Rear Shock Skid plate and trailing arm plate -- Victory, RCI

Markarian421 said:
Thanks for these photos. I'm trying to decide between ASFIR and RCI for trailing arm/lower link skids after watching a video today where that and the middle cross member looked to be points that took some abuse being near the lowest things near the cross-over breakover point. Does anyone know any other options?
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I'm thinking that we don't need the rear trailing arm/lower link skids since they sit just inboard of the shocks. It seems pretty unlikely that we'd miss the shock skid and hit the rear trailing arm. What do you think? I'm leeaning towards the RCI vs. Victory - cheaper and heaver steel.
 
uraniumrich said:
I'm thinking that we don't need the rear trailing arm/lower link skids since they sit just inboard of the shocks. It seems pretty unlikely that we'd miss the shock skid and hit the rear trailing arm. What do you think? I'm leeaning towards the RCI vs. Victory - cheaper and heaver steel.
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Peace and simple mind…just have it ;)
There are “million” scenarios on trails…who knows ;)
Same thought, but I ended up with it ;)
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t3lcfe said:
Peace and simple mind…just have it ;)
There are “million” scenarios on trails…who knows ;)
Same thought, but I ended up with it ;)
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Have you had your rig off road yet? I'm one who tends to be proactive in my approach, but the trade off is that everything we put on the rig adds weight. So, I don't just want to add for the sake of adding. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
 
uraniumrich said:
I'm thinking that we don't need the rear trailing arm/lower link skids since they sit just inboard of the shocks. It seems pretty unlikely that we'd miss the shock skid and hit the rear trailing arm. What do you think? I'm leeaning towards the RCI vs. Victory - cheaper and heaver steel.
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Same, for the kind of off-roading I do at least, the front is a lot more likely to get hit. I won't fault anyone for wanting even more protection though!
 
uraniumrich said:
Have you had your rig off road yet? I'm one who tends to be proactive in my approach, but the trade off is that everything we put on the rig adds weight. So, I don't just want to add for the sake of adding. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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I did off-road (medium rated one like Toquerville Falls, UT) but didn’t have change to hit these hard rocky trails which I took my G there last summer:
Broken Arrow, Soldiers Pass, Schnebly Hill road in Sedona AZ, and Imogene pass in CO
These mods/skid plates for my LC are PREPARED for those trails or harder ones in future. I just ensure LC giving me same confidence and insurance/ safe while I am out there “alone” like my G
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Here are Sedona AZ and Alpine CO
(Didn’t have great photos to show the the difficulty trails because I had to focus and no spotters…only wife and 2 kids)
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Camp at top (tiny tend can be seen at the “clip” ;)
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Received the rear shock and front lower link skids yesterday. My initial impression - 3/16" steel makes these skids extra heavy duty. I picked RCI over Victory in part because the steel is 50% thicker. Overkill? Perhaps. On the other hand, the welds on the shock skids must've been made on bring your kid to work day - sloppy at best. I contacted RCI and sent them the pic shown below. I'm not concerned about the integrity of the weld, but the quality of workmanship made me wonder about other RCI parts. I received a nice response from RCI, but I'd still be somewhat leery of ordering something that would be visible (think bumpers and rock sliders.) By comparison, the welding (and grinding) on my Slee Rock Sliders is exceptional. Maybe someone with RCI sliders or roof rack might want to post something?

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Installed the RCI skids for the front links and rear shocks today (the rear link skids will come in about two weeks.) The installation of the front link skids is super easy and takes almost no time. Just follow the directions and you should have no problems. For the rear shock skids I thought it would be easier to do if I put the rear of the truck up on jack stands and removed the tires - super happy I did this because it makes access so much easier. If you want to punish yourself, leave the tires on and install the rear shock skids. You've been warned!

The rear shock skids were a little more difficult to install only because it is difficult to get the bolts started in the threads on the rectangular nuts. II found the size of the rectangular nuts is just a little too big on the width, so they can't line up with the center of the holes. I'll send some feedback to RCI and see what they say. Mostly, it just took some patience to get the threads started because the access to hold the rectangular nuts in place is limited to about one finger. If you've got big paws, this could be much tougher. On the plus side, no need to remove any bolts to install the rear shock skids.
 
uraniumrich said:
Do you have the torque specs for the links and rear shocks? My favorite line in the RCI instructions - tighten the lower link bolt to its factory spec. Thanks. Which is???
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uraniumrich said:
Installed the RCI skids for the front links and rear shocks today (the rear link skids will come in about two weeks.) The installation of the front link skids is super easy and takes almost no time. Just follow the directions and you should have no problems. For the rear shock skids I thought it would be easier to do if I put the rear of the truck up on jack stands and removed the tires - super happy I did this because it makes access so much easier. If you want to punish yourself, leave the tires on and install the rear shock skids. You've been warned!

The rear shock skids were a little more difficult to install only because it is difficult to get the bolts started in the threads on the rectangular nuts. II found the size of the rectangular nuts is just a little too big on the width, so they can't line up with the center of the holes. I'll send some feedback to RCI and see what they say. Mostly, it just took some patience to get the threads started because the access to hold the rectangular nuts in place is limited to about one finger. If you've got big paws, this could be much tougher. On the plus side, no need to remove any bolts to install the rear shock skids.
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Finally, you got them, bro. You seem very happy with the results just like many of us here ;)
I am in the process to “delete” the “silver panels” on the rear bumper. Black them out to match the entire bumper.
Now waiting for the paint dried out and put them back tomorrow ;)
As usual, photos will be shared to the gang.
Happy LC and long weekend to all
 
t3lcfe said:
Finally, you got them, bro. You seem very happy with the results just like many of us here ;)
I am in the process to “delete” the “silver panels” on the rear bumper. Black them out to match the entire bumper.
Now waiting for the paint dried out and put them back tomorrow ;)
As usual, photos will be shared to the gang.
Happy LC and long weekend to all
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Here it is: the irritating “silver panels” deleted by me 😜 😜
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And some photos “behind the scene” ;)
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Before 😞
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uraniumrich said:
The silver panels don't really both me. But, I do like the look of your panels in black. Did you use any type of plastic primer before painting?
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Yeah.
I no longer had any “silver” panel at front bumper, so the “remain OEM silver panels” at rear are kind of out of the world in my case. Too many color and pieces make distracting and less “aggressive off-road rig” ;)
Pls see other post for the paints I used

Photo of front end vs rear end now
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