I am in the beginning stages of designing rock sliders for a Trazer I am building,which will tie into fabbed up cab mounts for an '89 cab to mount on '79 k5 frame. Should I order 1/4 inch square tubing or will this be too heavy?Will 1/8 inch be stout enough to smack against rocks?
CK5
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1/4 or 1/8 inch thick rock sliders?
- Thread starter 4xfrankie
- Start date
Use 3/16" Your strength is going to be in the shape of the slider.
I used 1/4 on my Blazer but im going with 3/16 on my Trazer.
I used 3/16 but I haven't hit them on anything. Of course I did boat sides so my chances of hitting are less but I'm confident enough that I believe if they bend it will be a hard enough hit that I'll probably be looking for a new wheeling rig.
I use 1/4"
Well , I am going to cut the rockers out, and go with a rectangle, or square tube that best fits.Instead of bolting the cab to the frame like originally planned ,I am going to fab a subframe or whatever you want to call it -and tie the rock sliders into the frame,kind of a unibody , if you will .All will be completely welded to the floor. I just want the best strength , without going too heavy and putting more stress on the frame then nessasary. The frame will be boxed,and a rollcage installed ,so it all should be pretty stout. I am going mild steel with the rock slider/ subframe deal.I know that the ride will be more harsh with the frame/body welded solid to each other, but I think (hopefully) that I can live with it. It will be driven on the street.
It won't ride much harsher. I have done what your proposing and it didn't make much difference in vibrations.
3/16 wall is fine. 1/4 on the slider to frame tie ins. Fishplate the frame. I have beat my 3/16 2x4 sliders to death. They are still the same shape.
I'm going to do the unibody thing on my crew cab. And it's gonna be a daily driver.
What your doing does wonders for frame rigidity
3/16 wall is fine. 1/4 on the slider to frame tie ins. Fishplate the frame. I have beat my 3/16 2x4 sliders to death. They are still the same shape.
I'm going to do the unibody thing on my crew cab. And it's gonna be a daily driver.
What your doing does wonders for frame rigidity
Actually, I got the idea from your suggestion in an earlier post. Do you have any pictures of yours?
Remember on Horton the rockers ate way higher and would require heavy diir mods to use with doors
Fishplate
Initial placement
You can see the whole thing in this pic
Fishplate
Initial placement
You can see the whole thing in this pic
Thanks for this.Remember on Horton the rockers ate way higher and would require heavy diir mods to use with doors
Fishplate
Initial placement
You can see the whole thing in this pic
No pics of the underside on this one but same thing. Welded to the body and then welded to the frame.
I ran around with this guy for a couple of years. He put 20k miles on this in that time. His Blazer felt really solid. But no more harsh than any other
I ran around with this guy for a couple of years. He put 20k miles on this in that time. His Blazer felt really solid. But no more harsh than any other
I wish I had cut out the factory rocker but wasn't ready at the time to make that change. Still looks nice though. I used 2x3" tubing .188 wall. (3/16) If I go back and change things I'll do the picture above with the small kickout tubing
Man , this damn computer.Anyway I like these sliders , this is what I will do with mine.No pics of the underside on this one but same thing. Welded to the body and then welded to the frame.
I ran around with this guy for a couple of years. He put 20k miles on this in that time. His Blazer felt really solid. But no more harsh than any other
Somehow I missed that you were redoing this instead of reworking the old sliders.
I've done mine like blazinzuk on both my K5 and crew cab but I didn't connect to the frame. They are just welded in place of the rockers.
Haven't noticed any adverse affects from them and they have held up to the beating.
Haven't noticed any adverse affects from them and they have held up to the beating.
Yah I have done a bunch like Scott did. Just attaching to the body it works great.
The way I see it the biggest advantage of body and frame attachment is the extra stiffness the frame gets.
The way I see it the biggest advantage of body and frame attachment is the extra stiffness the frame gets.
One of these days I want to do the entire roll cage-slider-frame tie-in thing. So far it's just a "one of these days" projects. 
Mine are welded solid to the frame and I didn't notice any difference in ride quality. In fact what I did sounds very similar to what your wanting.
I cut out my rockers all the way to the bottom door hinge. I also cut out the floor and body supports at the same time. Built a new "rocker" out of 3/16 plate in the shape of a triangle. I then built new body mounts out of 3/16 plate welded between the frame and rocker. Added some supports from the rocker to frame in between the body mounts, which are more or less frame out riggers for the cage, and then welded a big 3/16 plate running from rocker to frame making a big skid. Then I built my new floors between the body mounts out of 1/8" plate. Added 100 lbs, I weighed everything I cut off and put back on.
Feels very solid. Of course none of my info will help you much, I did it to a scout but same principle, you can no longer remove the body tub without serious torch work.
I cut out my rockers all the way to the bottom door hinge. I also cut out the floor and body supports at the same time. Built a new "rocker" out of 3/16 plate in the shape of a triangle. I then built new body mounts out of 3/16 plate welded between the frame and rocker. Added some supports from the rocker to frame in between the body mounts, which are more or less frame out riggers for the cage, and then welded a big 3/16 plate running from rocker to frame making a big skid. Then I built my new floors between the body mounts out of 1/8" plate. Added 100 lbs, I weighed everything I cut off and put back on.
Feels very solid. Of course none of my info will help you much, I did it to a scout but same principle, you can no longer remove the body tub without serious torch work.
After thinking this through , this is definitely the way to go for me . Can't wait for spring to get here so I can get started! (I'm working outside)
