Having just finished the installation of a pair of the Savvy aluminum rocker guards and steel sliders, I figured I'd share some things I learned in the process. I have no idea what the appropriate amount of time should be for installation, however, for planning purposes, I spent approximately 10 hours on the project.
Being up front, you can do this installation correctly, or incorrectly. Given the cost of these, and intended functionality, cutting corners isn't recommended. If you do, two bad things will likely happen, First, the top of the aluminum rocker and bottom of the door entry will not be straight. Although this is aesthetic in nature, it manifests itself in the second major issue, with the bottom of the aluminum backer not being properly preloaded against the torque box. The implications of an improper installation are damage to the nutserts, damage to the torque box, and damage to the rocker/slider itself.
With that disclaimer, let's talk about the Savvy guard/slider. I've installed several different brands and these really are the best I've seen. The aluminum backer provides full coverage of the rocker, from wheel well to wheel well, and bottom of rocker to just below the bottom of the door opening. If installed properly, it fits snuggly against the tub rocker on the side, and tub torque box on the bottom. There's a lot of hardware included, and some you should buy (we'll cover that later), so hopefully this will help simplify what goes where, at least on the TJ.
In the supplied configuration, the steel slider gets bolted to the aluminum backer via bolts and nuts, then installed on the tub. This means that if you want to remove the slider, you have to pull both the rocker and slider as one piece. Thanks to a trick from @mrblaine, you can purchase longer splined nutserts from McMaster-Carr, drill the six (6) holes on the bottom outside edge of the rocker guard to 17/32" and install the longer 5/16 nutserts. This allows for the slider to be removed, without having to remove the rocker guard. The installation of the longer nutserts can be seen in the picture below (In green). They can be found here for purchase and come in packs of ten (10), so you'll need to pick up two (2) packs. https://www.mcmaster.com/95105A155/
Zinc-Plated Steel Heavy-Duty Rivet Nut, Open End, 5/16"-18 Interior Thread,.150"-.312" Material Thickness | McMaster-Carr
Once the longer splined nutserts are installed, here's what it looks like from the outside.
With the location of the holes and hardware identified, let's talk a little about drilling the holes. If you're going to tackle this job, do yourself a favor and purchase a Blair Spotweld Cutter Kit. This was the first time I've used this particular type of cutter for drilling and it was a game changer for me. Once the rocker guard is in position, literally all you have to do is insert the cutter into the hole in the rocker guard, press in slightly, and it does the work for you. It self centers on the hole, throws very little in the way of metal shavings, and won't punch through like a normal drill. The only caveat is to make sure you use some sort of cutting lube and watch the drill speed. Hint: You don't have to run the drill at full speed to cut through the rocker panel. Although the kit I purchased had several 3/8 cutters, I only needed one to do both sides, but have a spare, just in case.
As for placement of the rocker guard, and drilling the holes, patience and persistence are your friends. I used a jack and several blocks of wood to put pressure, i.e. preload on the rocker guard. In my case, I put enough pressure on the jack to slightly lift the tub. Once I had pressure on it, another trick from Blaine was to use a dead blow hammer and give the rocker guard a few whacks, with authority, on the side and bottom.
FWIW, I had each side off and on at least 4 - 6 times before I was happy with the line on the door, and that the bottom was touching the torque box sufficiently. Also, the jack and block position that worked best for me, on both sides was slightly forward of the middle body mount. This was necessary because both sides were low in the front and moving the jack and block forward, along with the dead blow hammer, did the trick. Once you sure you have the guard pulled in and up tight, drill all the holes, stopping to check each time that something didn't move.
Once all the holes were drilled, I removed the rocker guard and used a dullish 17/32 drill bit to drill out the holes where the 5/16 nutserts should go. Hint: The dullish bit was used because a new sharp bit would grab the metal and distort it, if you aren't extremely careful. Once the 17/32 holes were drilled, I painted them with body color touch up paint, let that dry, then used an Astro tool to install the nutserts in the proper places. You can install them without this tool, but the job was so much easier using it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TODXQW/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Once the nutserts were in, I re-installed the rocker guard using the same jack and dead blow hammer trick as before. Getting everything to line back up can be tricky, but if you placed and drilled it correctly, it will all line up.
Once both rocker guards were on, I painted the sliders, waited for them to dry, and finished the job by installing them.
In my case, I left the rocker guard raw aluminum for now. Once I do my Savvy corner armor, I'll pull the aluminum rocker guards and paint them body color, along with the corners. Bottom line, overall, the job for installing these really isn't hard. However, you do need to take your time and not be in a rush. That said, a couple final recommendations are:
- Don't leave the flares on like I did. I thought by just removing some of the fasteners would expedite the job. It didn't! This was largely because of the number of times I had to put the rocker guards on and off. Having the flares in the way made this process more difficult.
- Use painters tape (you see the blue tape in the early pictures) on the top edge of the rocker guards. Because there's a slight bend towards the top, this helps so that top edge doesn't dig into the Jeeps paint when you're preloading and whacking them with a dead blow hammer.
- Before installing and fastening the rocker guards the last time. Take a few minutes to clean the tub rockers and wax them.
- I'm not 100% certain this is necessary, but given I live in an area that gets a fair amount of rain, I put a thin coat of RTV on every nutsert when I installed them. My thought process here was that, in addition to the touch up paint on the holes, it would help minimize rust.
- No explanation needed here, liberally apply anti-seize on every bolt.
- Have a selection of clamps on hand, to help hold and pull in the rocker, especially on the front and rear portions.
- Take a file and gently knock down and sharp edges of the aluminum that contact the paint.
- When preloading the rocker, lift the side of the Jeep approximately 4"
If I missed, or mis-represented, something I'm sure I'll be corrected. A special thanks to @mrblaine for all the pointers, as well as for a very smartly designed product!
Being up front, you can do this installation correctly, or incorrectly. Given the cost of these, and intended functionality, cutting corners isn't recommended. If you do, two bad things will likely happen, First, the top of the aluminum rocker and bottom of the door entry will not be straight. Although this is aesthetic in nature, it manifests itself in the second major issue, with the bottom of the aluminum backer not being properly preloaded against the torque box. The implications of an improper installation are damage to the nutserts, damage to the torque box, and damage to the rocker/slider itself.
With that disclaimer, let's talk about the Savvy guard/slider. I've installed several different brands and these really are the best I've seen. The aluminum backer provides full coverage of the rocker, from wheel well to wheel well, and bottom of rocker to just below the bottom of the door opening. If installed properly, it fits snuggly against the tub rocker on the side, and tub torque box on the bottom. There's a lot of hardware included, and some you should buy (we'll cover that later), so hopefully this will help simplify what goes where, at least on the TJ.
In the supplied configuration, the steel slider gets bolted to the aluminum backer via bolts and nuts, then installed on the tub. This means that if you want to remove the slider, you have to pull both the rocker and slider as one piece. Thanks to a trick from @mrblaine, you can purchase longer splined nutserts from McMaster-Carr, drill the six (6) holes on the bottom outside edge of the rocker guard to 17/32" and install the longer 5/16 nutserts. This allows for the slider to be removed, without having to remove the rocker guard. The installation of the longer nutserts can be seen in the picture below (In green). They can be found here for purchase and come in packs of ten (10), so you'll need to pick up two (2) packs. https://www.mcmaster.com/95105A155/
Zinc-Plated Steel Heavy-Duty Rivet Nut, Open End, 5/16"-18 Interior Thread,.150"-.312" Material Thickness | McMaster-Carr
Once the longer splined nutserts are installed, here's what it looks like from the outside.
With the location of the holes and hardware identified, let's talk a little about drilling the holes. If you're going to tackle this job, do yourself a favor and purchase a Blair Spotweld Cutter Kit. This was the first time I've used this particular type of cutter for drilling and it was a game changer for me. Once the rocker guard is in position, literally all you have to do is insert the cutter into the hole in the rocker guard, press in slightly, and it does the work for you. It self centers on the hole, throws very little in the way of metal shavings, and won't punch through like a normal drill. The only caveat is to make sure you use some sort of cutting lube and watch the drill speed. Hint: You don't have to run the drill at full speed to cut through the rocker panel. Although the kit I purchased had several 3/8 cutters, I only needed one to do both sides, but have a spare, just in case.
As for placement of the rocker guard, and drilling the holes, patience and persistence are your friends. I used a jack and several blocks of wood to put pressure, i.e. preload on the rocker guard. In my case, I put enough pressure on the jack to slightly lift the tub. Once I had pressure on it, another trick from Blaine was to use a dead blow hammer and give the rocker guard a few whacks, with authority, on the side and bottom.
FWIW, I had each side off and on at least 4 - 6 times before I was happy with the line on the door, and that the bottom was touching the torque box sufficiently. Also, the jack and block position that worked best for me, on both sides was slightly forward of the middle body mount. This was necessary because both sides were low in the front and moving the jack and block forward, along with the dead blow hammer, did the trick. Once you sure you have the guard pulled in and up tight, drill all the holes, stopping to check each time that something didn't move.
Once all the holes were drilled, I removed the rocker guard and used a dullish 17/32 drill bit to drill out the holes where the 5/16 nutserts should go. Hint: The dullish bit was used because a new sharp bit would grab the metal and distort it, if you aren't extremely careful. Once the 17/32 holes were drilled, I painted them with body color touch up paint, let that dry, then used an Astro tool to install the nutserts in the proper places. You can install them without this tool, but the job was so much easier using it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TODXQW/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Once the nutserts were in, I re-installed the rocker guard using the same jack and dead blow hammer trick as before. Getting everything to line back up can be tricky, but if you placed and drilled it correctly, it will all line up.
Once both rocker guards were on, I painted the sliders, waited for them to dry, and finished the job by installing them.
In my case, I left the rocker guard raw aluminum for now. Once I do my Savvy corner armor, I'll pull the aluminum rocker guards and paint them body color, along with the corners. Bottom line, overall, the job for installing these really isn't hard. However, you do need to take your time and not be in a rush. That said, a couple final recommendations are:
- Don't leave the flares on like I did. I thought by just removing some of the fasteners would expedite the job. It didn't! This was largely because of the number of times I had to put the rocker guards on and off. Having the flares in the way made this process more difficult.
- Use painters tape (you see the blue tape in the early pictures) on the top edge of the rocker guards. Because there's a slight bend towards the top, this helps so that top edge doesn't dig into the Jeeps paint when you're preloading and whacking them with a dead blow hammer.
- Before installing and fastening the rocker guards the last time. Take a few minutes to clean the tub rockers and wax them.
- I'm not 100% certain this is necessary, but given I live in an area that gets a fair amount of rain, I put a thin coat of RTV on every nutsert when I installed them. My thought process here was that, in addition to the touch up paint on the holes, it would help minimize rust.
- No explanation needed here, liberally apply anti-seize on every bolt.
- Have a selection of clamps on hand, to help hold and pull in the rocker, especially on the front and rear portions.
- Take a file and gently knock down and sharp edges of the aluminum that contact the paint.
- When preloading the rocker, lift the side of the Jeep approximately 4"
If I missed, or mis-represented, something I'm sure I'll be corrected. A special thanks to @mrblaine for all the pointers, as well as for a very smartly designed product!
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