That is a pretty good design, although I'm going with a "mix and match" for Coastal Off-Road for engine/trans, Hefty aluminum for the transfer case, and now Talon's aluminum for the fuel tank. So there would still be a gap there. This is the lightest combination of skids I could find where I still have steel for the engine/trans (I have ARB skids there now and they are mangled). I'm not concerned with aluminum for the TC and fuel tank as I have no TC skid currently and my OEM fuel tank skid is not bent that bad.
GX460 & GXOR B.S. thread
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Acrad
GOLD Star
@Wildcat Walker +1
I did the same thing for autos and powersports gear
I did the same thing for autos and powersports gear
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Yikes. I still have some oil sitting around but might grab more this weekend. I can usually find it at farm and big-box home improvement stores for about the same price as Wal-Mart. Maybe I'll grab a few tubes of grease too.
08/19
Acrad
GOLD Star
Interesting… that may explain it with last 2019 builds.
I stocked up last night. I now have a over year's worth of oil for all of our large and small engines. Everything (0W16, diesel oil, and 5W30) was well-stocked locally and priced normally with the exception of Valvoline Restore & Protect, which was sold out. I already had enough R&P on-hand for one more change on my GX, after that it will be back to normal Valvoline full-synthetic.
I'll be honest...I absolutely beat the ASFIR aluminum skid system I had to death. I put RCI steel on, beat it even harder for longer. It is still on my GX. Never had any issues with picking up debris or being hung up. Perceived or a random dice roll of picking up a rock and having it do something dictating a complete departure from a vendor or product doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Weight savings on skids never made sense to me either. Larger axles, bigger brakes, bigger steering....just get bigger if you get heavier. The V8 and gearing do fine. My GX tows our 20' RV on 35s and weighs over 6000 lbs. It is just fine.
how many changes/miles did you run R&P? just started my first yesterday
I'm an engineer and do potential failure mode analyses on a routine basis
. My OEM skid plate has been bashed in at the gap/unsupported overhang location in the RCI by several significant hits already, and the OEM skid has probably stiffer there as it includes a tall steel lip. I've also pulled sticks/vegetation out of the holes on the bottom of the OEM skid before. The RCI design is a pretty glaring set of failure modes (bending and debris ingress) that could have easily been avoided by adding a stiffening vertical lip for a few extra dollars. Reports of others folding over that part of their RCI skid, as well as the video posted by @Cold Iron, show that it has been an issue (although I'm glad yours has done well). I certainly should have noticed/thought about those failure modes before I pulled the trigger, but am thankful that it was not too late and that RCI was receptive to my feedback.Regarding gears/axles/brakes - I've already done all three of those - and towing - I do that too
. I like a responsive rig, weight is the killer of responsiveness (and adds more stress to mechanical components). My rig currently rips with 4.56 gears, headers, trans upgrades, exhaust, and a tune. I don't want it to turn into a slow pig, and have carefully picked every component of my upcoming armor upgrades (including bumpers and even the winch) to keep weight down.I mean how many times do you have to run R&P before you can go back to regular oil. Seems like 4 oil changes is the recommendation.
My plan was to run it for at least 4 changes (as I buy 3 jugs at a time which covers 2 changes, so I would have used 6 total jugs for 4), but based on the shortage I'll have 2 changes of R&P and then 2 more of normal flavored Valvoline. That will take me to mid/late 2027, after which we should have US-based refining capacity for these base stocks that otherwise come from the Middle East, and R&P should be back in stock.
As we found during COVID, supply shocks really suck but eventually work themselves out as the market adapts (but they do leave us stuck with inflation as the market becomes less efficent). Panic buying certainly doesn't help the situation though, and luckily I had quite a bit of oil on hand already and didn't buy any more oil than my normal stock-ups.
What the hell is this restore and protect snake oil?
Seriously, what is it?
I could Google it but hey, let's have a conversation...
Seriously, what is it?
I could Google it but hey, let's have a conversation...
It's a magical fluid that is well-loved on every corner of the automotive internet and claims to clean out every corner of your engine, including things like piston rings. I'd never try it if it wasn't from Valvoline, as I've been running their oils on-and-off since I was of driving age.
for me, R&P is $30 for 5qt container, which is twice the price of the Kirkland I normally get. over the course of 4 oil changes, it's nearly $120 more ($30 more since the 460 takes 8+ qt). relatively low investment as gas is over $6/gal where I am so that's a full tank of gas.
I better stock up on some oils as well then. I’ll have to hit Costco this weekend. Maybe even today after work.
Hiluxforever
SILVER Star
No need to "preemtively" change the oil, unless your engine is absolutely filthy from neglect, even then a filter change would be more appropriate. I have over 40k miles on R&P across a few different vehicles. The "dirtiest" engine I used it on had maybe 3% of the filter pleats "clogged". With the way things cost these days, and the "oil shortage" looming, run it 5k and change it. Anything before that is a waste IMPO.
Acrad
GOLD Star
Valvoline Restore & Protect for those who haven't heard of it
Acrad
GOLD Star
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