GX460 Skid Plates

[r2m]

Definitely get steel for the front skids, that's the one that will take the majority of the abuse. You could go with aluminum for the rest, but the GX is a heavy beast that steel gives more piece of mind when you do take a hard hit.

I have the full set of RCI skids, and one thing I would do is cut some holes to match up with the holes on the front cross member. The way it's designed it covers all the holes on the bottom but the top remains open, which traps tons of dirt and moisture in there.

These are the holes I'm talking about

This is how much dirt can get trapped in there. The front crossmember was fully packed when I took the skids off. almost up to the engine mounts

That looks like all clay?

 

[SpitnTears]

Nicely done! Question re your RCI front skid. What space do you have between the sway bar and the skid? Wondering if the install of a KDSS spacer (e.g. from Treaty Oak) would drop the bar low enough to make contact with the skid?

I emailed them this exact question. They said it wouldn’t work. You have to keep in mind the sway bar moves more w/kdss.

 

[SpitnTears]

I decided to just deal with removing the front OEM skid plate to change the oil.

Instead I just went ahead and grabbed the full length fuel tank skid plate since it was only $156 shipped from Toyota yesterday.

The reality is that I won't be doing anything with the GX that justifies me spending nearly $2500 for aftermarket skid plates just to make oil changes easier. I'll just be sure to put anti-seize on all of the bolts of the OEM skid plates when it's somewhat nice out and I feel better.

If not off reading, why not just ditch the skid completely?

 

[Acrad]

I've haven't paid attention as to whether all the aftermarket skids have the OEM tower to cross member for jack support. My Budbuilt has it.

Is that something every other brand has included as well?

 

[Banandalorian]

I've haven't paid attention as to whether all the aftermarket skids have the OEM tower to cross member for jack support. My Budbuilt has it.

Is that something every other brand has included as well?

My guess is that some have it and some don't. Checking for that never even crossed my mind so I suppose I'm glad I just ordered BudBuilt and they thought of it for me.

 

[Direwolf333]

Budbuilt went up about $128 for steel set.

 

[re_guderian]

I've haven't paid attention as to whether all the aftermarket skids have the OEM tower to cross member for jack support. My Budbuilt has it.

Is that something every other brand has included as well?

View attachment 2855197

RCI doesn't, and I asked them about it. They have 2 fairly stout fixtures that the side bolts go through and make contact with the frame, much like the BB ones (only stouter, IMHO). They said to just jack in the middle. RCI plates are marginally (~20%) thicker than the BudBuilt ones (3/16" v 4 mm), and I've done it once with a rubber pad over my floor jack cradle to protect the powder coat. Worked OK. I dreamed up a million ways to use some stacked HDPE, hockey pucks, body lift mounts glued on, etc. etc, but came back to the same problem that I see with the BudBuilt tower v the OEM on. OEM was hollow, and had a bolt securing the tower to the cross member. I couldn't figure out how to keep the tower fixed to the cross member and not have it vibrate and come in contact with it, and still have it be close enough to be useful. So I gave up. No problems so far just using the plate. And a few times I've only lifted one side, I position the floor jack right under one of the bolts and it's associated structure. If the skids can't handle that weight, they aren't stout enough to do their intended job anyway.

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RCI,

I have a crazy question for you. I just installed the engine skid plate on my 2011 Lexus GX 460. The (wimpy) OEM skid plate had a reinforced section for jacking up the entire vehicle (see attached picture). The RCI skid plate does not have such a reinforced point. Where should I place a jack?

Rob

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Hey Rob!

You should be able to lift the vehicle from the front skid plate if you center the jack between the mid plate tube supports. I would heavily recommend picking up an anti-slip rubber head for your floor jack though!

Thanks,

Austin Mannello
RCI OFFROAD
P: 970.797.3089
SALES@RCIOFFROAD.COM

 

[Acrad]

Thanks! It really isn't an area I would normally lift vehicle from but was curious of what other products had. ARB apparently doesn't have it either. Rob @ Budbuilt... who was their lead welder at time I purchased mine told me they did numerous load bearing tests on this spot during development and it held up fine.

 

[re_guderian]

Thanks! It really isn't an area I would normally lift vehicle from but was curious of what other products had. ARB apparently doesn't have it either. Rob @ Budbuilt... who was their lead welder at time I purchased mine told me they did numerous load bearing tests on this spot during development and it held up fine.

With, or without, the tower? I'd assume (*) the whole plate would have to flex just a little bit in order for the tower to make contact and bear weight on the cross-member, no?

 

[Acrad]

Their testing was with the tower... it was apparently on their mind during development because Rob brought it up during discussion on phone... can't remember why in discussion though. I'll have to see how close tower makes contact... frankly... until today wasn't something I had thought much about and had assumed "everyone was doing it"

EDIT: Not having to drop the skid for oil changes has now left me with an "experience void" of what connects to what

 

[re_guderian]

EDIT: Not having to drop the skid for oil changes has now left me with an "experience void" of what connects to what

Right? Glad my valley plate let go before installing all that. But that would probably be visible anyway.

 

[Acrad]

I just tell everyone to monitor the level on their coolant recovery tank

 

[URJ150L]

I've haven't paid attention as to whether all the aftermarket skids have the OEM tower to cross member for jack support. My Budbuilt has it.

Is that something every other brand has included as well?

View attachment 2855197

CBI doesn’t. You have to jack up where the rear of the skid bolts to a cross member of the frame. There is enough room for KDSS spacers on the sway bar though… pick your poison I guess.

 

[JDUB fab]

I have designed and built my own skids as well as fabricated them for others in the Tacoma community. I had both steel and aluminum on my rig over the years, I do 3/16 steel or 1/4 aluminum. I’ve bent and scratched both to hell and back.
IMO- aluminum is super gummy over rocks, it gouges more than steel, more resistance, and deeper cuts. But it is lighter. I know people that use 1/4 steel, seems a bit overkill but I have had to take off 3/16 skids and hammer them back to shape.
Currently I have the 1/8” wall steel ARB full skids on my GX, came with them, I’ve had them on the rocks once, it took more abuse than I expected. I will be building some 3/16 skids soon, to make me feel better on the trail. I will be sure to design an oil filter door and jackpoint!
Some images for reference of my aluminum plate after a nice run in the rocks.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

I have designed and built my own skids as well as fabricated them for others in the Tacoma community. I had both steel and aluminum on my rig over the years, I do 3/16 steel or 1/4 aluminum. I’ve bent and scratched both to hell and back.
IMO- aluminum is super gummy over rocks, it gouges more than steel, more resistance, and deeper cuts. But it is lighter. I know people that use 1/4 steel, seems a bit overkill but I have had to take off 3/16 skids and hammer them back to shape.
Currently I have the 1/8” wall steel ARB full skids on my GX, came with them, I’ve had them on the rocks once, it took more abuse than I expected. I will be building some 3/16 skids soon, to make me feel better on the trail. I will be sure to design an oil filter door and jackpoint!
Some images for reference of my aluminum plate after a nice run in the rocks.
View attachment 2856988View attachment 2856990

What would you sell the aluminum and steel for that fit a 460? Assuming you’d still be fabricating for the community.

 

[JDUB fab]

What would you sell the aluminum and steel for that fit a 460? Assuming you’d still be fabricating for the community.

Definitely will be designing a CAD file for the community, probably won't have time to finish and build one until spring. I am a true believer in the sharing of knowledge and will post the cut file to the forum for others to use. So stay tuned for that. As to price, in the past again for Tacomas, I charged mid 300s for steel and upper 4s for aluminum. (that's fully fab'd unpainted) I ended up selling a few DIY kits, all the parts, no bending, just weld, and grind for a bit cheaper. I even did some custom names and logos in the front for people. The GX skids seem fairly similar to the tacos, but the KDSS area will definitely take some time to work out, also the filter and drain locations. My plan is to generate a file for the whole trio of skids eventually.

Some cool shots of my skids in action!

 

[jlficken]

I changed my mind and ordered the Overland Stage 2 set in 3/16" stainless a few minutes ago. Living in the rust belt sometimes sucks but since aluminum and stainless are the same price I figured just go with stainless as it's really only an extra 50lbs which won't really matter on my GX.

It's completely over kill but you only live once and I found a 5% off coupon code which pushed me over the edge

Bud's also an incredibly nice guy and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with me awhile back about my options.

Hopefully they should get here in April so I can get them installed before the first service. I'm going to put a Fumoto valve on as well since it'll be protected by the skid plates.

 

[thunderklees]

Has anyone installed Budbuilt with a CBI covert bumper? Any mounting issues? I was going to go with CBI but after seeing the video where they don't clear the KDSS and had to be trimmed I think Budbuilt may be the way to go. I don't want RCI because the drain panels don't line up.

 

[Banandalorian]

Has anyone installed Budbuilt with a CBI covert bumper? Any mounting issues? I was going to go with CBI but after seeing the video where they don't clear the KDSS and had to be trimmed I think Budbuilt may be the way to go. I don't want RCI because the drain panels don't line up.

If the CBI front bumper works with the stock front skid, it will work with the Budbuilt front skid.

 

[thunderklees]

If the CBI front bumper works with the stock front skid, it will work with the Budbuilt front skid.

I saw an ARB skid plate install video where the CBI bumper covered the mounting holes and new holes had to be drilled in the skid plates. I was wondering if Budbuilt had the same issue.