Homemade Rock Sliders

thegrayham · Jul 30, 2024

Decided to whip up some rock sliders before a weekend wheeling trip. Decided on square 2 x 2 tubing. 3/16" for the inner tube under the rocker and for the spars back to the frame and .120 wall for the outer tube and ladder to save a little weight. The frame mount plates are 1/4" plate and they're attached with 11 grade 10.9 bolts per side.

Deleted User 1813921 · Jul 30, 2024

I am beyond impressed. Your skills are masterful. Wizard level fabrication. They look so cool!

dvrgz · Jul 30, 2024

thegrayham said:
Decided to whip up some rock sliders before a weekend wheeling trip. Decided on square 2 x 2 tubing. 3/16" for the inner tube under the rocker and for the spars back to the frame and .120 wall for the outer tube and ladder to save a little weight. The frame mount plates are 1/4" plate and they're attached with 11 grade 10.9 bolts per side.

wow. awesome work

Miqie · Jul 30, 2024

I like your 'squared ' look vs, the tubular look of most. Well done! Good thing I don't live near you, I'd be over bugging you to make me a set!

Ap_yotalndr · Jul 31, 2024

Love the work and look! Although square sliders are way easier to bend! Tubular is way stronger! Learned this the hard way

Kielly · Jul 31, 2024

Backyard fab work is so cool. If it wasn't for the fact that I don't want to make a career out of it I'd get into the hobby! Bet you'd make a killing selling these.

thegrayham · Jul 31, 2024

Ap_yotalndr said:
Love the work and look! Although square sliders are way easier to bend! Tubular is way stronger! Learned this the hard way

You are absolutely right, round tube (especially if DOM or chromoly) is stronger given same size and wall thickness. I decided to up my tube size and wall thickness to acheive the strength needed. I did run some quick structural analysis on my design prior to building and confirmed these would end up as strong as needed, just heavier then a comparable round tube design. I went this way purely for asthetics, but have already jacked up the truck using them and come down hard on some rocks and so far they are preforming exactly as intended.

thegrayham · Jul 31, 2024

Kielly said:
Backyard fab work is so cool. If it wasn't for the fact that I don't want to make a career out of it I'd get into the hobby! Bet you'd make a killing selling these.

Yeah, making a set for myself was a fun project. Certainly way too much work to make these commercially though. I can see why the commercially available sliders cost as much as they do considering the labor involved.

Gurvy522 · Jul 31, 2024

Curious as to what type of tube steel you used ? Is it just A36?

thegrayham · Jul 31, 2024

Gurvy522 said:
Curious as to what type of tube steel you used ? Is it just A36?

The tubing is all A500 grade B. Similar to A36 from a composition standpoint, but is what structural tubing like this comes in. Techincally a little higher rating on tensile and yield strength vs A36.

webshot · Jul 31, 2024

Those have got to be heavy! But they look good!

thegrayham · Jul 31, 2024

webshot said:
Those have got to be heavy! But they look good!

Thanks! I weighed them prior to install, 64lbs per side. I can't find a weight on any ones websites for how much the commercial ones weigh. I would bet a tradditional style slider made with 1.75" round .120 wall HREW is probably 10ish pounds lighter per side. If anyone has a weight on their sliders, post them, I would be currious to know.

hemlockz · Jul 31, 2024

Sweet sliders. Curious what is the materials cost only for these?

(PS - the paint stains on your tarp.. were you making some academy awards?)

soupy1234 · Jul 31, 2024

thegrayham said:
Thanks! I weighed them prior to install, 64lbs per side. I can't find a weight on any ones websites for how much the commercial ones weigh. I would bet a tradditional style slider made with 1.75" round .120 wall HREW is probably 10ish pounds lighter per side. If anyone has a weight on their sliders, post them, I would be currious to know.

I asked NYTOP (https://www.tacoma4g.com/forum/threads/not-your-typical-rock-sliders-by-nytop.4849/) and they said 70# per side. I also recall seeing 160#/set for one of the other makes on their web site. There is also one outfit selling aluminum ones at 31# per side.
Sorry about the vagueness. When I saw how much they weighed I put them on the "only if I get serious about this" list and didn't pay much attention.

thegrayham · Jul 31, 2024

hemlockz said:
Sweet sliders. Curious what is the materials cost only for these?

(PS - the paint stains on your tarp.. were you making some academy awards?)

Haha, yeah, my wife made them for a party.

EDIT: Totally didn't answer the build cost question. I did not track it closely but I bet I am in under $400. Hard to track some consumables like welding wire, gas, grinding disk etc. I found the receipt for the steel. The 20' stick of .120 tubing and 20' stick of 3/16 tubing together plus the cut fee and 1/4" plate for the mounting flanges were $194.41 all together with tax etc. After that is was just consumables plus primer and bed liner.

Homemade Rock Sliders

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