ARB Skidplates

[stevenc6x6]

Yes, they do. It's not a huge deal to drill out the bolts with a cordless drill and re-tap them (to a same or larger size), just go slow and use a lot of lubricant. You'll break a few bits in the process but they are pretty cheap. I had to drill out the front two bolts on mine and switch them from M6 to M8.

i had a broken bolt too, but got an ez out kit and was able to remove the broke stud fairly easily.

 

[stevenc6x6]

Anyone have these? They look to be a great value. The stock plates on my GX are kind of beat up and ragged looking; I'd like something a bit more protective for a trip to CO and Moab this summer. I won't be hardcore wheeling but hitting up a lot of rocky trails, as I do with the GX here in Missouri.

ARB Skid Plates Toyota 4Runner (2003+)/ /FJ Cruiser/ GX470 W/O KDSS

Protect the underside of your SUV using our ARB skid plates for the Toyota 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, and Prado. This kit includes a front, center, and rear panel.

www.metaltech4x4.com

old thread but to parrot what others are saying, plenty thick, nice install (diff cover was tricky) oill drain easy, oil filter i dropped front cover, but my try some kind of oil catch next time. happy with but havent "used " them yet to see how tough.

 

[jiggletits]

I have a set of ARB skids, plenty thick. RCI are way too thick. Super heavy. If you break a driveline component through an ARB skid, you are either extremely unlucky, like 1/1,000,000,000 unlucky, or you're just f'n retarded and can't drive.

 

[Tanaman]

^^^ too thick?! That seems a little subjective to me. Someone might like to drag their GX across the rocks and in that case you probably want plenty of support dragging your 6000lb+ vehicle across the rocks. Just my .02

 

[jiggletits]

^^^ too thick?! That seems a little subjective to me. Someone might like to drag their GX across the rocks and in that case you probably want plenty of support dragging your 6000lb+ vehicle across the rocks. Just my .02

Everything that adds weight is a compromise for GVWR, MPG, acceleration, etc. I've been a lot of places and on a lot of gnarly trails. Sometimes you scrape. Doesn't take much steel to keep that from being a major problem. If you're dragging across rocks hard enough to bust through ⅛" steel, the steel is not the issue.

 

[saucebox]

I'm not running a diff drop either (hasn't been an issue so far with a 2.5" lift). For the oil change, it's a bit tricky and I've found it easier to date to just drop the skid to remove the filter (draining the pan is NBD as it has a cutout under the drain plug). Next time I do the filter I'm might experiment with a different pan to catch the oil that drains out and ty to skip dropping the skids.

Here are some pics after mine. Prior to getting the lift, I hit these HARD on some rocks, both locally and out in CO/UT. They definitely got bent up but did a great job of protecting the underside of the GX. They also let the GX slide over stuff really well. I've only hit them a couple of times since lifting, and it's been sliding over steep soil slopes, rather than banging down on a rock. I really don't care that they are bent as they still function just fine. I would get them again. They were only ~$450 shipped when I bought them.
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Something like this worked super well for me when I was still IFS (yeah, sneaking in from the 100 series forum): Amazon product ASIN B08CRNJV8B
Fold it into whatever shape you need to escape the skids. Works well for the filter itself, not familiar enough with your skids to know how much interference there is with the drain bolt.

Or just cut an access hole?

 

[Rednexus]

^^^ too thick?! That seems a little subjective to me. Someone might like to drag their GX across the rocks and in that case you probably want plenty of support dragging your 6000lb+ vehicle across the rocks. Just my .02

Mine 1/8" ARB's have been drug across rocks - here and out west. They've done great - see the pics earlier in the thread. A few weeks ago they held up quite a bit of the weight of my GX when popped over a steep bank and exceeded the breakover angle. Unless your GX is a dedicated trail rig and sees a ton of rock crawling, ARB's are great and half the cost and weight of other options.

 

[Rednexus]

Something like this worked super well for me when I was still IFS (yeah, sneaking in from the 100 series forum): Amazon product ASIN B08CRNJV8B
Fold it into whatever shape you need to escape the skids. Works well for the filter itself, not familiar enough with your skids to know how much interference there is with the drain bolt.

Or just cut an access hole?

Thanks, I had no idea that existed! Ordered one. I can access the filter without an issue without dropping the skids, it's just hard to capture the spillage in a manner where it doesn't drip from skidplate onto my driveway over the next week. I think the flex funnel might work.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

I cleaned out the oem skid holes with a tap and WD-40, it's worth it to prevent seized/broken bolts.

For oil changes, I'm about to try one with the skids in place. Instead of a flex funnel I'm going to try using aluminum foil to route the mess into the drain pan. Seen it done on other rigs so I'm eager to try.

 

[Rednexus]

Last night I did a reasonably-successful oil change without dropping the ARB skids. I used the flex funnel under the filter and routed it into a pan. I had some minor spillage where the funnel wasn't quite under the OEM drip trough, but it wasn't bad at all. Next time I think I'll be able to get the spillage down to a few drops. Overall it's pretty easy to change the filter using this method and a filter wrench. The whole job took around 15 minutes and the GX never even needed to be jacked up in the air.

 

[Ace6767]

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but is anyone running these with a diff drop? Running into figment issues

 

[drowzyGX]

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but is anyone running these with a diff drop? Running into figment issues

Probably want some aluminum spacers. Between the kdss spacer and diff drop, I got half inch aluminum spacers even for the stock skid plate, and had to keep them for my RCI skids.

Ace Hardware had everything I needed.

 

[VSPro9]

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but is anyone running these with a diff drop? Running into figment issues

I am running them with diff drop. I had to get spacers from ace hardware. I found it was best to very loosely install each plate, then tighten everything up after all the plates were on.

 

[YeeX]

Ordered a set from Amazon (free shipping) on Monday and put them on tonight. Wrenching is always a good Friday afternoon stress relief.

Overall, they are much thicker, stiffer, and beefier than stock. Protection for the transmission and transfer case are greatly improved. Fitment and instructions were so-so, and the powdercoating was chipped in a few places. I was able to get the front, middle, and rear skidplates in without any adjustments, but had to partially install the small transfer case skid and then hit it a few times with a 5-lb BFH to get all of the bolts in. Luckily, these allow for oil changes without dropping the front plate (not the case with the factory front plate), so I won't be taking them off very often. I also had to trim the front plastic splash guard.

See the picture below. Ignore the rusty underbelly, that's the next project after rock sliders and headers.

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Sorry, can't answer your question as I don't have a diff drop nor a lift. Oil changes would likely require removing the front skid, but you can access the drain pan from the mid-skid.

This is on a 460, but I think the skid sets are the same between all the 120s/150s with KDSS. Wanted to show the thickness compared to stock. While they're definitely not as robust as a BudBuilt skid or an RCI skid, they're definitely thicker than stock and offer a bit more coverage down the length of the vehicle.

I had similar experiences as the others noted. Not all the bolts fit in the holes without reaming/adjustment (two, one on the front skid and one on the transfer case skid), and the paint? (I think it's paint) was scraped away in several spots due to shipping. The box wasn't great. That being said, I paid $630.49 shipped to Nevada, which to me is good value especially given I don't plan on bouncing the thing off rocks. I'll replace these when I do.

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Did you have to trim that plastic splash guard up front? Looks like it just slots in under the skid?

 

[Rednexus]

I think I did have to trim the middle piece of the OEM splash guard, but I did the install 2.5 years ago so I don't totally recall.

 

[jdam]

Did you have to trim that plastic splash guard up front? Looks like it just slots in under the skid?

I did not. It has factory mount points if you don't trim the bumper and remove the guard.