Sliders and Skids recommendations (1 Viewer)

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desertwampa

desertwampa

Joined
Sep 4, 2023
Threads
30
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116
Location
Henderson, NV
Just got my 97 LX450 today. What do you all recommend for

1. Rock sliders with kickouts
2. Skid plates with cat protection (also why so little skid options? my 4runner has front, middle rear, and gas tank skids..along with diff skids too)

looking for tough, light, and economical options. ty!

also white knuckle asks if drop brackets are on for their rock sliders. I checked, and it looks like I have them, but not sure if they are oem or not. Did any lx450s come with brackets from the factory? or are they 100% an add on everytime?
 
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I love my White Knuckles....definitely stand up to the test and have CAT protection.

Skids, Delta looks like the bomb, but $$$ I have Slee on mine and able to take some abuse.
 
Welcome.

Understand the excitement of day one but step back, take a breath and learn the rig.

1). Most sliders do not have kickouts. Lots of options. Turns to personal preference and intended use. If I tell you slee stepsliders you may say I don’t have a pregnant wife and want max clearance. If I tell you white knuckle with 15* you may say I have kids that need easy entry. Chose what you prefer and matches your needs. Tons of threads on these

2) most cat protection is incorporated in sliders not skids. So re think #1 and chose accordingly. A) it’s not a 4 runner. B) skid the everything motto sounds neither light or economical. Buy a tcase/center skid and move on. Maybe elock motor skids if you have them. Rear more than front. Wheeled extensively for near 20 years and never hit the gas tank. Which has a light duty oem skid. Maybe consider some of the weld on diff protection if you are really pushing that hard.

Cruising off road style offers great protection.
Iron pig if still in production has served many of us well
Chads (creeper sleeper) skid now back in production via trail tailor. Or GIS skid via hudd expo .Would probably be my choice today

If you don’t know what you got take a pic and share. Our clarevoyance is limited. There are no oem drop brackets. But there are frame side radius arm mounts. They are asking if you have brackets to further drop the frame side of radius arms to address castor instead of bushings, plates, or aftermarket arms.
 
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White knuckle sliders and transfer case skid plate. Done. The 80 is a slow slug and more weight means more slow.
 
@jfz80 laid it out pretty good.
Biggest question you need to ask yourself is what is the intended purpose of your rig? Is the desire for armor stemming from the want to protect it from door banging imbeciles at the local mall and the occasional "send it" moment over a curb or do you intended on wheeling it on reasonable trails that could see the potential for the need of armor protection?

Myself, love my white knuckle (WKOR) sliders. Got them bare metal since I had all intentions of making use of the off road capability and expected to be scraping them on stuff. Bare because it is an easy sand down, reprime, paint over and away I go over getting them powdercoated. Same goes for the Creeper Sleeper skid plate now sold by trail tailor in bare metal. I have been wheeling mine in stock 220k old suspension, utilizing the vehicle in all types of difficult obstacles and was thankful every time I made the initial investment for protection over lift, tires etc.
 
I also went with the White Knuckle Offroad sliders, angled up, with the kick out and a Trail Tailor Creeper skid. They work well.
 
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jfz80 said:
Welcome.

Understand the excitement of day one but step back, take a breath and learn the rig.

1). Most sliders do not have kickouts. Lots of options. Turns to personal preference and intended use. If I tell you slee stepsliders you may say I don’t have a pregnant wife and want max clearance. If I tell you white knuckle with 15* you may say I have kids that need easy entry. Chose what you prefer and matches your needs. Tons of threads on these

2) most cat protection is incorporated in sliders not skids. So re think #1 and chose accordingly. A) it’s not a 4 runner. B) skid the everything motto sounds neither light or economical. Buy a tcase/center skid and move on. Maybe elock motor skids if you have them. Rear more than front. Wheeled extensively for near 20 years and never hit the gas tank. Which has a light duty oem skid. Maybe consider some of the weld on diff protection if you are really pushing that hard.

Cruising off road NLA but great protection.
Iron pig if still in production has served many of us well
Chads (creeper sleeper) skid now back in production via trail tailor. Or GIS skid via huff expo .Would probably be my choice today

If you don’t know what you got take a pic and share. Our clarevoyance is limited. There are no oem drop brackets. But there are frame side radius arm mounts. They are asking if you have brackets to further drop the frame side of radius arms to address castor instead of bushings, plates, or aftermarket arms.
Click to expand...
Cruisin is available again thanks to @TRAIL TAILOR
www.trail-tailor.com

80 Series front and rear Cruisin skid plates

Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series front and rear Cruisin skid plates Made from ¼” A50 Steel (50KSI tensile strength) Laser cut and CNC bent for accuracy Available in bare metal only
www.trail-tailor.com
 
Its all in the Sig...
I did modify my sliders with motocross boot grips.
1705027234517.png


and I used the GIS and White Knuckle attachment points to hold my exhaust pipe skid plate.
1705027467000.png

1705027480167.png
 
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Weight is the enemy of 80 series and it's performance. It's already slow and heavy. Something to keep in mind always as you modify the vehicle. I'd be cautious adding if not truly needed.
 
Some pics of mine...as mentioned earlier WKOR with 15 degree angle and kickout. Mine is a 94, so cat protection will be different on yours...I think WKOR is one of the few that tailors the skids to model year cat placement. Kickout is important in my opinion if you still have flares...it saved my rear from damage a couple of times. Fortunately my 94 has the exhaust over frame after the CATs so I don't need to worry about the extra protection that you and @Rusty Marlin need. One note on my CAT protection...looks like a lot of extra space there, which there is...they were made for the OEM CATs that hang lower which I replaced with the Magnaflows which are much smaller...I may do something about the skid to give a few extra inches of clearance in this area.



And a few "use" shots...definitely saved some damage on the underside and rear flares on more than one occasion of a hard wheeling weekend....





And a shot of the Slee transfer case skid that was installed by the PO on mine, definitely put to use as well.



Next up is something for the rear diff....

 
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unsolicited advice, if you just got a brand new to you 27 year old vehicle, I’d do all the baselining recommended on this site before dropping $ on armor.

Once you do that, if your wallet can still handle it x2 for Trailer Tailor Creeper Skid.
 
As previously stated, your "new" LX450 is now 27 years old. I would concentrate on baseline maintenance before dropping coin on protection.
At this point, all rubber should be replaced (hoses/belts/soft brake lines/etc). Could probably use a good tune-up as well. All information and part numbers are available if you search this forum. Don't forget the brakes (calipers can be rebuilt with OEM parts/pads/rotors). It's more important to stop than it is to go.

As far as skid plates, I've been using the Iron Pig belly pan for years on both my old 91 and my 97 LX450. IMO, it's very hard to beat the protection for the price point.
I went custom for sliders and cat protection because I wasn't thrilled with what was on the market. My sliders are welded to the frame and cat protection was custom made to bolt on and is high clearance. I also went with an over the frame custom exhaust which cleared out the right side of the truck.

Again, maintenance first, toys later. It's no fun to have all the toys on a truck that fails on the trail.
 
one thing that is rarely mentioned in these armor threads is the rear lower control arms. These are often a first contact item when offroading and the stock arms will bend soon enough. They really need to be built as a slider as that's typically how they are used.

Plenty of options out there from bolt on beef to DIY bulk up.
 
All this talk of responsibility and financial awareness. We are here to help, help spend the OP’s money. I must concede to the advice given by @jonheld and others. Baseline first, drive it, get only what is needed for your intended purpose.
 
So, lucky for me the previous owner did about 20k in maintenance before I bought her. Not saying that nothing needs attention, but I have a list of things done and that frees up quite a bit of $$ that I wasn't sure about. And I'm not planning to go crazy spending, but wanna have good options weighed out when I do..appreciate the advice from all you that have already walked this path.
 
jfz80 said:
Welcome.

Understand the excitement of day one but step back, take a breath and learn the rig.

1). Most sliders do not have kickouts. Lots of options. Turns to personal preference and intended use. If I tell you slee stepsliders you may say I don’t have a pregnant wife and want max clearance. If I tell you white knuckle with 15* you may say I have kids that need easy entry. Chose what you prefer and matches your needs. Tons of threads on these

2) most cat protection is incorporated in sliders not skids. So re think #1 and chose accordingly. A) it’s not a 4 runner. B) skid the everything motto sounds neither light or economical. Buy a tcase/center skid and move on. Maybe elock motor skids if you have them. Rear more than front. Wheeled extensively for near 20 years and never hit the gas tank. Which has a light duty oem skid. Maybe consider some of the weld on diff protection if you are really pushing that hard.

Cruising off road style offers great protection.
Iron pig if still in production has served many of us well
Chads (creeper sleeper) skid now back in production via trail tailor. Or GIS skid via hudd expo .Would probably be my choice today

If you don’t know what you got take a pic and share. Our clarevoyance is limited. There are no oem drop brackets. But there are frame side radius arm mounts. They are asking if you have brackets to further drop the frame side of radius arms to address castor instead of bushings, plates, or aftermarket arms.
Click to expand...
Here's a couple pics..I'm guessing these are just the factory mounts you mention...

20240112_072508.jpg


20240112_072459.jpg
 
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