Recently, I got my oil changed for the first time after my complimentary Toyotacare ended on my '22 Tacoma. The mechanics warned me that if the bolts on my skid plate broke (due to the salty northeastern climate causing rust to lock them in), they would have to leave my skid plate off the truck. I took their word for it and let them take it off to change my oil, and sure enough, it’s now sitting in my truck bed. My question is, is the skid plate necessary or important? Should I go through the trouble of replacing the brackets and using anti-seize with stainless bolts?
From what I’ve gathered on the internet, this is fairly common for Tacomas, so I figured it must have been an issue for someone else here.