My skid plates are basically brush/gravel guards and emergency protection -- if I'm scraping one across a rock, I've made a mistake. With that in mind, If I was starting from scratch, I'd probably get after market aluminum ones for better coverage and lower weight. I kind of like the Slee set (SLEE- Skid Plate System with Cat Protection - ALUMINUM - Land Cruiser LC250 - Slee Off Road) but the Victory 4x4 set (https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VC250SD-GN.html) connects to the frame instead of the radiator. The minus on both these are the bolts sticking out, although it looks like Slee uses tapered collars around their bolts. And once you really mess up an aluminum plate, you're probably going to need to just replace it vs. hammer it out and touch up the plate. But I've never had to replace a skid plate so aluminum is fine for me.
Hi! I ordered the factory skid plates. You can find them on sale online occasionally. I ordered mine through Toyota Parts Express, just waiting for delivery. I was debating getting RCI’s but I’m not doing anything crazy, just some mild trails so the factory skids should do fine (plus the price savings and weight savings. RCI offers aluminum but a bit more expensive than their heavier steel skids). Although I’ve read somewhere that the front skid mounts to the radiator so I guess just be extra careful!
Yes, those are just basically just the cheap plastic and metal underbody cover. Definitely great that you upgraded to the better ones!
I just installed the ICON skid plate - rock solid. One man install ( not easy but doable) - the Toyota skid plates didn’t look too solid and the stock skid plate was really flimsy. I love everything about this truck - Toyota should have the upgraded skid plate installed on all LC 250. They went cheap in this case and it shows
