ROCKSLIDER Project *DONE*

[badmix]

As I posted in my other thread, I wasnt happy with any of the commercial sliders out there. I wanted one to be tucked up by the body as best as possible. The pinchweld made this hard, so I just notched the pinchweld and ran 1/4" plates through the pinchweld and then sectioned the rock slider itself and fit the L bracket within the slider and had it all welded up.

Phase II will be to incorporate some braces going from the back of the slider to the frame, but not too worried about that at this time.

On with the pics.............

cuts in the pinchweld, burn marks are from the spot welding the rockslider to the L brackets with it all bolted up.

Fresh from welding shop

Heavy coat of "Hammered" Paint

Painted Semi-Flat Black and all bolted up

Some Grade 8 hardware, the brown color is from undercoating not a fire. lol

Nice and tight, but there is about 1/2-3/4" gap on the inside of the slider

 

[79bonanza]

looks good man i like it,

the only thing i see that could be a problem is, you only have one bolt per tab on the slider that bolts to the body. im not sure on this because i dont have rock sliders my self but wouldnt those two bolts act as a pivot and just make you slider turn up into your rocker.

 

[badmix]

The L bracket will prevent this. The Front of the L is up against the body on the inside and wont let it move, this is also why im going to put a Brace going back towards the frame to prevent this if it did happen, but I dont foresee it being a problem right now.

 

[79bonanza]

ooooooooo ok my bad, i think im just thinking slow today lol they look good i like the black on blue and how there not real bulky like some guys make them

 

[badmix]

Thanks.. Yea I didnt want bulky, If i was running 35s and did alot more wheeling, id go with some bigger ones. I did this for looks and some protection, its form and function.

 

[dirtygoat]

I like 'em... Nice and tucked up, looks clean...

 

[stockk5]

nice job!

 

[76zimmer]

Thanks.. Yea I didnt want bulky, If i was running 35s and did alot more wheeling, id go with some bigger ones. I did this for looks and some protection, its form and function.

If you do light wheeling, and not much rock bashing they should be ok, but I see the lower part of the L getting hung up, and maybe getting pushed up into the rockers and ripping through the cab supports the way they are mounted. I know you said more tie-ins to the frame are coming too, post up again when you get those on. It should help make it more rigid I hope.
I like how they are tight to the body line though. they look good on there.

 

[badmix]

Yea, I actually plan to trim/grind that lower part, the idea was to have the L bracket "flush" mounted within the rock slider. I figured it would be easy to work on the bottom and back when its mounted up. I do plan to put a couple square tubes going back to the frame, ill probably weld it to the rock slider and have it bolted to the frame like ive seen other ppl do.

that is phase II, I just wanted to get to this point. since its on the truck, itll be easier to mock the rest of it up.

One question I had was, if I bolt it to the frame and its bolted to the body, wouldnt that be tieing those to things together (frame and body) in a solid mount kinda way? wouldnt this be bad and limit flex or put more flex on the body mount itself?

 

[76zimmer]

I think most build sliders independant of the body to prevent that, except the ones that are built as a solid unit (body/frame/sliders/cage)
I think if you keep your wheeling away from bigger rocks you'll be fine, but think of the weight of your truck coming down on the sliders and the potential movement of the sliders. Tieing both the frame and body together might help, but I would ask someone (Eric, Chris, Kert) to answer that, they have the experience to guide you right here.

 

[pblaze725]

You could use 2 tabs & poly bushings similar to your leaf spring bushings where Phase 2 will connect to the frame. This will allow the body & frame to flex.
I posted them somewhere before on the same subject.

Image:

Reference:http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/rollcage.htm

This link is about building a roll cage but at the bottom they discuss tying the body to frame in a way that allows flex.

 

[badmix]

Thanks,,I actually had that similar idea in my head.

Heh..just found some on a jeep forums, called the vendor and ive got 4 of them on the way.

Here is the site I used http://www.swagoffroad.com/

Im sure vendors here could make this stuff easily , but i just wanted to get this thing going and be done with it. lol

 

[Blue85]

Mine tie into the body mounts. I have set the truck on rocks with the sliders with no problems. Plus, it's easy to do.

I don't understand why you had to notch the rocker panel instead of just notching the bracket?

 

[badmix]

Do you have a picture of where it ties into the frame and how you did it?

I thought about doing that, I notched the rocker because I thought notching the L bracket would create a weak point. The notches in the rocker are just barely over 1/4", if I ever remove the rocksliders I can just put plating behind the rockers and fill in those gaps.

 

[Blue85]

That is how it ties into the frame. The front are rear are the same. There is a bolt through the body channel, just like yours. Then a piece of tubing runs from the bracket to the body mount. So there are 4 bolts into the sliders and 2 bolts into the frame.

 

[MTBLAZER89]

I had mine bolted to the body ribs just like yours for years, but with two bolts per mount. They were very solid and I landed on them regularly, but eventually the holes in the body did start to wallow out. I added step hoop/outriggers and added leverage finished them off quickly.

I added in a brace and no problems since.

 

[mudbuggy]

I took my tube out and mocked it up on the truck today after seeing the beginning of this thread. I've had a health issue for the last couple of days so I didn't feel like doing anything but looking forward to feeling better. I'm glad that you have moved forward on your porject, hopefully it will get me thinking on mine and forgetting about the last few days. In respect to your setup, that looks clean and tight on the body, now I understand why you notched the body, and not the brackets. I have a twist that I will try on mine, I'm not sure that it will work, and since this is your thread, I'll keep my thoughts to myself on that issue. That looks real good, but I would stay away from the rocks until you get it reinforced or I believe that you might have some body damage. Looks really clean, good job!

 

[badmix]

Thanks.. Phase II is coming along. Ive got most of the pieces I need and just have to get the rest tomorrow and get part of it welded up. The pieces I got a lil bigger (and way stronger) than what I need but should work. Ive got one lil hiccup to deal with but hope to get that sorted out someway.

Stay tuned. Hope to have this all done by mid-week. I wouldve done more today but as you can see from my other threads, I thought I had a major motor issue. lol. So I had to stop everything to sort that out.

 

[badmix]

Phase II has officially begun. Parts are off at the Fab shop getting welded up. Ill have pics later this afternoon or tomorrow. Finally product will probably be this weekend or end of the week.

This is going to be one over engineered rock slider. lol.

Phase II!!

I have it all painted up, the mounts are mounted to the frame and the braces are in place. I just need to trim the end (part that actually connects to the slider) and then have it welded up. I should have it trimmed tomorrow and dropped off at welders on Thurs and should be back in business Fri/Sat. depending on weather.

The bushings will allow the body and frame to flex independently but will keep the slider itself from twisting up into the body or back towards the frame.

 

[badmix]

Just one more trip to weld shop and im all good to go.