Been working on sliders with some steps incorporated. The truck is a couple inches taller than I intended; taller than the General was. So it's big stretch to get in.
Started out by cutting out the rocker on the passenger side. I cut just below the first body line of the rocker, where it is protruding out the furthest.
Same place I cut on the General and it is the perfect for keeping the doors unmodified.
You can see in the pictures above where the pillar supports come down in to the rockers. I don't want to cut those out, so I have to notch the slider tube.
On the General I used 2"x3" orientated with the 2" on the sides and 3" across the top/bottom. On the crewcab I was hoping to gain some protection for the saddle tanks so I opted for 3"x3" tube. It's 3/16" wall.
Here you can see the notches:
In the last picture you can also see I notched the front to clear the bottom bolt for the fender. On the General I cut that part of the fender off and welded the fender to the slider. Ultimately this didn't work and the fender just tore off the slider. So I wanted to do it differently on this truck.
I didn't think I should leave the notches open so I used the pieces I cut out to flip around and weld in to close up the openings. I figure this keeps the dirt out and helps maintain structural integrity.
I added round tube to the sliders. Had similar round tube extensions on the General and found they worked great for protecting the doors from getting caved in. They also really help for stepping into the truck. As I mentioned, with the truck being taller I wanted to make a step that was lower than the round tube for the benefit of my wife.
I used some 3" wide flat strap and bent both ends up about 45°. Then notched the round tube for the flat strap.
Then welded the flat strap in
Doing a step for both front and back doors.
Both steps welded in and ground down smooth on the outer edges.
I have great luck using skateboard deck tape for traction on steps. After I paint the sliders, I'll lay some grip tape on the steps.
Still need to build the driver side slider. Plan is to weld this completed one in this weekend, work on the driver side next week and weld it in that following weekend. Luckily now that I have the passenger side done, I know what I need to do with the second side done so it should go a little quicker.
Thought it was interesting how much dirt came out of the rockers. And yes the scissors too! They had fallen through the back cab corner into the rocker.
Started out by cutting out the rocker on the passenger side. I cut just below the first body line of the rocker, where it is protruding out the furthest.
Same place I cut on the General and it is the perfect for keeping the doors unmodified.
You can see in the pictures above where the pillar supports come down in to the rockers. I don't want to cut those out, so I have to notch the slider tube.
On the General I used 2"x3" orientated with the 2" on the sides and 3" across the top/bottom. On the crewcab I was hoping to gain some protection for the saddle tanks so I opted for 3"x3" tube. It's 3/16" wall.
Here you can see the notches:
In the last picture you can also see I notched the front to clear the bottom bolt for the fender. On the General I cut that part of the fender off and welded the fender to the slider. Ultimately this didn't work and the fender just tore off the slider. So I wanted to do it differently on this truck.
I didn't think I should leave the notches open so I used the pieces I cut out to flip around and weld in to close up the openings. I figure this keeps the dirt out and helps maintain structural integrity.
I added round tube to the sliders. Had similar round tube extensions on the General and found they worked great for protecting the doors from getting caved in. They also really help for stepping into the truck. As I mentioned, with the truck being taller I wanted to make a step that was lower than the round tube for the benefit of my wife.
I used some 3" wide flat strap and bent both ends up about 45°. Then notched the round tube for the flat strap.
Then welded the flat strap in
Doing a step for both front and back doors.
Both steps welded in and ground down smooth on the outer edges.
I have great luck using skateboard deck tape for traction on steps. After I paint the sliders, I'll lay some grip tape on the steps.
Still need to build the driver side slider. Plan is to weld this completed one in this weekend, work on the driver side next week and weld it in that following weekend. Luckily now that I have the passenger side done, I know what I need to do with the second side done so it should go a little quicker.
Thought it was interesting how much dirt came out of the rockers. And yes the scissors too! They had fallen through the back cab corner into the rocker.
but they hold gas! 
