Building Slider Considerations

[gw33gp]

Here are some picture of the mounts of a slider that I wanted to install on my Ranger. They were made by Rocky Road Outfitters. They were bolt on and have good reviews. Unfortunately, they required a body lift, and I did not want to do that. They did not know the Ranger they use to mock it had a body lift. I sent them back for a refund.

The first picture is the front bracket and bolted to the torsion bar cap mounting bolts. You can see the holes were a couple inches shy of reaching the bolts.

This photo is of the middle bracket. You can see they also had a way to bolt to the body rail as well as the frame. I questioned if this would create a problem when the body mounts flexed and they told me no one ever had a problem with it. They said it improved rigidity of the sliders. You can see where the bracket is up against the pinch weld but still needs to go up another couple inches. Drilling holes were needed for this one.

This photo shows how they mounted the rear bracket. Drilling holes were needed for it too. Yes, it needed to go up another couple inches too.

They used square tubing for everything.

 

[sgtsandman]

Thanks for the info. It is a bit disappointing that they need a body lift to fit properly. This may drive me to getting the cut rocker panel and weld in type when I get that far now. I believe Affordable Offroad sells that style of slider.

 

[ericbphoto]

Wow. I went to metal supermarkets this morning and placed an order for 40ft of tubing and some 4" x 3/16" plate for brackets. Steel prices are going up. My bill was almost exactly the same as ordering the 67" Trail Gear sliders from Summit. I was hoping for 1/2 - 2/3 the price. Anyway. I won't have the smooth radiused bends at each end. But I will be able to customize the length and design to make them fit exactly how I want.

From what the guy at the store said, I bet Trail Gear's prices will go up soon.