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Sliders thread.

One thing I forgot, they were definitely tested. The rock opposing the one you can see is equally big and none of the tires were touching much of anything in this picture. If I remember right, it took a few guys on a rope (while rocking it back/forth) to get it to move enough to get through that one.

 
My old Jimmy I cut out the factory rocker and welded in 3x3 box tube in it's place. I dropped on em, rubbed em and bashed them for years...they were still straight when I parted it.

I'm repairing rockers on my 90 right now. Even so, I will cut em out and go box tube sliders again. The only thing I'm gonna do different is go 4x3 tube for a touch of extra width...
 
I did what Renee did on my 83 K5, 3x3 square tube. Was really solid. Just welded to the cab mounts and a couple braces to the tub.
 
My old Jimmy I cut out the factory rocker and welded in 3x3 box tube in it's place. I dropped on em, rubbed em and bashed them for years...they were still straight when I parted it.

I'm repairing rockers on my 90 right now. Even so, I will cut em out and go box tube sliders again. The only thing I'm gonna do different is go 4x3 tube for a touch of extra width...

Do you have pictures?

Martin
 
Below is copied and pasted from my build thread. I did them basically the same way on my K5. Always worked great. In the crew cab even with the long wheelbase I've rarely touched them. Having the round tube extensions really saved my doors from damage in the K5. I remember one trail where I dented the hell out of everything but the doors.
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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.

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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:

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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.

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Then welded the flat strap in

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Doing a step for both front and back doors.

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Both steps welded in and ground down smooth on the outer edges.

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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.

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Okay, got em welded in. Drilled some 5/16" holes to plug weld. I also ran several 1" beads on the backside. It's hard to get a good weld between the edge of the old rocker and the slider. Forgot to get pictures of the backside.

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The outside edge is fully welded on the full length.

I thought painting them body color would be cool but I didn't think about footprints. So I may add a coat or 2 of black.

I did later repaint them and I also modified the front step you can barely see here:

2014-10-27073146.jpg
 
Those seem like they'd trap mud and debris between the slider and rocker. Any rust issues?

They likely would. I should pull them and clean occasionally. Only takes 10 minutes for the pair.
 
just drag a quick dress bead of silicone caulk across that gap, should keep the debri/water out of em...
 
just drag a quick dress bead of silicone caulk across that gap, should keep the debri/water out of em...

I considered that when I originally bolted them on but water would still wick up through where bolted and I'd have to cut and re-do when I pulled them for cleaning. My only alternative was to smear the entire face of the rocker protector and mount flange and then they would be pretty much permanent. They are anyway, so I might do that.
 
Do you have pictures?

Martin

Couple of 'done' pics...nothing uncommon about them. Fully welded to the edge just under the door, and to the face of the body mount sections on the backside. I've landed on them pretty hard, and they were sturdy enough to spread the forces of the impact without leaving any damage.

DSC00834.jpg


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just drag a quick dress bead of silicone caulk across that gap, should keep the debri/water out of em...

I think that would be worse. Water would surely get in down where it's bolted together.

Another great idea would be to cut out the rockers and combine sliced square tube and round tube to make replacement heavy steel rockers that look practically stock. You would get some interesting looks when you drop the rocker on a rock and drive away with only paint scratches. I mean why are they called "rocker panel"?


Here's mine. I worked with Echobit to get the family friendly steps. Seems like a clearance penalty but it's actually quite nice keeping things away from the rockers and doors.

rocksliders.jpg


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I think that would be worse. Water would surely get in down where it's bolted together.


yeah, what would a boat guy know about keeping water out of stuff.... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


I didn't pay attention to anything down low with the bolting up, and "wicking" up... I just looked at the giant gap on top asking for rain water to pour down it...


your telling me a nice bead of silicone here




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is going to make water infiltration worse?

how is water going to travel upwards, unless submerged? even than, it could drain from the same access point.....

and god forbid when ya bolt it up ya ran a bead of silicone before on the pinchweld and stopped ALL water infiltration...
 
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As much as that pic has been reposted I kinda wish I would have at least washed it before mounting the thing.:haha:
 
I have a combo of DIY4X and my subtle additions. The DIY sliders are great and have had a ton of compliments on them so far.

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