This has kind of a long story behind it. In short, there were lots of Tacoma TC skid plates out there that could be modified. The trick was talking one of those manufacturers into making a bolt-on skid plate for me and hope that he sold enough of them to be glad he did it. So here I am pimping for Stubbs Welders.....

 

Oooh - bolted to the transfer case - BAD. When you hit something, where is the force goig to be transmitted? Right into the part you're trying to protect! Search on TTORA and you'll find A BUNCH of pics where those bolts broke out of the transfer case - which is not cheap/easy to replace.

Surprised Stubbs would fab it that way. Would think he'd know better.

 

OK, so I should keep the stock "skid plate"? Where is the force transmitted to then? Oooh, right through the flimsy sheet metal and directly into the transfer case's aluminum housing - BAD.

If someone out there makes a 4th Gen TC skid plate that bolts to the frame let me know. That would be a truly useful bit of information. :pat:


PS: I did take your advice and found Only one picture (not a "bunch") of one person who damaged his transfer case. I don't believe that you can blame only the skid plate and not assign any blame to the driver.

 

My point is that you haven't improved the situation any. You are still transmitting the force into the transfer case! Just into to bolt sleeves, not the bottom.

I unerstand that maybe nobody makes one. But if you were gonna have one custom made, especially by someone with Stubbs' skills, I would have one it differently.

What about a belly pan instead of an individual skid? Something like this from BudBuilt:


As for the driver comment, I wish I was good enough to guarantee I'd never hit anything. Since I can't, I want my skids bulletproof.