Skid plate delete

So I have no illusions about how I use my truck or where it gets driven: trips to the dump, an occasional double track dirt road, mostly snowy and icy roads in the winter. I intend to keep the truck until it returns to the earth many decades from now...I'm its last owner.

The skid plates are intact but rusty where they aren't greasy from oil-change-related drips. Are there any compelling reasons for keeping the plates? I'm tempted to leave them off the next time I do any work that requires their removal.

Anyone want to share an opinion on whether or not the skid plates on a stranger's truck should stay or go?

Jonathan

 

helps when going over high snow, keeps things from going up in that area. i would just keep it

 

I took mine off for awhile but didn't like how it looked showing the dirty alignment cams and underbody. Plus they're on there for a reason. I know they're not thick metal but better than nothing. I took them off long enough to pressure wash and sand them down and paint them Matte black. I ended up leaving the 2nd section of the skip plate off and only put the front one back on. With both of them on it's just a tool catcher! You don't want to wipe out your diff or oil pan.

 

Removing em will probably hurt fuel econ too, at least the front/engine one. The trans one is tucked up to high to make a difference.

 

I took mine off the week i bought it. i noticed mine were rusty as well and when i took them off you could clearly see my oil pan was just as rusted out. I ended up cleaning the oil pan up and coating it with POR and added a fumoto valve. My oil changes are easier without the pans and I"m a logger by trade and have never had anything come up and compromise my truck because the pans were gone. If you use common sense the pans are never needed.

 

The first time I dropped a wrench down there they got tossed on the scrap pile.

It would be different if they were real skid plates and protected anything

If I was worried about fuel mileage I would ride a bicycle not drive a 4x4 Tacoma

 

it'd be kinda lame to kick a rock up while following an 18 wheeler on the freeway and damage something. Just leave it on. It takes 5 minutes to take the thing off and put it back on.

It's a TRUCK, a few scratches, a rusty skid plate, maybe a dent or two build character, and show you don't baby the thing.

 

I have a 1998 TRD. It takes me about 10 minutes to block one of the rear wheels, get out the floor jack, shove it underneath, jack up one side the truck, and put a jack stand underneath. Then it's another 5 to 10 minutes to get out the creeper, find and plug in the drop light, air up the compressor, and gather the right tools. That's 15 to 20 minutes before I can crawl underneath the truck.

Once underneath the truck it takes me about 10 to minutes to remove the pans and put them aside, and another 15 to 20 minutes to get them back up, juggle the drop light around so I can realign the bolt holes, and reinstall the plates. That's moving right along and not taking any breaks.

I have no idea what's involved with a 2004 truck, but I don't think it's too different from mine. From your description ("5 minutes to take the thing off and put it back on"), I assume you mean when the work is done standing up in a commercial garage setting with a hoist and a permanently connected compressor? I would like to see the average guy remove and reinstall the skid plates on a 1998 TRD, in his home garage, and on his back on the floor in 5 minutes.

 

I can pretty much remove my aftermarket which is far heavier in 3 minutes.

Reinstall can be challenging with only two arms but still can be done in less than 10


This is me laying on the ground. No air compressor

 

Keep the plates.

 

75 ,000 miles and no rocks then I don`tailgate

It is a personal thing

 

I took mine off after the second oil change I did.

 

On my 96 4Runner my front skid only had 1 bolt left that wastne snapped off, i took the skid off and threw it away.

 

I felt the same way about the skid plates on my son's 4Runner. They were just a pita for two-wheel-drive pavement-only truck.

 

I appreciate all the different perspectives. The reality is that the plates will stay on until I drop a tool down there or until the next time I need to do some job that needs them off. Then I will really think about whether or not I will keep them. One thing I can guarantee is that I will never clean and paint them.

 

I remove them for oil and filter changes. At that time I wipe 'em down really good. Anal, I know, but when I button it back up I get this warm, fuzzy feeling...

And my truck runs faster, rides smoother, sounds quieter

 

I think you're over complicating taking a skid plat off. You shouldn't need to jack the truck up just to take the skid plate off unless you have a lowered 5 lug (then you don't even have a skid plate, lol).

To remove a skid plate on a 1st gen 6 lug you need: a ratchet (and maybe a drill with a socket attachment). No air tools (unless you're getting them out for another job anyway), no jack needed. A creeper just gets in the way for such a short job, plus, with out the truck jacked, pushes my face up against the skid plate. There are 5 bolts.

*IF* I'm jacking the truck up, and need to remove the skid plate, I do the skid plate first, then it's out of the way for the jack and stands. I even take the skids off for an oil change (but don't jack the truck for that), even though there's an access hole for the drain plug. Oil would usually smear all over the skid if I tried leaving it on, so the 5 minutes (yes, really, 5 minutes) it takes to remove it easily saved double that trying to clean up the oil.

 

While I don't have a fat pot belly (I used to), I just cannot get comfortable sliding around the cold concrete floor on my back, positioning a drop light, removing the bolts (I have three on each side and three in the front), and then jockeying the plates around, and trying to align the holes when I reassemble the plates. I wish I could though, it would be so much easier. And you're right - the creeper eats up a lot of valuable space.

 

the plates can come off together, 7 bolts (3 up front, 2 middle (there are two that "join" the plates), 2 rear). it's a 12mm bolt. I also use a Fumoto valve with about a foot of 3/8" hose and it's so much easier. I move the drip pan under the filter and the hose rests in the pan.

honestly I stopped caring if oil dripped on the plates, that's rust prevention. I change oil on gravel so if you have a nice shiny driveway that's up to you.

@skeezix to each their own, I just use a piece of cardboard from an old box to lay on. been doing this for 20+years

 

Don't get me wrong, I love my creeper too, but generally only use it when I am constantly moving around under there. For the skid plate, I don't move at all. A minute or two with my back on the cold hard concrete, to me, is worth the 10+ I'd need to spend to use one, if all I'm doing is the skid plate. Two bolts on the cross member, and 3 in the front under the bumper (I don't bother separating the two plates).

I'm really not even on my back when getting to the cross member bolts. My head is barely under the front bumper to reach the bolts with a ratchet.

I guess I just haven't lifted my truck enough that I still have to jack the truck to to use the creeper...