Had a fairly long but fun day in the garage….. Got the tires installed on the steel wheels and installed the center caps. Must be a trick to those…. I'd love to talk to someone at the dealer and find out if there is an easy way to install the steel wheel center caps.
Finished painting the BudBuilt skids and sliders. I did wipe them down with acetone but the folks at BudBuilt did a great job of cleaning them. I used Rustoleum Duel paint and primer and between the parts being clean and the paint I did not have issues with fish eyes or runs.
My wife was hanging out and a bit bored so she did a little free hand on the front skid plate.
The BudBuilt sliders and skids are a very high quality parts and actually do just bolt on… Many times “easy bolt on installation” is anything but easy. These were pretty easy and really did fit. Very high well made.
Sliders were easy to install, fit good and look great. I did modify the stock rockers which were easy enough…
I am going to add a little black trim to the lower edge of the rocker just to clean up the look a bit.
If I had any critiques and I am really nit picking here….
1. They did not include instructions, but they are online. The online version is kind of generic and the installation on my 5th gen was a “little” different than in the instructions.
2. The sliders fit great but I could not use all of the bolts on the passenger side because all of the precut holes in the slider did not have corresponding holes in the frame. There were plenty and they are secured.
3. A template to cut the stock SR5 / Limited rockers would be nice.
All pretty trivial and I am extremely happy with the product and ease of installation.
Tips and tricks if I were doing it again...
I would install in this order.
1. Modify the rocker and reinstall.
2. Sliders (tighten now)
3. Cross member
4. Gas tank skid
5. Transfer case skid
6. Transmission skid
7. Front skid
8. Tighten everything a little at a time and watch the clearance on the exhaust crossover… I spaced my skid down a small amount.
Awesome product that I would highly recommend.