What Rock Sliders To Get

[SteveC]

Any one suggest what rock rail/sliders are good for the the 4 door JK?

Really need some advice well before Jamboree:shame:

[DLE068]

PM sent Steve

[reyzor]

The poly one are pretty good IMO

[Paul-JK]

There are so many available, particularly if you look overseas. Are you looking for a rock slider style (ie something close to the body purely to protect the sills) or more of a side step style?

I like the look of the rock slider closer style ones but my girlfriend is only 5ft and struggles to get in and out without some sort of step so they're not really practical for me. I also like the side step style as they give more protection to the side of the JK and in particular the door hinges from flying debris from the front wheels.

I don't personally like the ones that fix to the body. They look neater and give greater clearance but I don't like the idea of fixing something to a thin sheet metal body when I expected it to take the weight of the car being dropped on it. Any deformation or twisting of the slider will then be transferred directly to the body panels which makes me nervous, especially if you're looking at the side step ones as they stick further out and are therefore able to apply greater force to the mounting points when used in anger. Now I've got absolutely nothing to back up my theory that this isn't a good idea but I'd personally not want to fit them to mine.

I'm looking for something that is chassis mounted, either directly onto the chassis rails or using the body mounts. I'm in the process of getting some Smittybilt SRC ones as I like the design and they are fairly cheap BUT one of the reasons they're cheap is that the dimensional tolerances aren't know to be the best. The first set I got didn't fit and I'm getting a second set sent to me. If they don't fit then I'll just try another brand. If you're looking local (or at least Australian) then Blackjack Welding make a few different versions and his stuff is renowned for being bullet proof. Maxflex 4x4 also made some that bolted on which I quite liked, with the exception of one of the brackets that used a U clamp around the chassis rail that hung quite low. Macquarie 4x4 do a weld on one (well, the bracket is welded on and then the rocks rails/steps bolt to the brackets) and they look good but they're not cheap.

[DLE068]

All depends on what u want Steve. Body mounted or chassis. Either way they both have there pro n cons.
The chassis mounted can be on the heavy side. The body mounted are lighter.

[SteveC]

My wj had ones bolted to chassis but braced under the sill but also had a tube that ran parrallel which gave it strength
Id like some thing similar

[Steve F]

Cant have it bolted to the chassis and the body on a JK, they are seperate, unlike the WJ, and it will do damage as they flex seperatley.

Cheers
Steve

[SteveC]

Understood Stevef.
Therefore I prefer the ones that bolt to chassis but dont they rest under the sill as well? Just like the jks ones i had on the wj
I wonder if i could modify the jks as long as thay fit smartly

[Steve F]

I wouldn't think they could rest under the sill, any flex and you'd be damaging the sill, there would have to be a reasonable gap to allow for that.

Cheers
Steve

[Paul-JK]

You can get an idea of how much the body moves in relation to the chassis looking at this shot of mine taken by Alex on the Cox's river run.

http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab181/plawton/SJC Coxs River and Mt Walker/th_582188_10151072179978961_1534960863_n.jpg (http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab181/plawton/SJC Coxs River and Mt Walker/582188_10151072179978961_1534960863_n.jpg)

The plastic fantastic (not) front bumper is chassis mounted and the wheel flares are body mounted. The gap between is almost nothing on the passenger side in this shot and still maybe 1" on the drivers side. The gaps are normally equal.

This movement is over exaggerate by looking at the bumper/flares as the flares are a lot further away from the body mounts and will therefore move a greater distance as they effectively move in an arc. The amount of movement seen at the sills will be less as they are much closer to the body mounts. If you do go for the chassis mounted ones then I'd say they need to be kept maybe half an inch away from the sills to be safe.

[SteveC]

Thanks guy.
I'll probably wait till I see it in the flesh. ooohhh only a few more days.... and the WJ is now gone, quite sad really :heart-borken:

BTW Where do you get those inserted grill meshes? I think it's a good idea to protect the radiator

[Paul-JK]

BTW Where do you get those inserted grill meshes? I think it's a good idea to protect the radiator

There are a few different ones you can get. You can get ones specifically made for the JK (they've been fitted to a few special edition JK's by Jeep). I know places like Quadratec will have them and I'd guess the dealers will as well but I didn't think it was worth paying their prices. I've seem some people make it out of the rigid aluminium mesh sheets (you can get various colour from Supercheap and places like that) and people usually just zip tie it on using little plastic self adhesive tabs (might need to glue to the tabs on as the self adhesive tape might not be up to the job). I used a flexible mesh sheet rather than the rigid aluminium. I think I got it from Autobarn. I then just formed it around the shape of openings, glueing it all the way around to make sure it was tight and making sure it would be fixed strongly enough to withstand a decent size rock hitting it as those openings are quite big. Doesn't look too pretty from the back but it looks OK from the front and it's not fallen off yet!

[Wooders]

All depends on what u want Steve. Body mounted or chassis. Either way they both have there pro n cons.
The chassis mounted can be on the heavy side. The body mounted are lighter.

Beg to differ on this - some of the body mounted ones are much heavier than the chassis mounted.
I personally would select body mounted over chassis mounter every time.

[SteveC]

I really appreciate all your comments but Now you guys are confusing me..

[Paul-JK]

Hi Steve,

There lots of different types of body mounted sliders and some will be far stronger than others.

There are some that fix underneath the body but also come up onto the side of the body and are bolted to the side (Poison Spyder style) and I think these would be very strong and would transfer any forces to wider area of the body and therefore provide good protection. The reason I don't like them is that I don't want to be drilling a dozen holes in each side of the JK. Basically once they're fitted you can't take them off without leaving your JK looking like someone's been shooting at it! There are also loads of different sliders that attach in the same way the Rubicon sliders do (or the stock side steps) which fix to the pinch seams. These are the ones that I would question the strength of, not so much of the slider itself but of the body work it's attached to. That said there are plenty of folks who've used (and abused) them without issues. I'd just have a look around a few peoples when you get a chance and see which you think you prefer.

[DLE068]

Jambo going to be a good place to see what u want n what u don't want. There are just so many to choose from Steve, I had the same problem. I chose one found out they weighed nearly 50kg each u don't need that sort of weight on your car. Plus they came naked, u had to get them powder coated yourself.
Some come in alloy, but that just defeats the purpose of having a slider.
Just hang out for Jambo mate trawl the net see what u like then try to find them at Jambo.

[SteveC]

Thanks all. Yes I think jambo will be good place to chk out

[Banshee]

I have a pair of Blackjack Welding's Sidestep Extremes. They are a chassis mount (attach using the bolts that hold the body to the chassis rails), and include a step with expanded mesh over either the outer bar or, in my case, flat across the top. It is all bead blasted so no really sharp edges & well powder coated. Love 'em! Tough & makes it easy for the kids to get in & out, and made in Perth. :)

Linky: JK WRANGLER 4 OR 2 DOOR SIDE STEPS EXTREME (http://www.blackjackwelding.com.au/our-products/jk-wrangler-2007-current?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=53&category_id=2)

[kiwi kev]

Ive got the blackjack welding, very strong, very happy , easy to fit