First off, let me say that rock sliders, like bumpers, are generally not CoG topics due to the common, obvious, and simple implementations that abound. In fact, somewhere in the early discussions they (and bumpers) were specifically pegged as excluded topics. However, I'm going to leave this one. Rock sliders on a truck do present some challenges and the solutions are not so clear cut.
First, there is the gas tank issue. Frankly, truck gas tanks are in a terrible place to start with. If you’re needing “rock sliders” your probably doing “rock crawling” and that is just about the worst place possible for a tank. I see 3 options.
1) Build the rock sliders to extend just below the tank. Then incorporate a skid plate from the slider to the frame under the tank. None of the factory tank skids are worth considering. Their better than nothing, but definitely not adequate.
2) Graft in a set of tank support cross members from a K5 or Sub and use an appropriate tank. This is a very easy solution and it is what I used in my truggy. Bad part if your keeping a “truck” is that you loose the spare tire mount under there. Just put it somewhere else, and your oversized tires likely don’t fit their anymore anyway. It’s also still vulnerable and needs some form of skid. The K5 skids are also not exactly great, although they are generally better than the trucks. Adding an extra sheet of 1/8” AR plate and some braces should make it adequate.
3) Get a “cell”.
Second, there is the problem caused by frame and body moving separately. This is the main one. It’s going to be very hard to create an effective rock slider in the traditional K5 sense. I’m not even sure what to suggest here. With the tank relocated, you could probably mount it as an outrigger off the frame itself. Maybe with busings to allow it to move up and down. Then mount it to the body with bushing out near the pinch welds. The ties to the body should probably come up under the cage feet. The lower slider mount plate and the cage foot plate would then sandwich the floor providing strength to both. That gets you 2 mounting points under the cab for the in cab cage (if you *need* rock sliders, you probably already have or *need* a real cage IMO). And you can mount a standard 4 point cage in the bed to get some help there. If you don’t have a cage in the bed, a wide plate should work, sort of like a standard role bar floor mount but up side down. This is going to create some body stress, but with both ends mounted to poly bushings (I’m thinking spring bushings) such that the bolts are all parallel with the frame rails it should still allow reasonable body movement as well as letting the frame flex somewhat independently. That’s the best I can come up with right now for a slider that would go from wheel opening to wheel opening…
