Ok. Here's the deal. My buddy who is a Toyota mechanic has been doing some work on my ride for the last week or so. He is installing RB's 3" body lift, Cornfed 3" suspension lift, OME shocks, RB's sliders, and new tires. He says that my belly pan now won't fit as well as my towing bar on the back. Not all that concerned with the towing equipment. But where do I get a belly pan that will fit the new lifted chasis. Thanks ya'll.

 

bump for help please.

 

Have you tried talking to Roger himself? I've heard that he's really helpful and it seems to me that the belly pan you're talking about would be more associated with the body lift than the suspension lift. I really wouldn't know for sure though.

 

Not familiar with the "belly pan", would that be a skid plate? Why would that evebn be touched with either a body or suspension lift? Any pictures to see what the mechanic is talking about. On the tow hitch, you can eiterh leave it as is, ot modify the brackets as shown in the instructions to raise it with the lift. For folks that actually tow things, they usually leave the hitch at stock height for better towing:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...#SteeringShaft

 

Ok. Just spoke with the mechanic. What he was talking about actually was the skidplate. Do any of you guys know where to find a skidplate that will fit after the 3" body lift and 3" suspension lift. Thanks again guys.

 

the skid plate shouldn't be effected by either type of lift ...

what I mean is that it should still fit just fine - neither type of lift changes how a skid plate would fit. the body lift is when the body is lifted from the frame with spacers at the body mounts. the suspension lift also doesn't effect the frame or any other part where the skid plate attaches.

 

Rocky is dead on. BUT, you may as well just go ahead and PLAN on getting a better front skid - and don't forget your transfer case. Oh, and you'll want to reinforce your gas tank skid! DON'T you just LOVE how it snowballs!?!?

 

Only possible skid plate issue I could see would be if you installed a front differential drop kit along with the 3" suspension lift. If so, some minor work to enlarge the mounting holes should do the trick:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...l#Installation

 

Good point, Roger!

 

Alright. This is where we stand now. I just spoke with my mechanic again after the information I got from you guys and have decided I'm going to get a new skidplate regardless. I just looked on budbuilt.com and he says that his skid plate will fit the tacoma but he is not sure if it will fit mine. Does anyone know? Also I called CBIoffroad( I saw their ad in the premier isssue of 4wd Toyota Owner mag) about doing some front bars for my ride and he says his will fit the tacoma but doesnt know if they will work on a 3rd gen. Does anyone know how similar these two vehicles are? Thanks.

 

I agree - the only way the skid would be impacted is with a diff drop kit. Is your mechanic putting one of these in to help the CV angle with the 3" susp. lift?

You should be able to notch out a couple of ridges in the plate. If you go AM, you will probably need to do the same thing.

 

I don't mean to be an ass, but is this mechanic a guy that you trust? Because really, the fit of your skid plate should have been UNEFFECTED by the lifts installed ... and the fact that the mechanic is now recommending a new skid plate altogether, I have to wonder why ... because it seems that if your stock skid plate no longer fit "because of the lifts" and you needed a new one, he wouldn't be telling you to just get a replacement, he would be telling you that you'd need one custom built, or to modify your current one to fit.

That said, things really aren't adding up here ... if he insists that your skid plate won't fit, then neither will an aftermarket one.

Still, the ONLY reason your skid plate wouldn't work would be IF he installed a differential drop. Did he do that? Because if that is the case, then getting a skid plate from some other place isn't going to solve the problem without more modifications as Roger pointed out.

Anyway, I hope you trust the mechanic, because it sounds a little as though he is misleading you about needing a new skid plate ...

 

Hi Rocky. I can trust him, his concerns are aesthetic because it really shows now that its up higher. I want something that is going to be top notch, heavy duty, and pretty. I was checking on the budbuilt.com stuff and it really looks nice but noone seems to know if it will fit a 3rd gen. Everything he has seems built for a tacoma.

 

dued, it's GONNA show - you just raised the suspension up!

pretty is as pretty does

I don't know of anyone doing front and t-case skids for 3rd gen 4r's

last person I recall was www.trailcarnage.com -maybe tom has some laying about?

a

 

Since you're concerned about pretty, it doesn't sound like you'll be bashing your truck against rocks anytime soon. Just make the oem skid fit. It shouldn't be that hard and it shouldn't affect the way it looks.

 

Yeah, you didn't specify in the theads that it was an aesthetic thing - you made it sound like it was a fitment problem!

 

:pat:

 

Using my better judgement, I will refrain from a little good-natured fun-poking at the 'Pretty' comment.

That being said, I can understand that you want your truck to look nice.

My suggestion: get a can of good paint and re-coat the OEM plate. There you go - fresh and shiny! Pretty? Well....maybe.

 

i just won a t-case skid plate for my 3rd gen from stubbs welding, and i'm very happy with it...

t-case skid plate link