Fabbed some rock sliders for my 73 that DONT require hacking out the rockers.

[goathearder]

I have been wanting a set of rock sliders for a while on my 73 but as all of us 73-75 people know, we don't have access to the same body stiffining ribs as the later guys so the dpi sliders and such won't work for us.

Also, welding to the frame seems to be a bad idea since the body is so much wider than the frame and it would be a huge torque arm.

The most popular option seems to be to just hack the rockers out and weld some steel in place there instead and I really didn't want to do that cause there are no issues with my sheetmetal.

What I decided is to use the method the XJ Cherokee people have been using forever to bolt to the pinch seam. Basically, have a 1.5 x 1.5 piece of steel bolted to the back of the pinch seam and the top of that sits flush with the bottom of the body so it should be pretty effective at distributing the load from any sort of impact. The slider itself is 2x2x3/16 and welded to the 1.5x1.5 support. There will also be additional supports at the front and the back of the slider I just haven't gotten those done yet.

Here are a few pics of what I have so far. I'll post more pics when I get it all finished.

 

[goathearder]

A few more pictures of the nearly finished slider. I found two other places that I could mount it too and plasma cut some brackets out to get it done. This is now supported along the pinch seam and on a body rib. When I had it mounted up I lifted it with a jack and it held up with basically no deflection so this should be plenty strong. Just waiting on some outside tubes I had DIY4X bend up for me.

 

[natemc]

Looks good!

 

[goathearder]

Thanks! Here are some more pics of the finished product. Got it all done this weekend and its quite stout, should be good protection.

 

[rgretzinger]

Wow, those look awesome!! How much you charging? I've been wanting to do some sliders recently but the wife and two kids just won't let it happen.

 

[goathearder]

Thanks! The one realization I came to when working on these is that I understand why people charge so much for this stuff!

I am making a rear swing away bumper right now too and all the hours I have into this stuff totally justifys a price that I used to think was insane, hahahahahaha.

 

[rdn2blazer]

Thanks! The one realization I came to when working on these is that I understand why people charge so much for this stuff!

I am making a rear swing away bumper right now too and all the hours I have into this stuff totally justifys a price that I used to think was insane, hahahahahaha.

Yep, it takes alot of time to do this stuff. Thats why REAL men weld and fabricate their own stuff, built not bought. Anybody can slap down a CC and buy sh*t. We all buy stuff if we don't have the tools YET to do it ourselves, and there's nothing wrong with that. Or if the cost is so afordable it's just not worth yout time to build it yourself, unless you just want the gratification of doing it yourself. I'm guilty of that, but IF I CAN build it, I usually do.

 

[mudbuggy]

Good job, I like those.

When I did mine I built everything comming from the frame, out to protect the body. My body is not in the best of shape on the driver's side. That's why I needed to step it off of the frame and not the body. So far I have had 5 grown men on one slider, and it just so slitghly dips, maybe a 1/4" from the body. I have added the outer hoop, but I as of yet have added the tube supports that extend from the 2x3 to the tube. Gopefully the weather will hold for me to finish that project and mark that priject as finished. Here's my writeup on what I have done so far. FYI http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284140&highlight=body+sliders

 

[90Suburban]

Hey Goatherder. I am also in Tustin. I love the rock sliders and I want the exact same thing for my Suburban! You mind meeting up some time to show me how you made them up!? I have a welder, I just need to show him what to weld.

 

[goathearder]

Hey 90Suburban, we can certainly meet up sometime so you can check them out. Just shoot me a pm and we can figure something out. With a 90 you should have better access to the body stiffening ribs which would make it easier.

 

[90Suburban]

Hey Goathearder. I sent you a PM. I am super stoked someone is close to me. I have never seen you around, although I have only been in Tustin area for a year.

 

[pomai]

This is what I made, I got the idea from here, just used bigger material, 3x3 x1/4” tubing, brand new jeep steps from eBay. I’m 300 pounds and when I step on the steps they don’t move at all, no vibration and does not affect articulation. The steps are easily removed with 2 pins on each side. ​

Ed​

 

[78-K5]

Hey I'm in Murrieta and used to live in Mission Viejo. Nice to see someone fairly local to me! Love those sliders and am VERY interested to see your bumpers! Please keep us posted!

 

[goathearder]

Thanks dude. Your welcome to stop by and see it, just pm me sometime.