Rock Sliders

[Omelet]

i just saw a set of the 4x sliders today, i have always liked how they were a formed piece and had a very stock look to them, but... they only rivet inside the door sill & they are just aluminum rivets at that. i think riv-nuts would be a much stronger alternative.

I know Matt already posted up a pick of the underside of the 4xGuard rails, but I thought I would add to it.

The rivets are not what is holding the rails on. There are 6 grade 8 bolts per side that go through the pinch weld using holes that are already there and then through the included L bracket.

This is what the rocker looks like after removing the plastic:



As you can see after the pinch weld the rocker angles up then cuts in where it meets up with the door openings. The sliders cup over this entire area. You can actually place them over the rocker and they will stay in place (makes instal quite easy). Then you drill small holes into the top of the rocker and install the aluminum(noncorrosive) rivets. At least that is what is included now that the cost of the zinc coated screws went up in price.



Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that other companies are making products for us. And I have nothing against the other designs. I just don't want everyone thinking that the 4xGuard rail might fall off because they are only installed using aluminum rivets.

[LWM]

Thanks for the clarification!

[Matt]

Sorry i didnt make that very clear in my post... i meant to point out the fact that they're through bolted with high grade bolts, not just aluminum rivets. There is no question in my mind that they are a very solid product based on how they're mounted.

[Tymac]

Ask p@55w0rd how well that mounting system worked for him. He has the pics to show what happened.

In all honesty they can take a light hit and sliding, but the crud I throw and have thrown at them on the last trip would have wadded them right into the fender and bent the snot out of the rocker mounting area. Huey's grandson took a pic of my sliders suspending my truck off the ground when I ran it fender high between 2 boulders on Chinaman Gulch. I wouldn't have done it with any that mount to the top of the rocker panel.

Just my .02, but I like the way mine and Knappster's mount.

[ped4599]

Ask p@55w0rd how well that mounting system worked for him. He has the pics to show what happened.

In all honesty they can take a light hit and sliding, but the crud I throw and have thrown at them on the last trip would have wadded them right into the fender and bent the snot out of the rocker mounting area. Huey's grandson took a pic of my sliders suspending my truck off the ground when I ran it fender high between 2 boulders on Chinaman Gulch. I wouldn't have done it with any that mount to the top of the rocker panel.

Just my .02, but I like the way mine and Knappster's mount.

I did it with 4xG sideguards. Also dropped off the entry point to Grizzly lake using the sliders...with no issues other than paint tranferred tot he rocks.I suppose it could pull out of the rocker panel but would need an extreme hit. I know Trialbyfire had this issue from befor WCCC but i am not sure what he did to cause it.

[Tymac]

Maybe someone will use a triple mounting system to make them sleek and strong as a bull.

J, I was really surprised yours held up as well as they did. Everytime I saw you bump them I thought about the nuts pulling out of the metal.

[Holaday07 4.7]

So the 4xG ones are no good, if you actually use them. What ones do you have Tymac. I dont want something that will cause more damage.

[El Cid]

Just for a bit of reference information, I would not recommend referencing p@55word's p@5t experience with those of the Side Guard 2. As I explained in the "other" forum at one point, the fellow who made p@55word's rails built them with no internal gusseting, no external stiffener, no internal stiffener, and seemingly without any sense of the engineering behind the bends in the steel. I would have been shocked if they hadn't bent all to heck!

Also, quite contrary to what Doc says, the attachment points along the top edge of the Side Guard do not hold the weight of the vehicle. (Doc seems a smart fellow, so I'm assuming he just didn't look at them very closely before making that accusation.) The attachment points on the top side almost entirely aesthetic. On one side of our WK test rig -- the one we like to bounce on things -- we have only the bottom bolts attached, nothing on the top side. It hasn't been the slightest problem.

For what it's worth, the engineers at Jeep apparently, um, agree with our engineering. (I'd like to use another phrase or two for what they've done, but I don't think I can legally do so!)