Well I have been sitting on this for quite some time and thought I should let the cat out of the bag. I went looking for a set of sliders that would work as a step for my 4' 10" tall wife without out sticking out a mile and maintaining the most clearence as possible.

This lead me to the same company that did all the work on my TJ. ( http://www.tntcustoms.com ) So... I guess we should move on with the pictures...





The flow of the sliders with the body lines is sweet






Mounting bracket. This can be bolted on, but I chose to have it welded.




To get the lowest profile, we trimmed out a slot in the pinch seem for the tube. You can also see where we bolted the slider to the pinch seem

 

very nice!

 

You cut that pinch seem eh? I've been thinking about doing this since I have a 2' bl with welded sliders, and do not want to take them off and reweld when I take the BL off... hmmmm... Did they seperate at all?

Nice looking sliders too!

 

Are the custom? I don't see any thing for 4Runners.


ZJ sliders, they kind of look the same as yours?

 

The real question is how much? I'm still looking at Stubbs.

 

i just dont get why you would bolt into the pinch weld? you are now connecting frame to slider to body..

 

I was kind of wondering that myself? Isn't it the job of the sliders to stop damage to that area of the pinch weld? Not only that but if you really hit it, isn't that energy going to transfer straight through into your body? I've been looking at getting a set of sliders and i'm juts wondering about the install? On Brians site IE: Wabfab, he says to mount the sliders below the pinch about a half inch, not to cut through it?

 

It sounds like the goal of adding these was not necessarily for offroad protection but a step in aid that didn't hang down too low (aka running boards). I'm sure you could mount these a bit lower beneath the pinch weld if you wanted. I have a pair of Stubbs SKOs that I love. Haven't tested them offroad yet....soon.

 

Nope, not at all.

They were custom, Yes. But, they will make them and ship them out if you call and request them. They are very much like the ZJ sliders, just easier to make as there is no need for a bend in the arms from the slider to the frame. They are actually the same length

They were like $280 or something like that.

This was the big thing we were wondering about when we were talking about how to mount them and make them the strongest possible. Just like with any 3rd Gen 4Runner sliders out there, they are just welded to the frame and that is the only connection point. You can do that with these too. We just chose to mount it to the pinch seem to be solid. There is so little movement between the body and the frame that it isn't a big issue. The only thing that I noticed was that some of the vibrations from the engine and tranny that run through the frame are no transfered to the body as well. I noticed it at first, but I am so used to it now I really don't think about it.

As for it being only a step primarily.. well that is not true. It was designed to protect my rocker panels/body. That is what sliders are for. (not to protect the pinch seam). I made the mistake of not haveing sliders on my TJ and made a nice dent in the rocker panel on it's first outing. I like to get on the rocks with my rigs.

Now as for falling on these hard and having the hot through the body... Not sure where your going with this one... I have seen this hit REALLY hard on the ZJ's and there has been no issue with body damge or movement of the sliders up into the body, and these are made off the same design. These are Stout!! I can understand the issues that you all might have with these, as I had the same questions at first. After using these, all my issues were laid to rest. Oh yeah, there is also some space between the top of the bars and the pinch seam, just in case

 

When the slider flexes it will take the pinch seam with it..

 

Hmmm....I kinda like the way the sliders mount to the frame, would be real easy to take off for repainting or whatever and still strong with the right hardware. Can anyone think of a downside to this mounting option? WabFab sliders are coming and Im trying to figure how I want to mount them I am welding to the frame for surebut this might be another option....Hmmm

 

i think that method of mounting wasnt tight since the one bolt holding the tube in just couldnt keep it snug enough..so i guess thats why you added the pinch weld bolt...im still really not feelin that way ..


this is how how i mounted mine to be removeable
http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.ph...6&topic=2170.0

 

I concur with CJM. When the frame starts flexing that mount to the pinch weld will probably tear. That is one of the reasons for the rubber cushions between the body and the frame - keeps the body-to-frame fasteners from ripping through the body sheet metal when the frame flexes.

 

Actually the tolerance between the feet (the part welded to the frame) and the tube sliding into it is so tight, that I have to use a mallet to get them off and on. There is not movement there. Like I said I had them originally mounted without mounting to the pinch seam and there wasn't any movement.

You can say that they will flex into the body or pinch seam all you want, but they just aren't doing it in application. I guess you can only take my word for it and go off that. I'll take pics and video of hitting it hard on rock when I take it out again for you guys. maybe I can lay your issues to waste that way.

 

I like the look of those sliders, very unique, nice job.
In my experience Toyotas have soft body mount and actually move around more than you would think, particulally when the suspension is flexing. The chassis ends have the greatest amount of movement obviously, but it still occurs around the middle. One method to check for relative movement is to place a lump of plasticine or play-doh between the sliders and the body so it contacts both. Go for a drive and make sure you drive over some curbs etc and turn sharply a few times. Then check how much the plasticine has been compressed during body/frame movement.

 

Sliders are easy to repaint if your rig is black, i dont even tape anything up to paint them, i just try and not paint the body. If you get over spray, you don't notice it.

 

Like all guys have a black rig... LOL If I repaint while they are still attached I might just have a black rig in the future