DIY: 2024 Tacoma Composite Plastic Splash Shields (Plastic Skid Plates)

[Baltimore]

Titled as such, and opted to put this here and not in "body armor" because I believe these are not in any fashion meant to be considered equal to aluminum or steel sliders, but instead just robust underbody deflection for gravel, road debris, and grime.

If you go this route, and you have the felt-like cover, you only need 4 additional bolts for the secondary cover if you opt to do both.

Note that the front attachment points are different and you need to confirm you have the stabilizer bar as it'll be needed for the new position of the front two mounting screws. If you don't have it, you'll need to purchase that from RCI or similar.

If you only want to do a like-for-like swap, then you need engine cover #1 and no additional bolts.


Parts needed:
[x4] 12mm bolts, part # 90119-A0549
[x1] Engine Shield #1 (front), part # 51410-AK020
[x1] Engine Shield #2 (mid), part # 51420-AK021
Note: you will reuse 4 12mm bolts from your existing splash shield - you need 8 in total

Tools needed:
12mm socket (deep socket or small extension need for front two if air dam is in place)
Ramps or lift highly recommended

Time needed:
About 15 minutes if ramped/lifted


You do not need to remove the air dam, everything is behind it.

The engineering of everything on this truck is something to marvel at before it takes on grime, dirt, chips, and rust spots. Highly encourage you to just take a moment and let your eyes wander while you're under there looking up.

I opted to install the 8 plugs for anti-whistling should I ever remove the air dam (that's a 2 min job) while I had the truck ramped up. For those doing the same, they go in the four largest holes only - three in a row on the inside most edges, plus one of equal size set back in the middle. All the other holes are smaller and you leave those as they are.

It is THICK composite plastic.

I did not do before/after recordings, but my initial impression is that the change from one felt to two composite also deepened the engine idling sound slightly, as there is significantly more resonance reflection on the bottom of the engine bay after the change.

I'm toying with whether to drill two holes through the felt liner and "double stack" the front cover for a combo of road protection on the bottom and sound deadening on the top... Haven't decided.


Original felt shield

Front shields: felt vs composite

Front and mid covers

Thick

Cross member required
The felt bolts to the two positions immediately behind the air dam. The composite bolts to the threaded holes at the same spacing, but back on the cross member.

Installed

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[trailhunger]

Awesome thanks for this

Sounds counterintuitive doing this on a Trailhunter but I'm going the other direction in the winter 8 mo out of the year. Running 3 peak ~37lb tires, making my kit really lean / removing rock sliders, steel engine skid plate, adding Nokian Outposts on TRD Pro wheels. Sold the sport bar week one / added a Go Fast camper last week. 1/2" sag. Will probably get away with running the stock springs. Returning the Timbrens.

These hybrids can haul ass & sip gas if you don't weigh them down. Fall/Spring I'm not getting on trail either, mostly mtn biking and long haul surf trips so a simple deflection plate suite makes the most sense initially

 

[Baltimore]

Awesome thanks for this

Sounds counterintuitive doing this on a Trailhunter but I'm going the other direction in the winter 8 mo out of the year. Running 3 peak ~37lb tires, making my kit really lean / removing rock sliders, steel engine skid plate, adding Nokian Outposts on TRD Pro wheels. Sold the sport bar week one / added a Go Fast camper last week. 1/2" sag. Will probably get away with running the stock springs. Returning the Timbrens.

These hybrids can haul ass & sip gas if you don't weigh them down. Fall/Spring I'm not getting on trail either, mostly mtn biking and long haul surf trips so a simple deflection plate suite makes the most sense initially

Makes complete sense to me. If you have the rhythm of the parts add/remove down, the space to store them, and know it's finite windows of time you use it, why are you going to lug 100-150lbs of extra metal everywhere? I completely agree with your approach - clad up for the season you use it, and shed it when you don't ((unless you're one of those that need to broadcast their hobbies 24/7/365+)). I mean, how many of us haul around an empty trailer just because we use a trailer sometimes?


I will be curious if you hear or report an acoustic change when you swap from metal to plastic and let it idle.

 

[SonoranSurvivalist]

If anyone is interested in these composite skids, I still have mine I pulled off and replaced with aluminum.

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