custom rock sliders

I ordered my sliders from Jason DeMello of DeMello Offroad. His gear is popular with the Tacoma guys, so I thought I'd give it a try. He had never made sliders for a 4Runner before, but since they are so similar to the Tacos, he decided to give it a try.

He told me what measurements he needed, and asked me if I wanted any custom dimensions (lenght, width, bend angles, etc.). I sent him all the measurements, and told him the sliders should be 65" tip to tip, and the mounting bars needed to be 9" long. He said it wouldn't be a problem, and I had my sliders in about 3 weeks.

The sliders arrived unfinished, so I bought 2 cans of white rustoleum primer (they were sold out of grey), 2 cans of black finishing paint, a pack of sandpaper to prep the surface, and 2 bottles of rubbing alchohol to clean the surfaces. I sanded, rinced, primed and painted the sliders. Then it was off to the welders I went. $125 later the sliders were on and I was happy.

I haven't had a chance to test them on the trail yet, but I'm hoping to get out soon. Unitl then, the driveway-hi-lift test will have to do, and the sliders passed with flying colors.

Jason was wonderful to work with and I cannot possibly say enough good about him or his work. If I had it all to do again, I would in a heartbeat. All in all, I'm very happy with the sliders, but disappointed with the welding job. I told the guy it was ok to cut the pinchweld if he needed more clearance, but I was hoping he would leave a gap between the slider and the pinchweld, which he didn't do. I know that with all the rubbing, this will be the first place rust sets in. I've worked pretty hard to keep my rig rust free... it sucks that something like this will give rust a chance to start.

The sliders are made out of .120 walled, 2.5" and 2" diameter steel tubing. They are 65" long tip to tip and approximately 6" wide. The bends are 25 degree bends, and they have a 1" rise to them. The mounting tubes are 9" long (8" bars would fit better, but that's my fault, I provided the measurements, and Jason made them exactly as I measured). They are welded to the frame in 4 points.