Ok, well my truck is starting to see more and more off-road driving and it is getting to the point where bottoming it out/hitting something under it is becoming a concern.

My question is how strong are the stock underside parts against being hit? Are the stock skids any good? What is something to worry about and what is not? What about the rear axle?

Basically what can the bottom of the truck take in it’s stock form? And where do problems usually come from under there?

 

The rear axle will be fine. The LCA frame mounts will hit, gas tank sometimes. Transfer case, front LCA's. I don't think you have much to worry about. The front end, bud-built skids are the best.

 

Well it sounds like i am overreacting to scraping sounds coming from under it, lol. All the other truck i have off-roaded were cheap and i didn't care what happened to them.

Now that i finally have a nice truck that also has to be a DD i am a bit bot careful with what i do with it.

 

Crawl underneath and look at your transfer case skid, or lack there of. It's very vulnerable. I only did one outing before convincing the wife that new skids were worth the money. So I say, no they are not good enough.

 

Yeah the transfer case skid is quite small. It was one that i was worried about. The gas and engine are big but how strong? Will they really handle being landed on?

 

I don't think they'll take many hits. I wouldn't want to put the weight of the truck on either of them.

 

Pretty much my thoughts.


SO, anyone got a link to some good and reasonably priced skids?

 

Best bet if your really that concerned and finding yourself in situations where you could be hitting those spots will be to bite the bullet and upgrade your under carriage protection.

Best bang for your buck is going to be budbuilt. Pricey but I have yet to read a bad review about them.

 

the stock skids should do you good. there really isnt a tcase skid...just a pad so to speak. the trick to less damage is to avoid hitting them. know where the rocks are, know where your tires are and going. ive scraped my tank skid, and its held up. my front 2 skids are still in tact. theyre quite crinkled, but still functional.

one thing though, especially if youre near anywhere with big boulders which you'll have to navigate and bump over, is your rear LCA's. they're toothpicks and once you get the rear of your truck on them...they WILL bend. upgrade to SS links if you want to beef up your underside.

 

Yeah, if i start really hitting some stuff i think i will have to drop the $$ on those. For now i will see what happens with the stocks. They should hold up to a few hits at leas, except for the T-case that is.

Yeah, the LCA should be replaced. Any links for some good ones?

 

Stockers will generally hold up until you're in large rocks, the kind you slide over and get hung up on. At that point you need to be upgrading. No question, go Budbuilt engine & tranny/xfer case. Pricey but worth it. The stock gas tank skid is my current quandry, I've lost at least 3 gal capacity, but then again I've been hung up on it. A custom fuel tank skid is in the works. So far the driveshaft, diff, and axle have been holding up pretty good considering the pounding they take with only 33 inch tires. I've been lucky with the rear LCA's but I've got Sonoran Steel replacements about 25 minutes away from me when the time comes.

 

That is good to hear, where i am there are not that many big rocks, but a lot of very steep drops that you tend to slide down on. Though i have found a few other places that do have big rocks but my truck is not ready for those either.

I willl need to do more than skid plates for those...lol

 

You should upgrade your protection BEFORE you start hitting things. Price out a transfer case and price out skids. The transfer case will cost you more. I think I paid about $500 for both of my Bud Built skids and even if I never hit a rock again, I know my undercarriage is well protected.

 

Oh i will. As i said the biggest things i am worried about right now is going down/up hills and it bottoming out there. I could not even do trails that had bolders big enough to really worry me until i get a lot of other stuff done first.

My question here was more for dirt and the ocasional rock/stump.