Is it better to weld on rock sliders or to bolt them on? Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of both?

 

weld. much more stronger...

 

x2
much stronger, but if you ever decide to resell you cant take them off as easily...

 

I find cut off wheels to be much easier to use than wrenches

 

Strength wise, they are pretty equivalent when done properly. Personally, I think it's easier to do it properly welding than bolting.

ONLY advantage to bolted is you can take them off. But if you really think you're going to take them off once a year and clean/paint behind them, you're delusional.

 

Weld em on, stronger, "permanent"

Bolt on, subject to movement, only as strong as the bolts, Toyota's have boxed frames therefore you have to sleeve it

 

Weld on, so that you can slightly stiffen the frame up as well.

Besides, you'll never take them off. If you sell the truck, the sliders will either add value, or not make a difference.

 

Weld on.

Easier to install.
Stronger.
Easier to remove (no holes in the frame to fill up).

I know there are proponents of bolt on, but I think it is pointless.

 

Who needs rock sliders for mud holes?? lol

 

I choose both!

This how I did mine. Picture is not my truck but you get the idea.

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/sliders/slee2.jpg

 

I super glued mine on.....

 

duct tape FTW!

 

Thats an AWSOME idea!!!

 

I've had bolted on sliders for over 10 years now and they work fine. And when I changed from 1" to 3" body lift, taking off the old sliders was simple and putting on new ones built for the added lift was easy. I now run a combination of sleeved and self-tapping bolts. That is easily as strong as welding, in fact with the sleeves welded through the frame and the frame is stronger than it was before and I use both sides of the frame for support.

And have had these sliders off a few times over the years, 2 or 3 times to sand and re-paint them and another time when I was swapping t-cases and got tired of banging my head on the slider every time I crawled out from under the truck, so it took abut 2 minutes to remove it.

One minor advantage of bolting on is that you don't have that abrupt transition from frame wall to frame+slider bracket thickness where you weld the slider to the frame. That could be a potential place for metal fatigue to set in, although I've not seen that happen. But if you have access to a welder and don't plan on removing them, then welding them on is faster. Not that you can always weld on a bolt-on slider, but you may not be able to bolt on a weld-on slider unless it was designed with bolt-on in mind.

 

another vote for welding them on, unless you have a really good reason to bolt them on