I have the missus convinced we need rock sliders

Now the question is- should I have them welded to the frame OR bolt them on? I'll be using AJ's double sliders and I like the idea of them being welded but I dont want to FUBAR my new frame

Any welders or fabrication gurus out ther have any advice on this???

Thanks.

 

There's a couple of good threads in here.
The titles of them should lead you to some good information. Seems that most people lean towards the welding approach.

https://www.yotatech.com/search.php?searchid=774694

 

I'm leaning towards welding them on, but I'd say it depends on the way you weld them on. I wouldn't do much welding along the top or bottom of the frame. If you use a diamond shaped plate you can put most of the welding in the center of the frame. This is a requirement for heat-treated truck frames and although we don't have heat-treated frames it doesn't hurt to follow the same practices with our mild-steel frames. Here is more info: http://home.4x4wire.com/deddleman/section_welders.html

 

Welding is generally preferred, but there are advantages to both. As said above, make sure whoever does your welding stays towrds the center of the frame. Also, the frame is not that thick, it'd better if the guy has experience welding on 4R/Taco frames.

 

weld it.

 

I've run bolted on sliders (2 different sets) for about 8 years now. It is a little more work up front to bolt them on, but it pays for itself whenever you decided to remove, replace or change the sliders. I have done all the above over the years, removed the old sliders when I changed body lift height, made new bolt-on sliders to replace the old ones and have had the new ones on and off a few times for painting and working on the truck when the sliders were in the way. So if you are 100% sure you'll never want to make any changes to the sliders, then welding is a good option.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...l#Installation

Current sliders are bolted on with a combination of self-tapping bolts into the outer face of the frame and sleeved holes with thru-bolts on the bootom of each bracket. You can see the sleeves inside the frame when I recently frenched in new spring hangers for the rear springs:



I also prefer bolting to welding since bolts allow the frame and slider brackets to move independently. If the slider bracket is welded to the frame, you have an abrupt change in steel thickness (and stiffness) at the transition. Typical frame is 1/8" thick, weld a 1/4" thick bracket to it and now you end up with a 1/8" - 3/8" thickness transition. Stresses can be concentrated at these transitions. Proper welding can help minimize this but bolting the sliders on eliminates it all together. With a bolted connection, the frame is 1/8" thick all the way along. No changes in thickness, no potential stress risers. This is one of the reasons you see all the big rig frames use bolts (the other reason is their frames are heat treaded).

I can unbolt my sliders in about a minute/side using a ratchet and a wrench. I can install them in about 2 minutes/side.

 

welding it is a hell of a lot easier but it also depends on design as for mine i made them from 2x4 sq tube, and theyre really heavy so i chose to make them bolt ons then i could take them off so it does slow down my truck as much, plus the way i designed mine it would have had a potential risk of warping my frame, as for me i prefer to do as little welding to my truck as possible

 

i say, Bolt them up AND weld them on!

that's what I did. Make sure you have scab plates. Know thy welder, too.

 

Weld them on, but as mentioned use scab plates. Richard walked me through welding mine on with a 110v welder. I didn't think it could penetrate but he assured me that with flux core and heat all the way up it would do fine. He was right. The welds actually turned out pretty good.

If you ever want to take them off, use a sawzall. I bet you could get em off faster than bolt ons!!

 

I welded my home-built sliders. If they ever get beat up to the point of needing replaced, I'll just torch them off and grind off the excess. It's just too easy to weld them on.

 

Guys who go for weld-on....what would you say if someone wanted to get a body lift? Would there be a gap? Do any sliders even work w/like a 1" BL? Sorry, I don't know too much about the aftereffects of BL's...I used to have a Jeep

 

sure, do the body lift - just do it BEFORE you do your sliders! Then there will be no gap.

I suppose coming from a unibody, you "wouldn't understand" - just ribbin ya!


w/ a 3rd 4r, there is QUITE the argument that you don't need to go over a 1" body lift.

 

The 4Crawler Offroad sliders are designed to be adaptable to a variety of body lifts from stock to 3". At time of construction, they are built to the desired lift height. They can also typically be raised (or lowered) 1" from their original location if needed. No additional charge for body lifted versions on the Toyota.

Also, it is relatively easy to modify the sliders after they are built for different lift heights, since they are easy to unbolt to work on. Pictures and more info on the web page:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/RockSliderZ.shtml

 

I'm going the bolt-on route since I like the fact that they could be removed during the off season and bolted back on easily. I've also seen a couple of frames bent because the welds are too good and my friend who is doing the job for me says a little body work is cheaper than having a frame straightened if the slider fails.

 

Roger -

is is safe to Hi-Lift up a truck that has sliders bolted on?

 

What it the point of rock sliders if they won't hold the weight of the vehicle (and then some). Properly designed and installed, bolted-on sliders work perfectly well for Hi-Lift use:



I didn't take a picture of the times I've had the whole side of the truck up in the air when I was rolling my transfer case under the truck to instll it. I had the 60" Hi-Lift nearly topped out to get the frame up high enough for the t-case on the tranny jack to roll under the frame rails.

 

Yup...it was funny, on JeepsUnlimited we'd always have noobs ask about body lifts for their XJs/ZJ's, they didn't get that it's a LITTLE tough to BL a unibody

I'll probably stick with just a 1" because it's cheaper, I don't need to go that high, and it seems like there is less to deal with when staying at only 1".

 

It's good to hear from someone coming from the "other" direction....too many peeps go from yotas to heeps....!

1" is a VERY easy job (at least on a 3rd gen!) - it lets you fit 33"s and doesn't get you too "tippy"