliders to protect the outer most part of the door.

[FirstToy]

I dont' think it is as heavy duty as it could be, but it's fine for what I need.

I think that's pretty a pretty good way to look at this item.

I took a good look at the accessory skidplate. It is 3/16" aluminum stamping with cursory mounting brackets and is a light duty item.

Toyota has a fine tradition of this type of accessory skid with the Tacoma and older Sport Edition 4Runner.

I think it's a fun item to dress up the FJC but your expectations on it's performance should be on par with what it is.

If you look under the FJC's the FJC Trail Team uses, they fabricated proper steel skidplates to replace the factory ones if you plan on hitting 3+ trails.

[TexasBadlands]

Either I find time to break out the torch and welder to fab my own up, or I wait til some nice aftermarket plates come out. Either way, it's going to cost us all more money. Toyota should have done it right so we didn't have to spend more money.

[Weedo]

Originally Posted by TexasBadlands

Either I find time to break out the torch and welder to fab my own up, or I wait til some nice aftermarket plates come out. Either way, it's going to cost us all more money. Toyota should have done it right so we didn't have to spend more money.

So in all your hardcore wheelin' with your FJ... what have you found that the skid plate is lacking in?? I think sometimes people are too quick to dismiss something before they've REALLY tried it (not saying this about you, just a comment).

[FirstToy]

Weedo,
TexasB is just enthusiastic about the FJC and so are you, with differing perspectives.

There is nothing wrong w/ the stock toyota skids, they do a fine job for most owners. If you are going on harder trails, you would need new skids on any rig. No OEM makes true, HD steel skids.

The add-on front skidplate pictures (which is not the OEM skidplates, but an accessory option)
(also found as an accessory for the Tacoma-see toyota.com)

[LX_TREME]

The point Toyota have the front skid plates to provide safety and protection against unforeseen road hazards (rock, chips..etc) and also to prevent unwanted damage to your lower radiator.

[TexasBadlands]

Originally Posted by Weedo

So in all your hardcore wheelin' with your FJ... what have you found that the skid plate is lacking in?? I think sometimes people are too quick to dismiss something before they've REALLY tried it (not saying this about you, just a comment).

Well I don't have my FJ Cruiser yet, I am still waiting. All I can say is that I have hit unseen objects many times while out wheeling my old Pathfinder and several times in my FJ-40. Most often it is tree stumps or logs laying in the brush you cannot see. That kind of stuff doesn't move! Hopefully the stock skid will be sufficient to protect against such a situation.......

Still, I've got the torch ready!

[woody]

I run a piece of 3/8" 6061 alum for my skid plate on my offroad rig....I use it VERY hard, and have supported much of the rig on it before....supported only by the frame rails.

I know quite a few other hardcore wheelers who run 1/4" alum skids with no problems either, but they frequently support on 4 sides where mine is only attached to the frame rails.

For front protection for 95% of owners, the 3/16" will be perfect in front....the 5% of us who will push the rig well past it's expected limits will likely spring for a true aftermarket option, like what AllPro does with their bumper.

My next rig will be running 6061 1/4" skids and 7075-T6 alum links too

[FirstToy]

Originally Posted by woody

I run a piece of 3/8" 6061 alum for my skid plate on my offroad rig....I use it VERY hard, and have supported much of the rig on it before....supported only by the frame rails.

I know quite a few other hardcore wheelers who run 1/4" alum skids with no problems either, but they frequently support on 4 sides where mine is only attached to the frame rails.

For front protection for 95% of owners, the 3/16" will be perfect in front....the 5% of us who will push the rig well past it's expected limits will likely spring for a true aftermarket option, like what AllPro does with their bumper.

My next rig will be running 6061 1/4" skids and 7075-T6 alum links too

Yes the actual stamping on the accessory skid (pictured above) is fine but it is not supported by anything.
It mounts below the actual factory skids (steel stampings) by way of simple drop brackets. It cannot support much weight at all, and much of the aluminum skid is unsupported.

I consider it a light-duty add-on item for this reason. However, for the right buyer, that might fit the bill perfectly. Not everyone needs a full belly HD skidplate array.

Incidentally, there are several 4R owners who replaced the stock skids w/ HDPE (like the TrailLex) and seem to be going well with it in the rocks. I am curious about this, according to the TrailLex guys, it came from competition rockcrawlers.
On a suv, i can see + and - with it. Time will tell, I guess.

[FJCruiserOwnersGroup]

Originally Posted by woody

I run a piece of 3/8" 6061 alum for my skid plate on my offroad rig....I use it VERY hard, and have supported much of the rig on it before....supported only by the frame rails.

I know quite a few other hardcore wheelers who run 1/4" alum skids with no problems either, but they frequently support on 4 sides where mine is only attached to the frame rails.

For front protection for 95% of owners, the 3/16" will be perfect in front....the 5% of us who will push the rig well past it's expected limits will likely spring for a true aftermarket option, like what AllPro does with their bumper.

My next rig will be running 6061 1/4" skids and 7075-T6 alum links too

The accessory skid plate from Toyota for the FJC can support ~1,000 lbs. I'll probably be getting one, if for nothing else than because it's a pretty good pattern to make my own plate.

What am I planning on using?

UHMW polycarbonate. White plastic cutting board material, .5" thick. It has good impact strength (dump trucks, coal and rock hoppers are lined with it), and it's slick enough to slide off of most everything. There are quite a few rigs running this material, most famously the Four Wheeler Magazine Lexus "Trailex."

[DanKunz]

That is pretty cool. I have burnt that stuff cooking before, how well will it hold up to engine heat?

[desertguy]

My friend's '02 taco had a skid plate until it got ripped off on a trail out here in vegas. he found an aftermarket one that worked for him. good to have one - protects valuable stuff.

[cactusjk]

Has anyone tryed to keep the Aluminum plate after the ARB install?