I see a lot of off-roaders install those skid plates for protection. Is it worth it to install skid plates to protect the underside of the X from road salt, random stones, etc? Just curious.

My opinion is road salt is gonna get in there no matter what you do to stop it, unless you get some sort of spray on coating. Random stones (I assume you mean on roads and not on trails) shouldn't be big enough to cause any damage to your undercarriage, or else cars, which have even lower ground clearance, would be in real trouble. Not only that, but the extra weight of these is only worth it if you actually use them off-road to stop from breaking stuff thats costs $$$ to fix...

Yeah - installing 3/16" thick steel plates under your truck in case a stone is kicked up would be a bit on the overkill side of things.



If you offroad, then it makes sense, if you don't, it makes no sense.

I was actually wondering if anyone had any good recommendations for undercoating treatments...my 92 4runner rusted out pretty quickly in the NE winters, I'd rather do anything I can to avoid the same fate on my X. On my old 76 CJ I used roofing tar in some key spots and it's worked amazingly well....don't think I really want the bottom of my new X covered in the stuff, though. Anyone try any products that have worked well in the past?

I've sprayed the underside of my '82 CJ7 using rustoleum semi-gloss black cut with 10% acetone to help it penetrate the seams. Mask rubber parts, engine compartment, and from the rocker panels up using plastic. Takes about an hour and two quarts of paint. No rust in 23 years.

If you're really just worried about the random stone or road trash, and light offroading (no big stumps/rocks), the thin factory plates, which offer low weight and, granted, minimal protection, would probably cover your needs... That's why I put them on mine.

Hell I've seen an Olds sedan on the Thruway that coulda used'em for that - clipped some road trash, cracked his tranny case, bleeding fluid all over the parking lot at the rest stop. We were lucky, we were only limping home with a blown radiator...