1995-2004 Tacoma (1st Gen)

We always tell fellow enthusiasts to start with protection before anything else. While lift kits and tires look great, they won’t save your truck if you land on a rock. We recommend prioritizing a complete skid plate package and rock sliders as your first modifications. Our full skid plate packages replace the thin factory sheet metal with heavy-duty 3/16” steel or 1/4” aluminum, creating a smooth shield from your engine all the way back to your transfer case. Pairing these with our frame-mounted rock sliders ensures your vulnerable rocker panels are safe from crunches, giving you the confidence to push your Tacoma further on the trail.
 

This is one of the most common questions we get, and the “best” choice depends on how you use your rig. We love steel for its pure, unapologetic strength; if you are rock crawling and constantly dragging your belly over obstacles, our 3/16” steel plating is the way to go because it can take repeated heavy hits. However, if you are building an overland rig or a daily driver where weight is a concern, our 1/4” aluminum options are fantastic. They offer incredible strength but weigh significantly less—about half the weight of steel—which helps keep your Tacoma nimble and fuel-efficient without sacrificing essential protection.
 

We know that cutting and drilling into your frame can be intimidating, which is why we designed the vast majority of our Tacoma parts to be completely bolt-on. Whether you are installing our transmission skid plates or a set of rock sliders, we utilize the existing factory mounting points on your chassis. This makes the installation process much more approachable for DIYers in their driveway. We want you to spend less time wrenching and more time offroading, so we engineer our parts to fit seamlessly with the truck’s original design.
 

A bed rack is one of the most versatile upgrades for organizing your recovery gear and camping setup. We designed our adjustable bed racks to sit roughly 12 inches high, which we’ve found is the “sweet spot” for keeping a low center of gravity while still maintaining great visibility out of the rear window. This setup allows you to mount a rooftop tent (RTT) securely without catching too much wind drag. Plus, our racks give you endless mounting points for essentials like Rotopax fuel containers, Hi-Lift jacks, and traction boards, keeping your bed open for other cargo.
 

Factory bumpers are designed for aerodynamics, not clearing boulders. When we swap to a high-clearance bumper, like our Pike or Arapaho series, we are drastically increasing the approach angle of the truck. This means you can attack steep inclines and obstacles without digging your front end into the dirt. Beyond just clearance, our bumpers provide a solid recovery point for winches and heavy-duty shackle mounts. It’s a modification that transforms both the look and the actual trail capability of your Tacoma, allowing you to take lines that stock trucks just can’t handle.
 

The composite bed on the Tacoma is durable, but it has a known weak point near the tailgate: the bedsides can flex and eventually crack under the stress of heavy loads or aggressive off-road driving. We developed bed stiffeners to solve this exact problem. By bolting these heavy-duty steel brackets into the rear corners of the bed, we reinforce the structure to prevent that outward spreading and flexing. If you plan on running a bed rack, a rooftop tent, or even just hauling heavy gear, these are a small investment that prevents permanent damage to your truck’s body.
 

While theft protection is the most popular reason people buy our catalytic converter shields, they also serve a critical off-road function. The catalytic converters on the Tacoma hang relatively low and get extremely hot, making them vulnerable to damage from rocks or branches on the trail. Our transmission skid plates can be equipped with integrated catalytic converter guards that shield these expensive components from impact and debris. We’ve designed them to be vented, ensuring your cats don’t overheat while still providing a physical barrier against both trail hazards and parking lot thieves.

For Tacoma owners who want the benefits of a high-clearance bumper without replacing the entire front end, we offer “High Clearance Wings” or “Viper Cut” modifications. This involves trimming the lower plastic corners of the factory bumper—a “viper cut”—to expose the front tires. Our high clearance wings then bolt on to protect the exposed washer fluid reservoir and other internals that the factory plastic used to cover. This upgrade gives you a significantly better approach angle and a more aggressive look, allowing you to fit larger tires without them rubbing on the plastic bumper liner.

If you are adding an aftermarket bumper or a winch, we highly recommend upgrading to our bumper reinforcement brackets. The factory bumper mounts on the Tacoma frame are essentially just thin sheet metal caps that weren’t designed to handle the intense forces of a winch recovery. Our heavy-duty reinforcement brackets tie into the frame more securely, creating a structural connection that can actually withstand the load of pulling a stuck truck out of the mud. It’s cheap insurance to make sure your new bumper doesn’t warp your frame during a recovery.
 

We generally recommend powder coating for most users because it provides a durable, finished look right out of the box. Our process includes a 2-stage epoxy primer base coat—something many others skip—which drastically increases rust resistance even if you scratch the top layer on a rock. However, we also offer “bare metal” options for the DIY crowd. If you plan on welding your own custom additions or prefer to use a rattle-can paint for easy touch-ups after grinding them on trails, bare metal saves you money and gives you that flexibility.