Jansey86's rock sliders..

[janesy86]

Well today was the day that my buddy and I got my rock sliders welded up and on my TB.

I got them off eBay, originally from Trailgear.com, and they are supposed to be for a 4Runner/Tacoma. But I decided I'd try em out since I got a good deal. They are 78" in length and came with 4 legs per side that are not attached. That you must do yourself. I decided to use only 3 per side.

Now on to the pics...

Here is how they came to me.

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Setting them up for placement and measurements..

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Tack welded and now about to fully weld the legs on.

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[janesy86]

One side fully welded.

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Drivers side done!

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Passenger side done!

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Now just need to paint them soon and put them to the test next week where I will most likely need them, as they really would have helped me before.

[The Roadie]

Did you use a plate at the frame side? Neil (my new fabricator) and Dallas (my original guy) both said that welding the mounting tubes right to the frame could cause heat changes in the metal, and possible stress cracks later. Do you have a pic of the frame end? Here's what I had while in the middle of installation:

[janesy86]

I don't have any pics of that right now and too dark out but, no we did not use a plate, just did what JD did with his with the gusset to strengthen... now I am a lil' wary. I hope to not crack nothin'.

[Gordinho80]

VERY NICE!! This seems like a viable option if you want to save a few bucks. Have you at least tested jacking up the truck at the slider?

[MrSmithsTB]

All I can say is thank you. This mod has gone from the tentative to definite list all because I can buy the parts prefab...

[bgwolfpack]

Wow those are nice What color are you painting them? Maybe you should get them chromed NICE

[teebes]

Very nice, indeed! Glad these worked out.


Now for those without sliders, watcha waiting for

[janesy86]

VERY NICE!! This seems like a viable option if you want to save a few bucks. Have you at least tested jacking up the truck at the slider?

Thanks, and yea they were a steal compared to getting custom made. And it helped out a lot that my buddy has a full shop and loves to do this stuff, so no extra cost there either, just some beverages..

And no haven't jacked it up yet with them. It was getting late by the time we finished them up and I had to get out of there and back home to go out for a bday partay.. I'll have more next weekend on them as I'm painting tomorrow, and will be most likely using them on the trail.

Wow those are nice What color are you painting them? Maybe you should get them chromed NICE

Haha. No chrome for me. Painting them black tomorrow, but almost thinking just doing a clear coat on top of the raw metal.

Very nice, indeed! Glad these worked out.


Now for those without sliders, watcha waiting for

Thanks man! Couldn't be happier with them right now. And left my wallet a lil' thicker so I can do some more things to it!

[The Roadie]

For jacking up a vehicle by the sliders, you can't beat the WabFab adapter:

From my OS posting of March, 2007:

A neat gadget my daughter got me for my birthday. One problem with HiLift jacks is that they can lift one wheel at a time, from the side of the vehicle, in case you're stuck or high-centered. But that's inefficient. When you have jackable rock sliders capable of carrying half the weight of the vehicle, you could put the HiLift on them, but they tend to slip. (Don't try this with normal tube steps).

So Wabfab (http://wabfab.org/ not .com) makes this neat little adapter to bolt onto your HiLift.

[janesy86]

Yea that's a nice looking gadget there. I'll plan on pickin' one of those up soon. I plan on pickin' up my own Hi Lift jack soon as well.

[Gordinho80]

When you can, take some more pics. Showing how it's welded to the frame, how it lines up with the frame, maybe one with the door open...

[Trail X]

Aren't they mounted inside out?



Aren't they supposed to look like this?



As for worry about the weld-points... I wouldn't worry. This is a picture of the way mine were welded. We did have a slight issue at one point, where there was just a bit too much of a gap, but he was able to fill it in, it just didn't look as pretty.

It's held up extremely well... haven't noticed any issues with where they were welded, I think because we welded where the frame was reinforced (according to the fab guy). I think the gusset adds a ton of strength too. Before adding the gusset, the slider would vibrate if you hit it... once the reinforcement was added, no vibrations at all... and even with the static weight of the entire side of the vehicle, it only bends maybe 1/4".

[Gordinho80]

Wow, I missed that. Nice catch, JD.

[janesy86]

Aren't they mounted inside out?



Aren't they supposed to look like this?



As for worry about the weld-points... I wouldn't worry. This is a picture of the way mine were welded. We did have a slight issue at one point, where there was just a bit too much of a gap, but he was able to fill it in, it just didn't look as pretty.

It's held up extremely well... haven't noticed any issues with where they were welded, I think because we welded where the frame was reinforced (according to the fab guy). I think the gusset adds a ton of strength too. Before adding the gusset, the slider would vibrate if you hit it... once the reinforcement was added, no vibrations at all... and even with the static weight of the entire side of the vehicle, it only bends maybe 1/4".

Yep they are mounted inside out...that was what I was saying from the start as what I was thinking bout doing. I wanted to keep my rocker panel like you but couldn't if they were mounted like that. With them being like this it's kinda like yours, just not as pretty.

Haha, but mine are mounted just like JD's as well, with no scab plate just a gusset on the top of each leg. I also went wtih the same spacing between the legs. I'm not worried abut their strength either, they should do just fine..

I'll try to get some pics soon, prob this coming weekend once I put it back on the lift so I can get better pics with a good camera and not my cell.

[Gordinho80]

James has his mounted with the rocker panels still in place...

[Trail X]

Ahh, I see... intentional! That's good. I didn't want to point it out and then for you do be like...

My only worry there, is that you kinda lose protection where you need it most. I find 75% of my scrapes and hits are within that first 1' of tubing. With the way yours is bent upward, it may allow the rocker plastic to be the lowest point, and not the metal. I'll be interested to see how it does when you come down off a rock ledge. May work fine... dunno.

Do you have a hi-lift? If so, you'll have to show us a picture with it lifting a side. That's the ultimate test!

[Gordinho80]

Ahh, I see... intentional! That's good. I didn't want to point it out and then for you do be like...

My only worry there, is that you kinda lose protection where you need it most. I find 75% of my scrapes and hits are within that first 1' of tubing. With the way yours is bent upward, it may allow the rocker plastic to be the lowest point, and not the metal. I'll be interested to see how it does when you come down off a rock ledge. May work fine... dunno.

Do you have a hi-lift? If so, you'll have to show us a picture with it lifting a side. That's the ultimate test!

I experienced both of these scenarios first hand at TECORE II. First, while coming down the rock steps, James tapped his slider coming down. You can see it happening in Frank's video. Day 2, during the Recovery Demonstration that James was doing, he jacked up the passenger side of his rig using his hi-lift and his slider.

[Saxis]

What exactly on the rocker panel would get in the way if they were mounted right-side out? I'll eventually be looking for some to put on my Denali. I took the running boards off, and my rocker panel is a bit different than the TrailVoys without running boards. The sections closest to the tires expose some of the running board mounting surface. Looks kind of odd and bare, but I wonder if this is where you had problems with the rocker panel in the way of your sliders? I'll see if I can attach a pic...

[NeilageInc]

I'm sure your rock sliders are seeing a good amount of abuse but they are not going to crack the frame on the first try. If they did that then you have a serious problem. What you are doing is causing unneeded stress over a period of time and that will cause it to crack. What the plate over the frame does is spreads the load over a broader range. Since you guys already have it done this way I would only recommend that you add more gussets. I would have one on the left and right of each tube as well as were you have it now on the top. That's my advice, but everyone is different. Thanks Neil.