September 10, 2023

rock sliders for my Gen 5 4runner

Do I want these? Probably not. I have no intention of doing "rock crawling", i.e. intentionally putting something like this to use. But maybe I will change my mind someday.

They say the rocker panel is the most vulnerable part of your vehicle, and expensive to repair.

The sliders from 4x4 labs are claimed to be some of the best as far as keeping clearance as they replace the lower trim panel.

They say the sliders from RCI are clean and simple:

The $920 price is without the top tread plate (I want them out of the way and as nearly invisible as possible) and with the black satin powder coat.

There are many many other options. I asked "sales" at RCI via email how slim their skids were and got this response:

Our rock sliders do stick out a fair bit to help keep the body of the truck away from trees and large boulders when offroad, so they probably wouldn't be quite what you are looking for. Most traditional frame mounted rock sliders will stick out around 7in from the body to keep the body clear of obstacles offroad, but the OEM Toyota rock sliders are probably the slimest thing you can find that are mounted to the frame without sticking out. You will sacrifice some strength with the Toyota sliders compared to the aftermarket ones, but if you're not rock crawling you likely won't be in a situation where you would benefit from that added strength. Linked below are the sliders Toyota offers and attached are some images of the RCI sliders to better show how far from the body they stick out.
The Toyota OEM are $242 per side, so about $500 for the pair.
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Auto repair pages / tom@mmto.org