Budbuilt Skids and Slider Install (2 Viewers)

[captainva]

I figured I'd post this as Budbuilt does not have a guide on their website for sliders for the 120 series. If you are also installing skids plates, do them after you have installed the sliders.

1. Start on the passengers side as this has more room and is easier to work on. Remove the bolt holding the parking brake cable to the frame (12mm).
   
2. Lift up the slider using jack stands and get it close to where it needs to go. Start with the front bolt (24mm) and start it on the backer plate. Leave it loose so that you can align the slider forward and back as needed.
   
3. Next do the last bolt on the slider (6) and start it on the backer plate (leave it loose).
   
   
4. Start bolts 4 and 5 and put them through the slider (leave them loose).
5. Align the slider so that the hole for the parking brake cable that you removed aligns with the hole in the plate of the slider and start the longer bolt and washer provided by Budbuilt for this location. Still leave the bolts loose.
6. Next go to the divers side and remove the gas tank skid plate to give yourself clearance. Repeat the same steps of removing the parking brake cable bolt and starting the first bolt on the front bolt of the slider like the passengers side (leave this loose).
   

EDIT: Apparently you can only attach 5 pictures per post so see below for the remainder of the pictures and write up.

 

[Racerman27410]

Big fan of the Budbuilt Sliders and skids. Bud did a hybrid skidplate setup for me with Steel up front in the high impact areas and aluminum in the rear and gas tank to help save some weight and from the type and thickness of the alum. he uses i am not concerned with the strength of it one bit.
In my opinion Bud's slider design is the best i've seen offered and since he is also local to me here in NC i got to meet him and pickup my order in person. Bud is a great guy and pretty dang smart too!

 

[Jstawgn]

Are they KDSS compatible? Been looking for steel KDSS compatible skid for a while?

 

[Racerman27410]

Are they KDSS compatible? Been looking for steel KDSS compatible skid for a while?

I'm pretty sure Bud offers skids that will fit KDSS i recommend giving him a call to get setup exactly what you want.

 

[captainva]

I think that just the front skid plate interferes. I was looking at the thread below by JLee before I bought mine and he installed them on his KDSS GX470. That said a few things have changed about the design that I can see between the skid plates on his rig and the ones that I installed. I think thats mostly design tweaks and nothing that should affect clearance.

JLee's 2007 GX470 build thread

I decided that my '97 LX450 was too slow and overbuilt for my purposes, so I sold it and bought something a bit newer and more comfortable (with a lot more power). The GX470 is built on the 120-series Landcruiser Prado chassis (as well as the FJ and 4th gen 4Runner), and is the closest thing...

forums.anandtech.com

 

[Jstawgn]

I think that just the front skid plate interferes.

Some design is definitely will hit KDSS as the drivers side would extend during articulation and hit the skid. ASFIR skids need to be cut right below KDSS cylinder because it hits and limit articulation.

I end up ordering Victory 4x4 since the reverse front lip design should give the best aerodynamic and KDSS clearance.

 

[captainva]

7. For bolt 6 in back end of the slider, there wasn't enough length for me to be able to use the split washer so I just used the washer. The bolt should be threaded into the middle hole of the backer plate provided.​

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8. For bolts 4 and 5 on the drivers side, there also wasn't enough length for me to be able to use the split washer. I used the end hole of each of the backer plates as I didn't have enough clearance between the gas tank and the frame rail to get the backer plate in place to use the middle hole. Also like bolt 6 I wasn't able to get the split washer on these.

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9. Again like the passengers side, align the slider so that the hole for the parking brake cable bracket that you removed aligns with the hole in the plate of the slider and start the longer bolt and washer provided by Budbuilt.​

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10. If you will be installing the crossmember of the Budbuilt skid plate kit do not install bolts 2 and 3 for the sliders on either side yet. If you're not installing the cross member you can install these bolts however you will still need a spacer to avoid the brake lines rubbing on the drivers side (see below).​

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11. To install the crossmember, undo the 2 bolts holding the exhaust hanger to the frame on the passengers side.

 

[captainva]

12. On the drivers side undo the brake line bracket (12mm). Slide the crossmember up into the frame (narrow side forward). Make sure that the crossmember is all the way up and the bottom is flush with the bottom of the frame. I had to use a deadblow to get it in place. Insert bolts 2 and 3 on the passengers side along with the replacement 12mm bolts from Budbuilt (that came with the crossmember) but don't tighten anything yet. I had to add a spacer so the bolt clears the brake lines on the drivers side (I ground down a nut from my parts bin). Even without the crossmember you will still probably need a spacer (at least on my truck). Insert bolt 2 on the drivers side of the slider with a washer through the hole near brake line bracket (I installed this bolt in the opposite direction as all other bolts) before starting the 2 smaller 12mm new bolts from budbuilt for the brake lines (split washer goes on the other side of the frame rail). Insert bolt 3 on the drivers side the same direction as all others. When all of the bolts are started, use a deadblow to tap the cross member up so that it is flush with the frame then tighten the all bolts and don't forget to replace the top bolt of the exhaust hanger bracket on the passengers side.​

For the skid install, follow the directions on the Budbuilt website. If you are installing the gas plate skid, get the front lip of it resting on transfer case skid plate before you bolt the transfer case skid to the crossmember or you'll have to undo them for enough clearance to get it in position. Also there are 2 holes for the carriage bolts on one leg of the gas tank skid. I had to cut the leg to have only the top hole available so that I was able to bolt it up to the skid plate. In the end I had 3 unused bolts which were the longest 3 of the bolts used for the gas tank. One more thing which I thought wasn't clear at first, you need to remove only one of the bolts for the angled tube brace from the crossmember to the frame. The other bolt will stay in place so only touch one bolt on each side. This will be replaced with a new bolt provided with the skid plate.

Sit back and enjoy your work.

Also to those wondering like I did. If you decide to paint the sliders and skids yourself rather than having them powder coated, I used an angle grinder with an 80 grit flapdisk and a scotchbrite pad to prep them. Then I used rustoleum self etching primer and enamel paint. They're designed to get beat up and scratched so this makes for easy touch up in the future. Also a light coat of bedliner spray on the top of sliders provides good wet grip when getting in and out.

 

[captainva]

Here are a few photos of the completed skid plate install as well and hopefully this helps someone in the future.

 

[captainva]

 

[captainva]

 

[subspd]

So does the gas skid go over the factory skid?

 

[captainva]

No you remove the stock gas tank skid. You'd have to remove it before installing the sliders to get clearance if you weren't doing skids as well.

 

[subspd]

I have MT sliders already I am still trying to decide on aluminum or steel for skids. I like your combination of both.

 

[captainva]

I think your answer to that depends on what you want to do with your truck. If you're going to play in the rocks you should probably go steel since aluminum skids will be bent up destroyed if you drag them cross rocks in no time. Durability plus cost was my deciding factor on going steel. That said steel is heavy and I probably added around 450 lbs. It didn't really affect handling too much though because its all down low but you can feel it when accelerating and stopping.

 

[trinydex]

12. On the drivers side undo the brake line bracket (12mm). Slide the crossmember up into the frame (narrow side forward). Make sure that the crossmember is all the way up and the bottom is flush with the bottom of the frame. I had to use a deadblow to get it in place. Insert bolts 2 and 3 on the passengers side along with the replacement 12mm bolts from Budbuilt (that came with the crossmember) but don't tighten anything yet. I had to add a spacer so the bolt clears the brake lines on the drivers side (I ground down a nut from my parts bin). Even without the crossmember you will still probably need a spacer (at least on my truck). Insert bolt 2 on the drivers side of the slider with a washer through the hole near brake line bracket (I installed this bolt in the opposite direction as all other bolts) before starting the 2 smaller 12mm new bolts from budbuilt for the brake lines (split washer goes on the other side of the frame rail). Insert bolt 3 on the drivers side the same direction as all others. When all of the bolts are started, use a deadblow to tap the cross member up so that it is flush with the frame then tighten the all bolts and don't forget to replace the top bolt of the exhaust hanger bracket on the passengers side.​

View attachment 2273404View attachment 2273405View attachment 2273407​

For the skid install, follow the directions on the Budbuilt website. If you are installing the gas plate skid, get the front lip of it resting on transfer case skid plate before you bolt the transfer case skid to the crossmember or you'll have to undo them for enough clearance to get it in position. Also there are 2 holes for the carriage bolts on one leg of the gas tank skid. I had to cut the leg to have only the top hole available so that I was able to bolt it up to the skid plate. In the end I had 3 unused bolts which were the longest 3 of the bolts used for the gas tank. One more thing which I thought wasn't clear at first, you need to remove only one of the bolts for the angled tube brace from the crossmember to the frame. The other bolt will stay in place so only touch one bolt on each side. This will be replaced with a new bolt provided with the skid plate.

Sit back and enjoy your work.
View attachment 2273414

Also to those wondering like I did. If you decide to paint the sliders and skids yourself rather than having them powder coated, I used an angle grinder with an 80 grit flapdisk and a scotchbrite pad to prep them. Then I used rustoleum self etching primer and enamel paint. They're designed to get beat up and scratched so this makes for easy touch up in the future. Also a light coat of bedliner spray on the top of sliders provides good wet grip when getting in and out.

thanks for such a detailed thread.

just to clarify, you had 3 left over bolts because the sliders came with the same bolts?

I am doing this exact install soon, so I double or triple appreciate your how to.

 

[captainva]

No problem and no the extra bolts were definitely for the skid plates. The slider bolts are substantially larger than anything used on the skid plates. I suspect that since the skid plates are very similar to the FJ cruiser and 4th gen 4runner they might be used on those with a different bolt configuration for the gas tank and thats why the "legs" for the gas tank skid had more than one hole. Can't say for sure but I'm certain there are no bolts missing anywhere though.

 

[trinydex]

No problem and no the extra bolts were definitely for the skid plates. The slider bolts are substantially larger than anything used on the skid plates. I suspect that since the skid plates are very similar to the FJ cruiser and 4th gen 4runner they might be used on those with a different bolt configuration for the gas tank and thats why the "legs" for the gas tank skid had more than one hole. Can't say for sure but I'm certain there are no bolts missing anywhere though.

got it. appreciate the clarification.

will have to muddle through the cutting of the gas skid leg. I can take some pictures and add here for future reference.

 

[captainva]

Cutting the leg is straightforward. You'll see that its clearly too long and you need to use the first hole in it. Since it mounts inside the lip of the skid, just cut it so that it doesn't hit the bottom of the skid when bolted up.

 

[trinydex]

looks like the new versions being shipped don't have multiple applications for the fuel skid bracket.

looks like that is built into the skid now as an extra mounting point.

also, small clarification point for the budbuilt instructions, there's 6 mounting bolts (still 12mm heads) for at least an 08 model year. this holds up a metal skid, not a plastic skid. no big deal.

one little tip. the driver's side rear bracket had some tight clearance to fish the carriage bolt in. put the bolt into the bracket first, then fish the assembly in

once it is on you can rotate the bracket up to it's bolt in point