What have you done to your 2.5 gen Tundra today?

Just ordered a set of cooper s/t max 295 70 R18 for my pro. I really hope they don’t suck for new England weather.

 

Offered up my truck to RCI today to test out bolt on extensions for the transmission skid to cover the cats. Not enough demand to design and produce one right now, unfortunately. Sad. We need a tundras.com group buy.

So I put up another ADT sign.

 

PVS-14.
I did it in my Tacoma but did not have these lights at the time. Held an IR flashlight out the window. Was able to go pretty fast on a semi bumpy road.
I'll try and get video and post in the AZBS thread.

 

@Classy63 your competition doesn't want to compete. If anybody is close to you and has RCI skids, how hard would it be for you to design and fab an option that worked with them? You'd be pushing them out completely at that point.

 

RCI might get a bit mad at him if he built a kit to go onto theirs.... maybe if it was marketed as generic skid protection and not just targeted at RCI.

Because we know Classy just has all this free time to design and fab even more plates

 

It would just be done as a small plate that is "Compatible with some existing skid plates." Besides, RCI can't bitch when they were approached, and flatly turned down the opportunity.

 

Ordered more parts I don't have time to put on. Bought the raptor style grill lights.

Still have puddle lights to do and a switch bank to install.

 

front sway bar
Sprayed tow hooks to match
Rear sway bar too

 

Ran the coopers for a few years they were not to bad in winter my problem was couldn’t get them balanced otherwise I liked them. I am running 295/70/18’s But switched to Falcons wild peaks at/w’s …Quite a bit better in snow and quieter on the highway.

 

The RCI folks are good people. R&D is important. We saw that with Victory.

 

Absolutely, and I like RCI. I have their armor on my truck, and it's badass. I'm just saying that it's perfectly ok for an entrepreneurial individual to offer a product that compliments theirs.

Look at it this way; if RCI doesn't want to make the cat shields, that is perfectly fine. It does put them at a risk of some lost business on 2 fronts though.

1. Anyone who wants cat protection will go elsewhere.
2. Those who have RCI skids and want cat protection badly enough will get them and then offer their RCI skids for sale.

Scenario 2 is the one that invalidates RCI's right to complain. If the market were to be inundated with ready for pick up RCI skids at discounted prices... well RCI will lose orders. Who wants to wait on lead times and pay full retail when you can snag your neighbor's skids at a discount and have them installed by tomorrow morning?

 

I don't think RCI is complaining. They are choosing not to play. I wish they would but the bolt on extension is tricky.

 

I was not saying they are complaining. I was responding to Robert's comment that they might get mad at Valhalla. I took it to mean complaints about design infringement and such.

 

Alright, I have not personally installed plates with RCI plates. I can tell you that although they were not designed to work, the front cat plate has been installed multiple times with the RCI skid plate. I also have a customer who bought a blemish rear cat plate and bolted it up with the extended trans/transfer case RCI plate

 

Falkens are a C class tire, right ? ST MAXX are E class...both boast 55k mile warranty on tread...but if one is to experience gravel roads often, or offroading on trails or using 4WD beyond the need of traction in snow, the Coopers will win...it's a bummer you couldn't get them to balance... I have been rocking them on my wife's 4runner, my Dad's Silverado and my previous Duramax and I cannot wait until my current Tundie tires are done so I can get back into the ST MAX...they are incredible; so are the Falkens in their road-warrier "C"omfort class!!

 

That's cool to know for any that didn't, and who don't have any plates yet. What I was meaning was plates just for the cats that could be added for those of use who already have RCI front to back. I'm not even sure it's possible, but if it were, I know people would buy. That's why I asked you. You're more familiar with the underside and where things bolt up than most. Besides, we all like to support our vendors on here.

 

Not yet but coming

 

I have spent too much time under these trucks. Although it hasn’t been done (and I am not sure why you would stack plates) you theoretically could use both mine and RCI’s plates

 

Stacking would be... excessive. I don't think I'm communicating properly. What I was asking is if the bottom of my truck looks like this





How difficult would it be for you to design and fab a new product that covered just the cats? It was kind of a tongue in cheek thing, because we all know you are busy as all get out. The kinda serious part is for people like me who don't want to spend $$$ on another skid and try to sell the current one, it would be cool to get just cat coverage at a lower price.

 

Those were on the radar and almost 100 cheaper! I liked the “look” of the maxx so hopefully it pays off hahah.

 

Ordered a Gladiator cargo net. Been debating some kind of hard or soft cover, or a softtopper, but in the end didn't like the expense or hassle of any of them. I also like to run bikes in the back, which covers make difficult.

Decided to go the cheaper route and see if I can make it work. All I really need to do is keep stuff from flying out the bed, like small cardboard load I took to the recycling center today, or my kids sleeping bags when we go camping.



The cover came with a bag to pack it in when I'm not using it, and some decent cinch straps for the corners. This is a size Small, which basically covers the entire surface of a 6.5' bed when spread out. Surprised because it seems big enough to fit over/around much larger loads.

 

So I fell into this category. I bought the RCI trans plate with the intention of bolting or welding on some “wings” to cover the cats. Then Valhalla shields made an appearance on this forum. I jumped on ordering plates early on, received them pretty quickly and think they’re great.
However, now I have a brand new, never installed, scratch free, dusty, RCI plate in my small garage that needs a new home.

 

It's too bad RCI doesn't want to offer a modified design for their trans skid that has extended side cat protection. Seems simple enough for them to do with minimal R&D work but I'm no expert nor am I them. Hopefully someone comes out with an addon design for those of us with existing skids. I like the idea of cat coverage or even extended protection of the cat's but I'm not pulling a few hundred dollars worth of skid plates off at this point.

 

I actually think them offering a modified design would be a bit of a lower. There are already multiple other alternatives so they'd likely not see a large increase in sales. They're also not seeing a major drop in sales. They're booked up and have long lead times.

IMO the niche they could fill would be a new item for cat protection that installs in addition to their current plates. This would be an upsellable item for new customers, and it would be a nice option to get more sales from current customers. It would also keep the market from being flooded with RCI takeoffs who went for competitor cat plates.

 

I need to hear more of this over the next couple of months. Will be levelling and switching wheels and tires, and 'quieter on the highway' will be a primary quality driving the decision, along with off-road adequacy. Thanks very much.

 

This.

Reading through strings about the cat plates and compatibility, I just went with the VS skid since they're all built to fit together. The market is the market. If you're going to ignore the rest of it, it'll ignore you right back.

 

Had the cat thefts been at these levels and the plates available when I bought my skids, I would have done the same. I'm not interested in drilling and chopping to make my armor fit.

 

In for the group buy if it happens. I’m waiting on my RCI sliders currently, so at least I know CAT plates designed by them would fit. I’m going to order the Valhalla ones soon, so I’ll be the tester to see if they fit.

 

Took off my OEM wheels and installed..... OEM wheels! OEM-ish, TSS wheels with GY tires. I will say the Dunlops road better but being a contractor they weren't cutting it in the dirt. Would have loved a larger tire but they came with at good price so maybe down the road.



Also, rolled 5k miles

 

@IndianaGeologist has the Valhalla plates with the RCI sliders. The rear cat plate bracket conflicts with the RCI mounting points per his report. He may be able to provide an update.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/rci-rock-sliders.83454/page-2#post-2365605