Custom Rock Sliders |
This page is about my custom rock sliders. All of the work was performed by my Dad and much thanks goes to him for building it. |
After experiencing some fairly major damage against my driver's door and lower rocker panel, I saw first hand the benefits of a set of rock sliders. Rock sliders would have completely eliminated any damage in that situation. Rock sliders, if properly built, will allow the full wieght of the truck to rest on the bars and not the body if needed. Another use is being able jack up the truck from the side and it even provides a step for entering the truck. These bars were built from heavy gauge mild steel and are extremely stout. |
The main part of the rock sliders are 1.5" by 3" tubing which are welded directly to the frame. This piece sits just under the side body seam along the entire length of the body and front portion of the body. Here, the bar will flex into the body seam and transfer the weight to the entire body seam as well as the frame. The second part of the bars are 1.5" x 1.5" tubing which act as a guard against any attack from rocks and deflect the truck away from rocks. |
Here the 3" x 1.5" tubing has been measured and cut and we're fabricating the frame mounts. We chose to weld the bars directly the frame. |
Cutting the pieces that would mount the sliders to the frame. |
Welding the frame mounts to the main bar. |
Building the kick out bar and welding it to the main bar. |
The finished product before welding onto the truck. |
Finish welding the final product onto the frame. |
In the end, I haven't had chance to test the bars, but I'm confidence they are so heavy duty, they will more than support the weight of the truck and any hits from the side. They are, however, fairly heavy at about 60lbs + a piece. But the weight is down low and in the middle of the truck, which is a good thing. My only current complaint is that I never took into account the body mounts and the fact that the the body moves up and down and side to side just a little. Because fo the very close proximity of the bars to the body seam, the body konks onto the rock sliders and makes noises when driving on a very rough road. I'm current working to solve the problem. |
Click on images for larger view. |