Skid Plate Opinions/Options

Skid....marks?

 

Question. I know Covid is having an impact on things, but does RCI have any sort of legitimate customer service or anything? I ordered my skid plate July 20th and haven’t heard from them via email. I can’t get in touch with anyone there via phone and I was charged that day. Again, not going down the “I’m a pissed off consumer” road, just more of a “is this normal for a piece of aluminum?” from a company that seems to have a decent reputation road.

 

Based on reviews in this forum, I too installed the RCI skid-plates, both the engine guard and the transmission guard.

I am very satisfied with them and I was able to install them myself without difficulty, but it was a bit of a pain.

I must admit, one of the primary reasons I bought the RCI's was for the trap door under the oil filter. It works great and oil changes are soooo much easier.

That being said, and this hasn't happened so far, but if ever had to take my truck in for some sort of service (transmission) I would have to remove the skid-plates for the mechanic to have access. I can't even imagine what a pain this would be.

Installing it once during the initial install was one thing, but if I ever found myself in the position where I had to take it on and off on a regular basis I would have to seriously reconsider if I made the right decision.

 

I think you have a valid concern. A month is a long time to wait with no response and only dead air when you reach out.

 

Maybe your wait won’t be much longer. Here is their statement on lead times from their website:

 

Thank you both. Ya I saw those lead times and knew in advance it would be awhile, which I totally understand. I ya e called them several times and nobody ever answers the phone there. Could be Covid, so I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. If I do not hear anything this week, I may start looking into canceling my order and moving to another vendor. I don’t want to, but zero contact in a month is odd to me as a customer who is holding the bill already.

 

I wish MobTown made a Tundra skid. I had one on my Taco. Gusseted 3/16 steel, trap door for oil filter made to slam into rock and slide down it. They said they didn't have a third Gen to Prototype. And I’m across the country.

 

I placed my order on May 29
Recieved skids on Aug 2
I did receive a reply to my inquiry 2 weeks prior to delivery
They said due to covid their shipment of materials were delayed.
It did take them a week to respond to my email

 

Seems like two months is the current timeline to go with then. Which is okay, I’m not intentionally hitting rocks or anything. Luckily I can get a more rapid reply and info from forum members than I can from the company. Covid isn’t friendly.

 

I ordered mine July 3rd and just got mine last week. I called and emailed with very little response. The times that I did get a hold of them they were helpful but it took forever to get them. I’m just down the road from them so I was able to pick them up but still it was well over 6 weeks

 

Awesome, thank you for this. As long as someone else has gone through this process then I will just wait for the confirmation email.

 

g
I ordered sliders from them, called, emailed, nothing. They finally called two days before they shipped..... After 14 weeks.... Great product, crap lead times and CS.

 

Thank you for the updates. I just received my shipping information. How ironic.

 

For anyone ordering in the future, I got mine from Truck Brigade for the free shipping. Saved some money.

https://truckbrigade.com/pages/search-result?yearmakemodel=TUNDRA_2&cymm=3&brand=RCI Offroad

 

Sorry y’all are having delays with RCI - I ordered mine in the spring and got it in 2 weeks. Really happy with the product - it’s worth the wait.

 

This is why I stated in my first post that covid obviously has something to do with it. Plus a lot of forum members swear by them as a company so I knew the majority of people would not be wrong.

 

I see rci offers both 10ga steel and 1/4 inch aluminum. Which one would be better? What's y'alls preference?

 

I was going to with RCI, but P&P engineering was having a good sale, so I bought the bare steel one and painted it myself. With free shipping and 15% off I think it came to $233 and change. I'm unfortunately waiting for more hardware, because when I received it the box had been beat up a lot so I was missing about half the hardware. But they were great and are sending more a whole new set at no charge.

Personally, I also really like that it's proper 3/16" steel (7 gauge), so it's a little thicker than the RCI plate. And being 2 piece it's a little easier to handle.

 

I wouldn't buy a 10g skid. 3/16" is the thinnest I will go. These trucks are heavy.

 

I got aluminum. I don’t wheel Moab or anything like that so if I bash mine that bad, I have really messed up my line.

 

Thanks I appreciate the feedback!

 

I'm thinking the same thing. I got 35 acres with a fresh cut road around the perimeter that stretches almost a mile long. It's full of sharp rocks and tree roots. I've taken care of most of the tree roots that could cause damage but my concern is the rocks. I only have the regular sr5 skid plate thats more like sheet metal than armor so I definitely need an upgrade for peace of mind.

 

Honestly nothing wrong with Aluminum if you don't plan on sitting your truck on the skid plate. Even the thinner gauge RCI plate is leaps and bounds better protection over the stock skid plate we all have.

On my first gen Tundra I had an original design 1 piece 3/16" steel Skid Row Offroad brand plate. Thing was a monster and took a pounding since when I used to rock crawl with it. I actually broke the welded on mounting nuts inside the subframe, but the plate didn't do anything but scratch.

Personally I just didn't want to pay the extra for Aluminum when I knew the steel was stronger anyway. Sure it weighs more, but we're already driving a small tank so it wasn't a big factor to me.

 

Another shout out! I just ordered my RCI through Truck Brigade. It was super easy, there was great communication, and the forum relationship was respected! Many thanks! Now the waiting begins...

 

Since you put it that way I’m on the way...

 

I have RCI and like them, but I do wish that the mounting bolts on the fuel tank skid were recessed. Mine aren't, and that's a major gripe.

 

I wish I could find a plate to go along with my 4" lift.