Tacoma Armor Discussion: Skid Plates and Oil Change Access

AceGoodie · 2025-10-21T18:49:01+00:00

The addition of a front bumper is a use-case choice. We decided on the C4 Overland plate bumper for our latest build. This was our second front bumper from them on our builds. Never disappointing and always up to the task. The options for hybrid vs. plate and preferred setup are a move to the modular designs popping up from everyone. Shipping costs rightly to blame for that shift. The new generations of Tacomas have more electronics to deal with when replacing a front bumper. The 4G Taco is no exception. Those of you who have done it already know of the challenges. Those of you thinking about it, I hope this provides a little comfort for your fears. The installation of the bumper is pretty straight forward. Nothing special. Measure twice, cut once. Trim to your preferred reveal. The provided instructions were complete with measurements that were solid. Not perfect but a little patience and you can make it appear factory. The sensor wiring is/can be a pain. (If it applies to your model) I'll explain...the sensors are wired with 4-6 22ga wires for each sensor. There are four of them that need to be lengthened to accommodate the new mounting positions. The kit includes necessary wire and press caps to accomplish the task. In my case, the wire caps were not sufficiently pressed and a solid connection was not achieved as evident when the truck was started. I know, my own fault. After finding the issue I was not impressed with the press caps and decided to solder every wire to prevent the possibility of road vibrations from damaging the sensor wiring. I also used heat shrink over the connections for the isolation of each wire. Finished off with the harnesses being re-wrapped in a wire loom and fully taped to seal it from the elements. It was a tedious task but the end result was much more secure connection with each sensor. It's been about 8 months and zero issues. https://c4fabrication.com/collections/tacoma-armor/products/tacoma-overland-front-bumper-4th-gen-2024

TrdMarkey

Member

Jul 7, 2025

I recently added some factory armor to the front and differential of my Tacoma. I'm still waiting for the sliders to arrive and mulling over whether to get the transfer case skid plate available for the Trailhunter model.

One thing caught my eye: the new TRD front skid plate no longer has an access point for oil changes. I’m guessing this is because the oil filter’s been relocated, which I'm still yet to confirm. I can't lie, this really stood out compared to older plates I’ve checked out.