my homemade rock sliders

[4xdad]

I built these rock sliders in my driveway .I used the same materials as wk does but mine mount tp the truck by u bolts .I can jack 1 side of the truck off the ground using the rock sliders. it cost me about 700 bucks for the steel

 

[LeesEvoX]

Nice! looks good man.

Got any pics of them mounted on the truck yet? with some nice under shots of the mounting?

 

[4xdad]

not yet I will get some

*Edit*

New photos:

 

[4xdad]

these are pics of them mounted spring plates got at auto supply in ab princess auto u bolts I had made at a heavy truck spring shop they charged me 170 bucks cad. they are 1/2 inch rod bent to3inch x11inchsquare. the little stubs are to space the cross bars down for clearance of the gas tank .iknow I lose some ground clearance but the protection is worth it I plan reusing what stock skids I can even if I have to modify them.i also have some 3/16 plates that will serve as skids where I can or have to the rear cross bar is notched for drive shaft clearance 1 1/2 inch took the piece I cut out cut it down and welded it in fora gusset. the whole thing is heavy but super strong even with my crappy welding.the paint is rubberized under coating 6 bucks can

 

[4xdad]

it doesn't show very well but I covered the inboard side of the u bolts with vinyl tube to prevent rubbing of the brake lines on the driver side of the frame . the passenger is a breeze the drivers Side is hard because the brake lines and electric lines/fuel lines all rundown that frame rail.i am sure guys with wk sliders have run into this.the bolts and sandwich plates are 1/2 inch.ther where a couple that where a pain the ass but once their in you will never have to take them out.i can remove these by myself in about 20 minutes 24 19 mm nuts 2 floor jacks.reinstall takes longer but I can still do it by myself with 2 floor jacks

 

[crazykid1994]

How’s your rear driveshaft clearance? Hard to see in the pictures. Looks great.

 

[4xdad]

the last cross bar is notched for clearance I took the piece I cut out cut it down to fit inside the cross bar and welded it in. I used the stock cross member for reference so it would have ***** clearance

 

[4xdad]

their kinda dirty

 

[4xdad]

they are lower than the wk sliders but I looked at a lot of trucks and some tuck up tight some are lower being lower makes a better step for my short missus .I plan on blowing a hole at the front and back of the rub rail for a shackle for side pulls

 

[4xdad]

I have been working on the rock sliders . I have come across the problem that stock skids and my sliders cross bars want to share the same space. so I have made one .skid and cut the stock gas tank skid to fit.i bolted the cut end of the gt skid to the skid plate that I made.i used 3/16 plate for my skids. I used my u bolts to tie in the skids.i will try to post pics tomorrow.

 

[22hemi13]

Just made mine too. Same wk parts list except bolt on. Mine welded to frame. 4 braces on just cab section since that all I have. Zero deflection when lifted.

 

[4xdad]

wow you are clearly abetter welder fabricator than me.those look great.no skid plate issues for you, I finished mine today the skids come off with the sliders. I had to cut down my gas yank skid to fit

 

[4xdad]

as you can see they were a true drive way build it took me a while.no room in my garage to build any thing too much junk

 

[4xdad]

I didn't want to weld to my truck cuz I'm a crappy welder and I wanted to make them removable

 

[4xdad]

so finally finished

 

[4xdad]

I used 3x2 250 wall square tube for the main rails 2x2 250 wall for the rub rails and 2x2 250 wall for the cross rails they are modelled after the white knuckle ones but I don't have a shop and I am not a very good welder or fitter but over all they are strong and didn't cost me that much I think my total build cost was about 850 cad

 

[4xdad]

I plated in the top with metal a friend gave me I had open sliders on my jeep and one of our dogs got her leg caught and we had to put her down plus it keeps road grime down a bit

 

[wobly]

They look great! Good job!

 

[IRSmart]

To the OP, a few design improvements that would help you significantly.

1) I really like the pass-under slider idea. It opens itself up to also being a skid plate mount. My concern is lateral movement once it hits a side impact on a rock. Those u-bolts are going to go snappy-snap on a good hit. Welding a locating block where you have that little bump that rests on the bottom side of the frame rail will give the sliders a ton of additional strength against lateral impacts. I’m not sure how strong they are against vertical impacts if it’s just u-bolts, but if there are enough of them I’m sure they’re strong.

2) You need to re-orient those bolts for the skid plates. You’re going to sheer them off the way they’re currently sitting. Turning them upside down so that the head is down on the bolt will help. If you don’t have a way to manufacture a recessed bolt head underneath, then boring out the hole to a square hole and using a carriage bolt that faces upwards would also be a drastic improvement. But having those bolts facing downwards is just asking them to grab a rock and get ripped off.

 

[4xdad]

I did think about adding some angle as locators/braces but I got thinking if I am snapping off 24 1/2 inch spring u bolts I am probably do some thing I shouldn't I also thought about shoulder washers that would protect the nuts I could flip some of the u bolt but some would areal pain to tighten I probably will add the tabs later we will see how it goes I don't wheel my truck hard I really just wanted strong steps and some protection