Building Slider Considerations

[85_Ranger4x4]

It might be overkill for the tubing but I think 3/16” or 1/4” tubing would be better since they are going to be taking all the stress when the slider hits something. Possibly with the full weight of the vehicle.

They are not just generic tube for what that is worth.

Weld-On Rock Sliders

Rock Sliders Rock sliders are a great way of protecting the rocker panels of your Toyota Pickup, 4Runner, Tacoma, or FJ Cruiser. Trail-Gear has designed its Rock Sliders to be the strongest on the market, starting with 1-3/4" OD x .120 wall 1035 DOM. Trail-Gear Rock Sliders are the only rock...

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On 4wp someone asked and they were told they weighed 94lbs, I don't really want to add double that to the truck.

I am looking for something more for an oops than anything. If I get into something I wasn't expecting or if a branch flips up or something. And something I can build into a frame mounted tie-down for my camper.

 

[ericbphoto]

Trail gear has a 15% off code for black Friday this week.

Not the best time for me to spend the money. But I might slide it onto the credit card anyway.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Trail gear has a 15% off code for black Friday this week.

Not the best time for me to spend the money. But I might slide it onto the credit card anyway.

About the same price as summit but summit only charges $10 to ship them. I have looked all over and I can’t beat summit.

 

[ericbphoto]

About the same price as summit but summit only charges $10 to ship them. I have looked all over and I can’t beat summit.

You're right. Trail Gear wants $133 to ship to me.

I put the 67" sliders and the angle mounting bracket kit in my cart at Summit and with tax and shiiping, I could have them at my front door, probably on Saturday, for $299. I was hoping the 58" kit would work for me. But they're too short. I was hoping to be around $200-250. I'll wait for better financial timing.

 

[Shran]

I really don't think they are 94lbs each. Maybe both weigh that much. Wall thickness was something like 1/8" and they are made of DOM tube.

I've had the full weight of my explorer on them but they can't move up much before they run into the pinch weld.

Have you guys checked eBay? I think that's where I got mine. Free shipping I think too.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You're right. Trail Gear wants $133 to ship to me.

I put the 67" sliders and the angle mounting bracket kit in my cart at Summit and with tax and shiiping, I could have them at my front door, probably on Saturday, for $299. I was hoping the 58" kit would work for me. But they're too short. I was hoping to be around $200-250. I'll wait for better financial timing.

I think you should wait until Saturday... cause I can’t order them until tomorrow and they only have three in stock which is cutting it close on Black Friday.

67” under mine to the screw stick:

I really don't think they are 94lbs each. Maybe both weigh that much. Wall thickness was something like 1/8" and they are made of DOM tube.

I've had the full weight of my explorer on them but they can't move up much before they run into the pinch weld.

Have you guys checked eBay? I think that's where I got mine. Free shipping I think too.

I think it was 94lbs total.

Most places have them at $290 +/-. Summit and trail gear have them on sale.

 

[ericbphoto]

I think you should wait until Saturday... cause I can’t order them until tomorrow and they only have three in stock.

67” under mine:

View attachment 51938

View attachment 51948

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I think it was 94lbs total.

Most places have them at $290 +/-. Summit and trail gear have them on sale.

I'm not going to order right now. I really shouldn't spend that much at the moment. I might still drop by at my local metals store and see what the material would cost to do it from scratch. I can't get their online site to give me the right price. It's always cheaper when I just walk in and say "I need ________". It will be more work that way and I won't have those nice bends on the end. I might use rectangular tubing for the actual slider rail anyway.

Ya know. I can't even drive to Summit and pick those up for $10 and it's only about a 2 hr drive. That's a great deal on shipping.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm not going to order right now. I really shouldn't spend that much at the moment. I might still drop by at my local metals store and see what the material would cost to do it from scratch. I can't get their online site to give me the right price. It's always cheaper when I just walk in and say "I need ________". It will be more work that way and I won't have those nice bends on the end. I might use rectangular tubing for the actual slider rail anyway.

Ya know. I can't even drive to Summit and pick those up for $10 and it's only about a 2 hr drive. That's a great deal on shipping.

I was just giving you a hard time.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Mine are due Monday... and they still have a set left for ya @ericbphoto...

 

[4x4junkie]

Here's pics of how I did the ones on my Ranger:


Maybe that might offer some mounting ideas.

The body mount brackets at the back of the cab have a very solid frame crossmember that runs between them. The slider bar moves hardly at all if I jack it up with a Hi-Lift in that area (flexes about ¼"). The front part of the bar shows a little more flex when jacking it there, but it's not excessive (maybe ¾-1"). I'd probably do the front mounting points differently if I were to do it over again.

I think I spent around $60 on materials, but that was 20 years ago...

Going by memory and looking at the pics, I bought:
20' length of 2x3x.120" box tubing (main slider bar, center & rear mounts),
20' length of 1x2x.120" tubing (front & rear mounts, and other various),
12' length of 2" wide .180" thick piece of strip steel (CR 1018)(brackets & gussets),
12' length .75" wide .120" thick strip steel (CR 1018)(bash strip welded to bottom outer edge of main bar to prevent denting, not shown).

Bolts are all 3/8 x 24 thread, grade 8.


I want to say each weighed about 45 lbs, but again, that's trying to recall 20-year-old memories.

 

[ericbphoto]

Thanks. That gives me some more ideas. The rear mount is the one I have been mentally struggling with since the frame curves up behind the body. Interesting mount in that location.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Thanks Junkie, that gives me some ideas as it would be nice to have something, I just acquired about 40' or so of .120" wall 2" square tube for $11 at an auction (beefy ladder rack of some form...) so that's probably a good starting point . I'm sure the Explorer once done will need more than the stock running boards...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Here's pics of how I did the ones on my Ranger:


Maybe that might offer some mounting ideas.

The body mount brackets at the back of the cab have a very solid frame crossmember that runs between them. The slider bar moves hardly at all if I jack it up with a Hi-Lift in that area (flexes about ¼"). The front part of the bar shows a little more flex when jacking it there, but it's not excessive (maybe ¾-1"). I'd probably do the front mounting points differently if I were to do it over again.

I think I spent around $60 on materials, but that was 20 years ago...

Going by memory and looking at the pics, I bought:
20' length of 2x3x.120" box tubing (main slider bar, center & rear mounts),
20' length of 1x2x.120" tubing (front & rear mounts, and other various),
12' length of 2" wide .180" thick piece of strip steel (CR 1018)(brackets & gussets),
12' length .75" wide .120" thick strip steel (CR 1018)(bash strip welded to bottom outer edge of main bar to prevent denting, not shown).

Bolts are all 3/8 x 24 thread, grade 8.


I want to say each weighed about 45 lbs, but again, that's trying to recall 20-year-old memories.

That is really neat, it is cool how you did it without drilling into the frame and yours spans the entire distance which is what a person really needs if you are going to play hard.

I did get the 67" Trail Gears while they were on sale. They are probably a little short but for what I do with the truck I am not overly worried. I am going to make mine bolt on... which means I will have to drop the fuel tank.













I am going to make these bolt on but if I wanted to weld directly to the frame it would have been pretty cut and dry, how I had them sitting just how I thought they should look the tube just sat between the slider and the frame on its own.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yeah it took me a good amount of time laying under the truck, staring at the frame and pondering various ideas before I finally came up with the solution above. I forgot to mention, part of the reason for such a design was also so that it would clear the parking brake cables that are on the driverside (I copied (mirrored) the passengerside from the driverside).

The Ranger was my primary wheeler for 10 years before I bought the BII in '04. So there's a good bit of twisting & flexing in it's history (the latter 5 years of which was with the sliders in place). The Ranger continued to be my daily drive since '04 up until just the last couple years. Never came across any stress or fatigue issues with the frame (or body mounts) during that time.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Never thought about the cables, I moved mine up because of the body lift eons ago.