7 Slot Customs Full Length Rock Sliders
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As with everything we add to our 4x4s, rocker guards and sliders are a great compromise between durability, weight, cost, and fit on a particular rig. There are some basic criteria you should look at before building or buying a set of sliders. Even bolt-on options are not perfect for everyone, but issues can often be fixed with a welder and a grinder. As you’re reading, think about how you use your 4x4, the type of terrain you wheel, how often you get stuck, and how you get unstuck.
The LOD Signature Series Rock Sliders are designed so that they help in supporting the weight of the Jeep. The slider normally bolts directly onto the frame. Each side of the slider normally mounts in 3 locations, it features a 3/4inch tube that runs the length of rail.
*Go Rhino Dominator Rock Sliders make it easier to get in and out of your truck. Available in polished stainless steel or textured black powdercoat. Read reviews and shop online today. Call our nerf bar experts at 800-544-8778.
*YJ Corner Armor 6 Inch Flare Full Length 87-95 Wrangler YJ TNT Customs. YJ Rock Sliders 87-95 Wrangler YJ 76-86 CJ7 TNT Customs. Jeep CJ Corner Guard No Flare 76-86 Jeep CJ7 TNT Customs. LJ Rock Sliders 04-06 Wrangler LJ Guardian Series TNT Customs. Jeep JK Adventure Rock Sliders 07-Pres Wrangler JK/JKU TNT Customs.
We’ll take a look at materials and construction methods of rock sliders and rocker guards below.
The Difference Between Rock Sliders and Nerf BarsTyger Toyota Tacoma Nerf Bars
These nerf bars bolt to the body of your truck. They look good and install quickly, but won’t take the weight of your truck repeatedly like a frame-mounted rock slider will.Trail Gear 78’ Weld-On Toyota Rock Slider
This slider can take the weight of your rig and even be used to flip you back after a rollover. It comes in a bare metal finish and needs to be welded to the frame. It’s made with 1 3/4’ DOM tubing and comes with the stringers unwelded so that you can place them where necessary.
Rock sliders and nerf bars are totally different and serve different purposes. Nerf bars exist to look good, prevent people from opening their car door into your truck, and maybe be used as a step. They are made out of thinner, lower-grade materials than rock sliders as they aren’t expected to support your rig’s weight. They usually bolt on in under an hour to the body of your 4x4 in existing holes. Since they bolt to the body, you can’t expect them to repeatedly take hits without eventually messing up your rig’s body somehow. Nerf bars are typically half the price of rock sliders, which reflects the fact that they use lower quality materials and are mass-produced.
Shrockworks’ 1st Gen Tacoma Bolt-On Rock Sliders
These bolt to the frame after you drill mounting holes. The square and round tube structure will take any punishment you can throw at it.
Rock sliders are completely different. They need to take the weight of your rig so they are made of thick materials of a decent manufacturing grade. Any reputable rock slider manufacturer will know whether their sliders are HREW or DOM, and what the dimensions of the materials are. They are often made to order to fit your needs. You may prefer weld-on DOM sliders with a kickout or bolt-on HREW straight sliders. Sometimes with some of the smaller shops you’ll need to wait for them to build your sliders as they are not mass-produced and won’t always be on the shelf. Installation of rock sliders usually takes longer. You’ll need to drill holes in the frame and/or body and some slider kits need to be welded on. Because of the stronger and more durable materials, and the more exacting construction methods, they are usually more expensive than nerf bars. Do You Need Rock Sliders?
Some guys seemingly roll their rig every weekend, but others just want to cruise down the trail to look at cave paintings and mountain views. There is a huge range of driving styles and abilities, and different levels of acceptance of body damage. Assuming you don’t want to just look cool, sliders serve a few uses on the trail besides just protecting your 4x4’s body:
*Body protection - This is the first reason most people get some guards. It’s easy to have encounters with rocks and logs that come close to denting or ripping a hole in your rig.
*Kickout - Some sliders come with a kicker, a little bump at the back of the slider) that pushes your rig over and away from an obstacle. This protects your body and keeps your rear tire out of the obstacle.
*Pivot point - You can do some fancy driving and pivot around obstacles using the slider. This is a good technique for tight turns.
*Recovery/stabilizer point - Well-built sliders are adequate attachment points for flipping you back on your tires after a rollover.
*Step - Sometimes you have to stop in deep mud or puddles and get out of your 4x4. Sliders that are wide enough can let you shimmy along your rig or provide a jumping-off point for getting to solid ground.
ShrockWorks Jeep JK Rock Rails
This is why you need rock sliders! A few trips like this would destroy nerf bars.Rock Slider MaterialsBest Slider Materials for Hard UseDOM and HREW Steel
Most rock sliders and rocker guards these days are built with HREW or DOM steel tubing. The grade is usually SAE 1020 mild carbon steel and both are stronger and more gouge and dent resistant than aluminum. “HREW” and “DOM” both refer to processes. For instance, in product specificationsyou’ll see “made from 1020 DOM”, which tells you about the material process (DOM) and the material properties (1020).
HREW (Hot Rolled Electric Resistance Welded) tube is economical steel tubing. It’s used in lots of fabricated 4x4 parts, although although we prefer not to use it in roll cages.
DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel) is stronger but also more expensive than HREW. Essentially it’s HREW that is cold-worked by being drawn through a die and over a mandrel. This process removes the mill scale (making it smoother), forces the tube to have consistent and precise dimensions, and improves the molecular structure of the steel. DOM is the process of manufacture we prefer for the material a roll cage.
While choosing between HREW and DOM for a roll cage can be a big deal and is always a subject of debate on the Internet, it’s not as important for sliders. Neither will fall apart on the trail, though DOM tubing may be more resistant to denting from a lot of abuse. 4xInnovations ’95.5-’04 Extended and Double Cab Tacoma Rock Slider
Some manufacturers allow you to highly customize your sliders. These sliders from 4xInnovations come in HREW, DOM, with a kickout, and without a kickout.Aluminum
Most sliders are made from steel because it’s strong, widely available, relatively cheap, and makes good sliders. Aluminum sliders are lighter - but that’s probably the only benefit. Aluminum requires different welding processes than steel and more skill to weld (the bottle of C25 you use for MIG welding won’t work for aluminum). Plus, aluminum is more expensive than steel.
Aluminum is also softer than steel, so it’ll gouge if you’re sliding your truck over hard obstacles like rocks. Aluminum is weaker than steel, so you generally need to upsize it to have the strength of a dimensionally smaller steel 4x4 part. There are alloys of aluminum that are strong, but they generally still do not have the durability of steel, and definitely not at the same price point. A person determined to have aluminum sliders could skin the sliders with UHMW (as is often done with aluminum skid plates), but that’s a lot of work.
If you don’t expect to do a lot of rock dragging and you’re okay with the added expense, aluminum is fine, but a typical 4x4 that requires a high level of function and durability should stick with steel. Material Dimensions for Rock SlidersThe Best Material Dimensions for Most 4x4s
*Round tube: 1.5-2’ diameter, 0.120’ wall
*Square tube: 1.5-2’ per side, 1/8’-3/16’ wall
*Panels: 3/16’ thickIf you’re wheeling a very heavy fullsize, you might want to add 1/16’-1/8’ to these dimensions.
Material thickness
Most manufacturers have settled on certain thicknesses for rock sliders and rocker guards. Sliders have to do mostly three things:
*Resist bending
*Resist denting
*Resist splitting at the tube weld seam
Thicker materials will resist bending and denting more easily than thinner materials. Pretty easy right?
Round tubing is usually 0.120” thick. Why? 0.120” wall is pretty much an industry standard - it’s relatively inexpensive, light, and easy to bend. Lots of shops got their start in a home garage with a hand operated bender and 1.5” or 2” OD - 0.120” wall round tube bends easily in a manual bender. This seems to do the job for most wheelers and if .120 wall was a problem we’d expect to see a lot more manufacturers using thicker tube.
For square tube, 1/8”-3/16” is the norm, with the occasional truck sporting 1/4” sliders. We tend to prefer thinner materials to save on weight, so we’d stick with 1/8” or 3/16”. Pick one based on your wheeling style - if you’ll spend lots of time on your sliders or you have a heavy 4x4 (like a fullsize pickup), go with the 3/16”.
One last thing to keep in mind with tube size: A 2”x0.120” round tube will be weaker in bending than a 2”x2”x0.120” square tube of the same length. This would seem to indicate that wherever you can use a 2”x0.120” round tube that must resist bending forces, you could use a 2”x2”x0.120” square tube. In practice, many people still go to 3/16” or even 1/4” when using square tube. We wonder if this is for practical reasons or if this is just because of the natural tendency of many of us to overbuild.
Panel or boatside-type sliders that cover rocker panels should be 3/16” thick. This indicates that they’re well-built and they’ll usually be braced along the length with a piece of tubing. If they aren’t braced, they probably won’t last long on a 4x4 and don’t count on a panel less than 3/16” thick standing up to repeated abuse.Boat Sides - Jeep JK Sliders by Rock Hard 4x4
Boat side sliders create a flat, angled area from the body to the frame. These also have two holes integrated so that you can fit a Hi Lift Jack.Material diameter
Round tube diameter is usually 1.5”, 1.75’, or 2” OD. 2’ is the strongest, but you’ll be fine with whatever size fits in the die you have!
Square tubing in sliders is usually a minimum of 1.5”x1.5” up to 2”x2”. 2”x3” or 2”x4” rectangular tubing is super strong and creates a wider step, but adds quite a bit of weight. Read below about square tube vs. round tube!Rock Slider FinishesBest finish for hard use
*Bare metal with spray paint
Several different coatings are available for rock sliders, but if you wheel your truck hard, coatings won’t matter. There is no coating that will stand up to repeated abuse on rocks.
There are three finishes you can get from manufacturers. They are:
Bare metal - This is cheaper than a finished slider. Since you’re going to prep, prime, and coat the sliders you can do whatever you want to them, including painting them pink and stenciling on the outline of a Colt M1911.
Painted - Usually black, sometimes other basic colors.
Powdercoated - This is the next level of swank. While it is a beautiful, hard coating, it will chip if kissed by enough rocks. Most normal people don’t have the equipment to do powdercoating and most fab shops farm this out anyway. It’s only worth the extra expense if you won’t be seriously scraping your sliders. Powdercoating is better for 4x4 campers and mudders. Powdercoated sliders cost significantly more than bare metal.
All-Pro 16+ Tacoma HD Rock Sliders
Many sliders come only in a bare metal finish. Take note of a few design elements: The bolt-on frame bracket is one piece and will stiffen the stock Tacoma frame quite a bit. There is a kickout and the stringers are square tube, which is stronger than round.DIY finishes
If you’re building rock sliders or buying them bare metal, we have two suggestions on finish.
Paint - This is the finish you want if you bang up your sliders a lot. This is easy, inexpensive, a piece of cake to maintain, and won’t make you cry like when you chip powdercoat. Some people use the $1 paint in some stores, but we’ve found it to be even crappier than our trucks are used to.
Hard bedliner - A hard bedliner coating (like Herculiner or POR15) gives you a wide selection of c olors and you can apply these coatings yourself. These coatings will not stand up to prolonged rock drags or tight rock slider pivots. This means that, like the spraycan method, you’ll still have to do touchup if you’re rockcrawling. If you do more casual backcountry exploring or you spend a lot of time in the mud, either of these coatings will be fine and will hold up much better over the long term than spraypaint.
Evaluate your coating options before buying and make sure the rock slider coating you get matches your use! If you plan to do lots of trails and will be rubbing your rockers all over the place, buy some bare metal sliders and some spray paint. Weld-on or Bolt-on Sliders?Best attachment methods
*Weld or bolt to the frame for hard wheeling
*Bolt to the body for light protection, though it may hurt resale
*Weld to the body for custom strength
Rock sliders need to be mounted securely to your 4x4. When you’re fourwheeling, you’ll probably need them to support the weight of your vehicle and you may need to use them as a winch point if you flip. Since sliders stick out from your truck a little bit, they give you a convenient spot to attach a winch line. This also gives you added leverage from the slider being so far away from the center line of the truck. But should you weld-on or bolt-on? This is a big factor for most people, since, if you don’t have a welder, you’ll have to either pay someone to do the job or use bolt-ons. But it isn’t just as simple as whether you have a welder or not. Bolt-on Rock Sliders
With bolt-ons, you’ll often need to drill your frame or body. Once you’ve drilled your body/frame, there’s no going back!!! There are a few companies out there that make fully bolt-on, no-drill rock sliders for some 4x4s, but not a ton. Just think what that requires: There need to be enough existing bolt holes in your frame in the right locations that have enough space to allow you to bolt on sliders. This results in some slight compromises, but it’s a good option if you change trucks as frequently as underwear. Here are some other things to think about with mounting:Drilling the body of your rigJCR Offroad’s Crusader Rock Sliders for 4 Door Jeep Wranglers ’07-’17
These sliders bolt to the body, but not the frame. This maximizes clearance but still isn’t quite as strong as a frame-mounted slider. That said, these sliders should be incredibly strong since they come so high on the body, have tube reinforcement, have 18 mount bolts, and are made from 3/16’ steel.
If you drill holes in your rocker panels you’re introducing a point for water entry which will cause rust in the sheetmetal. 4x4 bodies are made of steel, so unless you have an aftermarket aluminum tub, you’ll always be worrying about rust.
After drilling the body, you can prep and paint the hole edges, but you need to do it right so that the paint adheres properly. Carefully read the directions on your can of paint - if your rocker guards sit directly against the body like with many Jeeps, you’ll probably need to let the body paint cure for up to a week before bolting up the guards.
After that, you should consider pulling off the rockers once every 1-2 years to make sure you’re not collecting dirt between the rocker and slider and to check the holes that you drilled in the body. Unibody Mounting - Rocky Road Grand Cherokee RockRails
On unibody vehicles like this Jeep WJ (and lots of modern SUVs) you can bolt sliders directly to the body and the main ’frame’ tube. On a unibody this is possible because the body and ’frame’ are one integral piece.
By drilling the body you may also affect the resale value and future mod potential of your rig. If you decide to switch out your rocker guards in the future - well, you might end up with some unsightly holes in your rocker panels. If your rocker guards are on long enough (years) you might have paint fade on the rest of your body, but not under the rocker guards since the rocker panel will have been protected from the sun. Prospective buyers of your truck might not be as fond of your rockers as you are and your truck will have holes in the body if they pull the guards off.Drilling the frame of your rig
Drilling the frame is not as as bad as drilling the body as long as you aren’t making the frame into swiss cheese. However, the same issues with rust still apply. You’ll need to prep and paint the holes and make sure that the paint is holding up over time. Water can seep into the holes you make and between the slider bracket and the frame. Your frame channel will need to be able to drain and dry out after getting wet. This is easy for a c-channel frame, but a full tube or boxed frame will hold in moisture without regularly being blown out or having clear drain holes.
In terms of strength, bolt-on sliders are just as strong as weld-on sliders as long as the hardware is properly sized and graded for your truck (not a problem with any reputable manufacturer). Weld-on Rock Sliders
This mostly pertains to those of us that already have welders and happen to do a lot of DIY on our 4x4s. If you read the above and decided that bolt-on sliders aren’t for you, read on. You should be able to weld on most bolt-on sliders.
Welding to the Body
When we talk about weld-on rocker protection, we’re almost always talking about welding on to the frame. Welding to the body is almost always custom. Usually it’s because the rockers have been chopped or trimmed due to rust. On some 4x4s we see the entire rocker panel cut out, a few inches of floor cut out, and and a 2’ x 4’ piece of tubing welded in its place. (In fact we had this setup on an FJ55 Land Cruiser.
Rocker guards that are integrated and welded to the body generally shouldn’t be directly welded or bolted to the frame on ladder frame vehicles. On a traditional ladder-style frame the frame and body are isolated from each other by the body mounts that dampen vibration and allow the body and frame to flex somewhat independently of one another.
If you want to connect your body-welded rockers to your frame you should use poly bushings between the body and frame to maintain some isolation between the two.
If you have a unibody vehicle like a Jeep Cherokee, you can go hogwild - since the body and frame are one piece you can weld wherever you want.
Welding to the FrameCBI 4Runner Rock Weld-On Rock Sliders
Frames are too thin to weld your sliders directly to them. You need to add a thicker plate that can take heavy force and distribute it in a wider pattern. Some sliders come with weld-on frame plates and some don’t.
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https://diarynote-jp.indered.space
As with everything we add to our 4x4s, rocker guards and sliders are a great compromise between durability, weight, cost, and fit on a particular rig. There are some basic criteria you should look at before building or buying a set of sliders. Even bolt-on options are not perfect for everyone, but issues can often be fixed with a welder and a grinder. As you’re reading, think about how you use your 4x4, the type of terrain you wheel, how often you get stuck, and how you get unstuck.
The LOD Signature Series Rock Sliders are designed so that they help in supporting the weight of the Jeep. The slider normally bolts directly onto the frame. Each side of the slider normally mounts in 3 locations, it features a 3/4inch tube that runs the length of rail.
*Go Rhino Dominator Rock Sliders make it easier to get in and out of your truck. Available in polished stainless steel or textured black powdercoat. Read reviews and shop online today. Call our nerf bar experts at 800-544-8778.
*YJ Corner Armor 6 Inch Flare Full Length 87-95 Wrangler YJ TNT Customs. YJ Rock Sliders 87-95 Wrangler YJ 76-86 CJ7 TNT Customs. Jeep CJ Corner Guard No Flare 76-86 Jeep CJ7 TNT Customs. LJ Rock Sliders 04-06 Wrangler LJ Guardian Series TNT Customs. Jeep JK Adventure Rock Sliders 07-Pres Wrangler JK/JKU TNT Customs.
We’ll take a look at materials and construction methods of rock sliders and rocker guards below.
The Difference Between Rock Sliders and Nerf BarsTyger Toyota Tacoma Nerf Bars
These nerf bars bolt to the body of your truck. They look good and install quickly, but won’t take the weight of your truck repeatedly like a frame-mounted rock slider will.Trail Gear 78’ Weld-On Toyota Rock Slider
This slider can take the weight of your rig and even be used to flip you back after a rollover. It comes in a bare metal finish and needs to be welded to the frame. It’s made with 1 3/4’ DOM tubing and comes with the stringers unwelded so that you can place them where necessary.
Rock sliders and nerf bars are totally different and serve different purposes. Nerf bars exist to look good, prevent people from opening their car door into your truck, and maybe be used as a step. They are made out of thinner, lower-grade materials than rock sliders as they aren’t expected to support your rig’s weight. They usually bolt on in under an hour to the body of your 4x4 in existing holes. Since they bolt to the body, you can’t expect them to repeatedly take hits without eventually messing up your rig’s body somehow. Nerf bars are typically half the price of rock sliders, which reflects the fact that they use lower quality materials and are mass-produced.
Shrockworks’ 1st Gen Tacoma Bolt-On Rock Sliders
These bolt to the frame after you drill mounting holes. The square and round tube structure will take any punishment you can throw at it.
Rock sliders are completely different. They need to take the weight of your rig so they are made of thick materials of a decent manufacturing grade. Any reputable rock slider manufacturer will know whether their sliders are HREW or DOM, and what the dimensions of the materials are. They are often made to order to fit your needs. You may prefer weld-on DOM sliders with a kickout or bolt-on HREW straight sliders. Sometimes with some of the smaller shops you’ll need to wait for them to build your sliders as they are not mass-produced and won’t always be on the shelf. Installation of rock sliders usually takes longer. You’ll need to drill holes in the frame and/or body and some slider kits need to be welded on. Because of the stronger and more durable materials, and the more exacting construction methods, they are usually more expensive than nerf bars. Do You Need Rock Sliders?
Some guys seemingly roll their rig every weekend, but others just want to cruise down the trail to look at cave paintings and mountain views. There is a huge range of driving styles and abilities, and different levels of acceptance of body damage. Assuming you don’t want to just look cool, sliders serve a few uses on the trail besides just protecting your 4x4’s body:
*Body protection - This is the first reason most people get some guards. It’s easy to have encounters with rocks and logs that come close to denting or ripping a hole in your rig.
*Kickout - Some sliders come with a kicker, a little bump at the back of the slider) that pushes your rig over and away from an obstacle. This protects your body and keeps your rear tire out of the obstacle.
*Pivot point - You can do some fancy driving and pivot around obstacles using the slider. This is a good technique for tight turns.
*Recovery/stabilizer point - Well-built sliders are adequate attachment points for flipping you back on your tires after a rollover.
*Step - Sometimes you have to stop in deep mud or puddles and get out of your 4x4. Sliders that are wide enough can let you shimmy along your rig or provide a jumping-off point for getting to solid ground.
ShrockWorks Jeep JK Rock Rails
This is why you need rock sliders! A few trips like this would destroy nerf bars.Rock Slider MaterialsBest Slider Materials for Hard UseDOM and HREW Steel
Most rock sliders and rocker guards these days are built with HREW or DOM steel tubing. The grade is usually SAE 1020 mild carbon steel and both are stronger and more gouge and dent resistant than aluminum. “HREW” and “DOM” both refer to processes. For instance, in product specificationsyou’ll see “made from 1020 DOM”, which tells you about the material process (DOM) and the material properties (1020).
HREW (Hot Rolled Electric Resistance Welded) tube is economical steel tubing. It’s used in lots of fabricated 4x4 parts, although although we prefer not to use it in roll cages.
DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel) is stronger but also more expensive than HREW. Essentially it’s HREW that is cold-worked by being drawn through a die and over a mandrel. This process removes the mill scale (making it smoother), forces the tube to have consistent and precise dimensions, and improves the molecular structure of the steel. DOM is the process of manufacture we prefer for the material a roll cage.
While choosing between HREW and DOM for a roll cage can be a big deal and is always a subject of debate on the Internet, it’s not as important for sliders. Neither will fall apart on the trail, though DOM tubing may be more resistant to denting from a lot of abuse. 4xInnovations ’95.5-’04 Extended and Double Cab Tacoma Rock Slider
Some manufacturers allow you to highly customize your sliders. These sliders from 4xInnovations come in HREW, DOM, with a kickout, and without a kickout.Aluminum
Most sliders are made from steel because it’s strong, widely available, relatively cheap, and makes good sliders. Aluminum sliders are lighter - but that’s probably the only benefit. Aluminum requires different welding processes than steel and more skill to weld (the bottle of C25 you use for MIG welding won’t work for aluminum). Plus, aluminum is more expensive than steel.
Aluminum is also softer than steel, so it’ll gouge if you’re sliding your truck over hard obstacles like rocks. Aluminum is weaker than steel, so you generally need to upsize it to have the strength of a dimensionally smaller steel 4x4 part. There are alloys of aluminum that are strong, but they generally still do not have the durability of steel, and definitely not at the same price point. A person determined to have aluminum sliders could skin the sliders with UHMW (as is often done with aluminum skid plates), but that’s a lot of work.
If you don’t expect to do a lot of rock dragging and you’re okay with the added expense, aluminum is fine, but a typical 4x4 that requires a high level of function and durability should stick with steel. Material Dimensions for Rock SlidersThe Best Material Dimensions for Most 4x4s
*Round tube: 1.5-2’ diameter, 0.120’ wall
*Square tube: 1.5-2’ per side, 1/8’-3/16’ wall
*Panels: 3/16’ thickIf you’re wheeling a very heavy fullsize, you might want to add 1/16’-1/8’ to these dimensions.
Material thickness
Most manufacturers have settled on certain thicknesses for rock sliders and rocker guards. Sliders have to do mostly three things:
*Resist bending
*Resist denting
*Resist splitting at the tube weld seam
Thicker materials will resist bending and denting more easily than thinner materials. Pretty easy right?
Round tubing is usually 0.120” thick. Why? 0.120” wall is pretty much an industry standard - it’s relatively inexpensive, light, and easy to bend. Lots of shops got their start in a home garage with a hand operated bender and 1.5” or 2” OD - 0.120” wall round tube bends easily in a manual bender. This seems to do the job for most wheelers and if .120 wall was a problem we’d expect to see a lot more manufacturers using thicker tube.
For square tube, 1/8”-3/16” is the norm, with the occasional truck sporting 1/4” sliders. We tend to prefer thinner materials to save on weight, so we’d stick with 1/8” or 3/16”. Pick one based on your wheeling style - if you’ll spend lots of time on your sliders or you have a heavy 4x4 (like a fullsize pickup), go with the 3/16”.
One last thing to keep in mind with tube size: A 2”x0.120” round tube will be weaker in bending than a 2”x2”x0.120” square tube of the same length. This would seem to indicate that wherever you can use a 2”x0.120” round tube that must resist bending forces, you could use a 2”x2”x0.120” square tube. In practice, many people still go to 3/16” or even 1/4” when using square tube. We wonder if this is for practical reasons or if this is just because of the natural tendency of many of us to overbuild.
Panel or boatside-type sliders that cover rocker panels should be 3/16” thick. This indicates that they’re well-built and they’ll usually be braced along the length with a piece of tubing. If they aren’t braced, they probably won’t last long on a 4x4 and don’t count on a panel less than 3/16” thick standing up to repeated abuse.Boat Sides - Jeep JK Sliders by Rock Hard 4x4
Boat side sliders create a flat, angled area from the body to the frame. These also have two holes integrated so that you can fit a Hi Lift Jack.Material diameter
Round tube diameter is usually 1.5”, 1.75’, or 2” OD. 2’ is the strongest, but you’ll be fine with whatever size fits in the die you have!
Square tubing in sliders is usually a minimum of 1.5”x1.5” up to 2”x2”. 2”x3” or 2”x4” rectangular tubing is super strong and creates a wider step, but adds quite a bit of weight. Read below about square tube vs. round tube!Rock Slider FinishesBest finish for hard use
*Bare metal with spray paint
Several different coatings are available for rock sliders, but if you wheel your truck hard, coatings won’t matter. There is no coating that will stand up to repeated abuse on rocks.
There are three finishes you can get from manufacturers. They are:
Bare metal - This is cheaper than a finished slider. Since you’re going to prep, prime, and coat the sliders you can do whatever you want to them, including painting them pink and stenciling on the outline of a Colt M1911.
Painted - Usually black, sometimes other basic colors.
Powdercoated - This is the next level of swank. While it is a beautiful, hard coating, it will chip if kissed by enough rocks. Most normal people don’t have the equipment to do powdercoating and most fab shops farm this out anyway. It’s only worth the extra expense if you won’t be seriously scraping your sliders. Powdercoating is better for 4x4 campers and mudders. Powdercoated sliders cost significantly more than bare metal.
All-Pro 16+ Tacoma HD Rock Sliders
Many sliders come only in a bare metal finish. Take note of a few design elements: The bolt-on frame bracket is one piece and will stiffen the stock Tacoma frame quite a bit. There is a kickout and the stringers are square tube, which is stronger than round.DIY finishes
If you’re building rock sliders or buying them bare metal, we have two suggestions on finish.
Paint - This is the finish you want if you bang up your sliders a lot. This is easy, inexpensive, a piece of cake to maintain, and won’t make you cry like when you chip powdercoat. Some people use the $1 paint in some stores, but we’ve found it to be even crappier than our trucks are used to.
Hard bedliner - A hard bedliner coating (like Herculiner or POR15) gives you a wide selection of c olors and you can apply these coatings yourself. These coatings will not stand up to prolonged rock drags or tight rock slider pivots. This means that, like the spraycan method, you’ll still have to do touchup if you’re rockcrawling. If you do more casual backcountry exploring or you spend a lot of time in the mud, either of these coatings will be fine and will hold up much better over the long term than spraypaint.
Evaluate your coating options before buying and make sure the rock slider coating you get matches your use! If you plan to do lots of trails and will be rubbing your rockers all over the place, buy some bare metal sliders and some spray paint. Weld-on or Bolt-on Sliders?Best attachment methods
*Weld or bolt to the frame for hard wheeling
*Bolt to the body for light protection, though it may hurt resale
*Weld to the body for custom strength
Rock sliders need to be mounted securely to your 4x4. When you’re fourwheeling, you’ll probably need them to support the weight of your vehicle and you may need to use them as a winch point if you flip. Since sliders stick out from your truck a little bit, they give you a convenient spot to attach a winch line. This also gives you added leverage from the slider being so far away from the center line of the truck. But should you weld-on or bolt-on? This is a big factor for most people, since, if you don’t have a welder, you’ll have to either pay someone to do the job or use bolt-ons. But it isn’t just as simple as whether you have a welder or not. Bolt-on Rock Sliders
With bolt-ons, you’ll often need to drill your frame or body. Once you’ve drilled your body/frame, there’s no going back!!! There are a few companies out there that make fully bolt-on, no-drill rock sliders for some 4x4s, but not a ton. Just think what that requires: There need to be enough existing bolt holes in your frame in the right locations that have enough space to allow you to bolt on sliders. This results in some slight compromises, but it’s a good option if you change trucks as frequently as underwear. Here are some other things to think about with mounting:Drilling the body of your rigJCR Offroad’s Crusader Rock Sliders for 4 Door Jeep Wranglers ’07-’17
These sliders bolt to the body, but not the frame. This maximizes clearance but still isn’t quite as strong as a frame-mounted slider. That said, these sliders should be incredibly strong since they come so high on the body, have tube reinforcement, have 18 mount bolts, and are made from 3/16’ steel.
If you drill holes in your rocker panels you’re introducing a point for water entry which will cause rust in the sheetmetal. 4x4 bodies are made of steel, so unless you have an aftermarket aluminum tub, you’ll always be worrying about rust.
After drilling the body, you can prep and paint the hole edges, but you need to do it right so that the paint adheres properly. Carefully read the directions on your can of paint - if your rocker guards sit directly against the body like with many Jeeps, you’ll probably need to let the body paint cure for up to a week before bolting up the guards.
After that, you should consider pulling off the rockers once every 1-2 years to make sure you’re not collecting dirt between the rocker and slider and to check the holes that you drilled in the body. Unibody Mounting - Rocky Road Grand Cherokee RockRails
On unibody vehicles like this Jeep WJ (and lots of modern SUVs) you can bolt sliders directly to the body and the main ’frame’ tube. On a unibody this is possible because the body and ’frame’ are one integral piece.
By drilling the body you may also affect the resale value and future mod potential of your rig. If you decide to switch out your rocker guards in the future - well, you might end up with some unsightly holes in your rocker panels. If your rocker guards are on long enough (years) you might have paint fade on the rest of your body, but not under the rocker guards since the rocker panel will have been protected from the sun. Prospective buyers of your truck might not be as fond of your rockers as you are and your truck will have holes in the body if they pull the guards off.Drilling the frame of your rig
Drilling the frame is not as as bad as drilling the body as long as you aren’t making the frame into swiss cheese. However, the same issues with rust still apply. You’ll need to prep and paint the holes and make sure that the paint is holding up over time. Water can seep into the holes you make and between the slider bracket and the frame. Your frame channel will need to be able to drain and dry out after getting wet. This is easy for a c-channel frame, but a full tube or boxed frame will hold in moisture without regularly being blown out or having clear drain holes.
In terms of strength, bolt-on sliders are just as strong as weld-on sliders as long as the hardware is properly sized and graded for your truck (not a problem with any reputable manufacturer). Weld-on Rock Sliders
This mostly pertains to those of us that already have welders and happen to do a lot of DIY on our 4x4s. If you read the above and decided that bolt-on sliders aren’t for you, read on. You should be able to weld on most bolt-on sliders.
Welding to the Body
When we talk about weld-on rocker protection, we’re almost always talking about welding on to the frame. Welding to the body is almost always custom. Usually it’s because the rockers have been chopped or trimmed due to rust. On some 4x4s we see the entire rocker panel cut out, a few inches of floor cut out, and and a 2’ x 4’ piece of tubing welded in its place. (In fact we had this setup on an FJ55 Land Cruiser.
Rocker guards that are integrated and welded to the body generally shouldn’t be directly welded or bolted to the frame on ladder frame vehicles. On a traditional ladder-style frame the frame and body are isolated from each other by the body mounts that dampen vibration and allow the body and frame to flex somewhat independently of one another.
If you want to connect your body-welded rockers to your frame you should use poly bushings between the body and frame to maintain some isolation between the two.
If you have a unibody vehicle like a Jeep Cherokee, you can go hogwild - since the body and frame are one piece you can weld wherever you want.
Welding to the FrameCBI 4Runner Rock Weld-On Rock Sliders
Frames are too thin to weld your sliders directly to them. You need to add a thicker plate that can take heavy force and distribute it in a wider pattern. Some sliders come with weld-on frame plates and some don’t.
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