Rock Crawling Strategy: Part 2 - Rocks

[lifeisgoodsteve]

How do you all approach big rock sections?

As a newbie to rock crawling, is it essentially unavoidable to hit your undercarriage and scrape?

I go slow but once the rocks get a certain size it just seems unavoidable.

If going slowly totry to minimize the force of the impacts, can one avoiddamage with a skid plate or is damage also inevitable?

My Tacoma Buddy uses the rock sliders in a big way.
Are they the same effectiveness on a Talon?

 

[CID]

I have the Trail Armor 1/2" skid assembly on my Talon. Scraping is inevitable but the 1/2" skid handles it pretty well. I prefer to keep my speeds way down in the rocks to avoid permanent damage. The stock Talon skid is little more than a dust cover.

Trail Armor's photo on a Talon, note how far up the sides it runs -

 

[Russ989]

How do you all approach big rock sections?

As a newbie to rock crawling, is it essentially unavoidable to hit your undercarriage and scrape?

I go slow but once the rocks get a certain size it just seems unavoidable.

If going slowly totry to minimize the force of the impacts, can one avoiddamage with a skid plate or is damage also inevitable?

My Tacoma Buddy uses the rock sliders in a big way.
Are they the same effectiveness on a Talon?

If you play in rocks, you’re going to scrape, beat and bang the rig around.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

I have the Trail Armor 1/2" skid assembly on my Talon. Scraping is inevitable but the 1/2" skid handles it pretty well. I prefer to keep my speeds way down in the rocks to avoid permanent damage. The stock Talon skid is little more than a dust cover.

Trail Armor's photo on a Talon, note how far up the sides it runs -
View attachment 284177

From your experience, has it worked?

have you done a lot of big rock crawling and we’re going slow enough avoided permanent damage so far?

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

If you play in rocks, you’re going to scrape, beat and bang the rig around.

It is clear that you can’t avoid getting banged up a bit. Right now I am considering my choices of where to ride.

I enjoy the challenge and puzzle of crawling, but I cringe every time he bumps or scrapes. Aesthetic damage is one thing, but broken parts or bent are an entirely different matter for me.

 

[CID]

From your experience, has it worked?

have you done a lot of big rock crawling and we’re going slow enough avoided permanent damage so far?

Considering the flimsiness of the stock skid, the Trail Armor has done an excellent job. I have a few scratches and lite gouges but nothing serious so far. Note that I'm a solo rider so I have to be careful not to get stupid. I feel if I'm going slow and just sliding over rocks, I'll do minimal damage now.

I prefer to keep mine as nice as possible but there are times when I need to see 'what's over there'? I bought it for exploring and every scratch makes the next one easier.

 

[K9Paco]

I had the Trail Armor on my Pioneer and will be getting it for my Talon by the end of the month. They are worth every penny in my opinion. I try and keep the bangs to a minimum but it does happen. I’ve even had to belly crawl over a few logs once or twice. It’s nice to know that it’s protected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TripleB]

How do you all approach big rock sections?

As a newbie to rock crawling, is it essentially unavoidable to hit your undercarriage and scrape?

I go slow but once the rocks get a certain size it just seems unavoidable.

If going slowly totry to minimize the force of the impacts, can one avoiddamage with a skid plate or is damage also inevitable?

My Tacoma Buddy uses the rock sliders in a big way.
Are they the same effectiveness on a Talon?

Aftermarket skids and WOT!

 

[Russ989]

It is clear that you can’t avoid getting banged up a bit. Right now I am considering my choices of where to ride.

I enjoy the challenge and puzzle of crawling, but I cringe every time he bumps or scrapes. Aesthetic damage is one thing, but broken parts or bent are an entirely different matter for me.

It is an expensive hobby.

 

[PaulF]

How do you all approach big rock sections?

As a newbie to rock crawling, is it essentially unavoidable to hit your undercarriage and scrape?

I go slow but once the rocks get a certain size it just seems unavoidable.

If going slowly totry to minimize the force of the impacts, can one avoiddamage with a skid plate or is damage also inevitable?

My Tacoma Buddy uses the rock sliders in a big way.
Are they the same effectiveness on a Talon?

If you are going to rock crawl, you MUST get aftermarket skids! They are designed to take the pressure from the obstacle and spread it out to a bigger area and soften the blow to minimize the impact and stress on the frame. They also allow you to "slide" over obstacles.

In the mean time, be very careful of the rear area, just under the engine. The oil pan is VERY close to the factory under belly cover (I refuse to call the factory piece a "skid plate") and has been known for the oil pan to get damaged if something hits just right and hard enough.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

If you are going to rock crawl, you MUST get aftermarket skids! They are designed to take the pressure from the obstacle and spread it out to a bigger area and soften the blow to minimize the impact and stress on the frame. They also allow you to "slide" over obstacles.

In the mean time, be very careful of the rear area, just under the engine. The oil pan is VERY close to the factory under belly cover (I refuse to call the factory piece a "skid plate") and has been known for the oil pan to get damaged if something hits just right and hard enough.

Do you guys think there a need or value for rock sliders in addition to the Trail Armor Skid Plate with integral rocker panel sliders?

Saw Trail Armor states the Honda Nerf Bars do t work with their skid plate. Do others or is it unnecessary weight and expense?

cheers,

s

 

[PaulF]

Do you guys think there a need or value for rock sliders in addition to the Trail Armor Skid Plate with integral rocker panel sliders?

Saw Trail Armor states the Honda Nerf Bars do t work with their skid plate. Do others or is it unnecessary weight and expense?

cheers,

s

I only run integrated side sliders and they work great.

Every set of nerf bars that I have seen used on a SxS for rock crawling have been bent up badly and some even broken at the brackets. Saw a General at Moab rip one right off on a rather simple and small obstacle. Personally, I think they get in the way and I don't think they work as well as side sliders.

Never seen a Talon try to crawl with nerf bars so I don't know how the Honda ones will fair but I would guess not much better.

 

[Hometeam]

I think for pure rock crawling out west the sliders could be the right choice, but when you throw in trails with trees and rock crawling then I like the tree kickers/nerf bars better. The worst body damage I've had is from a 2" tree on a climb that I slid back down and got hooked on and couldn't get unstuck because of the incline. The tree kickers have kept me from trees, rocks, held me off the side wall of big wash/cut outs, helps me pivot around obstacles and more.....but they do have some dents in them from rocks also....I like both but they have different pros and cons!

 

[Tramguage1]

In my experience ,when approaching a difficult section, just keep in mind what line is going to keep the machine as level as possible. All 4 tires in contact with something is much better than having one or more in the air. Sometimes you have to go over some rocks with your tire instead of going around. A good quality skid is a tool to use instead of avoid.
I do not use rock sliders/ tree kickers on my machines, They add width to the machine. I have trail Armor skids and they extend out a little to protect the outside edge. If your rock crawling YOU WILL SCRATCH YOU MACHINE!!!!!

 

[Enigma]

CID, did you mark the holes for assembly on the Trail Armor? Great product but I do not remember the marked holes. Super ideas to make sure everything is in the right place.

Thanks

 

[CID]

CID, did you mark the holes for assembly on the Trail Armor? Great product but I do not remember the marked holes. Super ideas to make sure everything is in the right place.

Thanks

No, that's TA's photo. I just laid on my back, engaged mechanical ability and common sense and got 'er dun. I used the floor jack to hold the two large sections (one at a time) and started screwing fasteners into existing holes, when I got all those done the skid was well positioned and I went back and centerpunched all the non existing hole locations, drilled them and finished the rest of the fasteners.

Note that the skid comes with self drilling, self tapping screws but the holes in the skid are about 3/4". I wanted the screws centered in each hole so the step washers would be centered properly, I didn't feel I could do that without predrilling (I don't have a lift and was scrambling around under the buggy) Being north of 70, this was a workout but I needed the exercise.

 

[Enigma]

Great advice CID. I agree 100% about the predrilled holes. I never had good luck with tapping screws in the past especially on my back and also north of 70. Also the floor jack makes it a one man job. Thanks

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

No, that's TA's photo.

Does the TA Skid cover the winch mount location up front?

Thx

 

[CID]

Does the TA Skid cover the winch mount location up front?

Thx

Not on my dealer installed winch. They told me I'd need the Honda accessory bumper to mount the winch but I've since seen winches behind the stock bumper. My point - not sure about a winch behind the stock bumper. Looks like I should chamfer that leading edge before I catch it on something.

 

[PaulF]

Does the TA Skid cover the winch mount location up front?

Thx

The only one I know of (and have) is the Factory UTV skids. That is the reason I decided to get that brand...

They do now sell just the font diff plate but it may not integrate with the others...

Honda Talon UHMW Standalone Front Diff plate - Factory UTV -

Honda Talon UHMW Standalone Front Diff plate. Fits: Talon X , Talon R, Talon 4-X and live valve models. Factory UTV's UHMW protection

www.factoryutv.net