Rock Sliders / Rocker Guards Guide

Fluxor said:
It just has to be strong enough for your application. If you are going to build a steel rocker, I would think sticking to the single layer would work fine. Many people have been running that style in many areas with out issue

.1875" Steel plate bent with .25" Bend radius with the same three bends as the aluminum base plate. Keep the "kink" or 2 degree bend under the door jamb to help hide and sheet metal gaps and then two bends with the bottom resting on your tub torque box. If your willing to drill all your holes I would make them a little wider and longer then you think you need and trim to fit. Once you like the fitment lay out your holes. Time spent with a combination square making some good drawings should yield decent results.
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To add, when I was working out the design for our DIY mini boatside project, the initial plan was to make them a composite similar to Savvy, but the thin 1/8" steel skin was simply to cover and protect the aluminum rocker. The rub rail is a separate component immediately below the door.

I eventually figured out that there was little to no weight savings and a whole lot of complications to the fabrication to create a tight fit between the layers. In this instance, a steel boatside made more sense.

To the original question, building a multiple layer steel slider serves little purpose other than to add weight and complexity.
 
Thanks for the answers, but not really what I was looking for. To expand. The aluminium backer plate on Savvy and Flux rockers is 3/16” aluminium. If I use 1/8” steel will this give similar protection to 3/16” aluminium.

If so the addition of a 1/16” or 1/8” rash guard would get protection in that area to the same level as a full 3/16” steel slider, but he combo would way less than a full 3/16” single layer slider.

That is the basis for my question. Thanks in advance for any input.
 
UKTJ said:
Thanks for the answers, but not really what I was looking for. To expand. The aluminium backer plate on Savvy and Flux rockers is 3/16” aluminium. If I use 1/8” steel will this give similar protection to 3/16” aluminium.

If so the addition of a 1/16” or 1/8” rash guard would get protection in that area to the same level as a full 3/16” steel slider, but he combo would way less than a full 3/16” single layer slider.

That is the basis for my question. Thanks in advance for any input.
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Do a material weight calculation for a full steel slider versus a comparable design composite one.
 
jjvw said:
Do a material weight calculation for a full steel slider versus a comparable design composite one.
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The weights per m2 I have are for metric thicknesses, but I hope they will illustate that I am not completely losing the plot.

Full steel slider in 5mm steel (closest to 3/16", but actually 25/128") @ 0.44m2 = 36.7lbs

Backer in 3mm steel (closest to 1/8" but actually 15/128") @ 0.44m2 = 22.1lbs
Rash guard in 2mm steel (closest to 1/16" but actually 5/64") @ 0.20m2 = 7.0lbs
Total weight of composite = 29.1lbs

So the composite weighs about 7.6lbs less, a saving of about 20%. It provides the same total thickness of 5mm in the more vulnerable areas, but reduces weight by keeping it thinner elsewhere.

I am not trying to suggest anyone elses approach is wrong, but still believe there is a logic to my approach. The key question that remains is how much protection will 1/8" steel give in the areas without the rash guard versus 3/16" aluminium?

Anyone have any views and or engineering numbers?

PS for completeness a 5mm aluminium backer with a 2mm rash guard would weigh in at 21.3lbs. But as stated above, there are additional challenges to be overcome by using aluminium as the backer material.
 
I've now managed to find some more info on an Australian Nissan Patrol website. The conclusion seems to be aluminium is c.2/3 as durable as same thickness steel (seems property I am really looking for is durability rather than strength). Broadly that means a 1/8" steel backer will be as durable as a 3/16" aluminium one. It will weigh more, but can have tighter bends so will allow for a slightly better profile.

We do not have huge rocks here, although you can get some in some places it is unlikely my Jeep will suffer any of the 'big hits' I see on Youtube from trails in the US. So at this point I am thinking a 3mm (c.1/8") backer will be fine. I'm even starting to wonder about a rash guard at all, but for the extra few pounds will probably add one.

Rather than looking to get perfect measurements and getting it fully custom made, I think I will use the same approach as @hosejockey61 and simply get two lengths of steel bent to the correct angles and then fit, cut and drill myself.
 
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UKTJ said:
I've now managed to find some more info on an Australian Nissan Patrol website. The conclusion seems to be aluminium is c.2/3 as durable as same thickness steel (seems property I am really looking for is durability rather than strength). Broadly that means a 1/8" steel backer will be as durable as a 3/16" aluminium one. It will weigh more, but can have tighter bends so will allow for a slightly better profile.

We do not have huge rocks here, although you can get some in some places it is unlikely my Jeep will suffer any of the 'big hits' I see on Youtube from trails in the US. So at this point I am thinking a 3mm (c.1/8") backer will be fine. I'm even starting to wonder about a rash guard at all, but for the extra few pounds will probably add one.

Rather than looking to get perfect measurements and getting it fully custom made, I think I will use the same approach as @hosejockey61 and simply get two lengths of steel bent to the correct angles and then fit, cut and drill myself.
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Do you plan to add 3/16” corner armor? If so it won’t be flush with a 1/8” backing plate.
 
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UKTJ said:
I've now managed to find some more info on an Australian Nissan Patrol website. The conclusion seems to be aluminium is c.2/3 as durable as same thickness steel (seems property I am really looking for is durability rather than strength). Broadly that means a 1/8" steel backer will be as durable as a 3/16" aluminium one. It will weigh more, but can have tighter bends so will allow for a slightly better profile.

We do not have huge rocks here, although you can get some in some places it is unlikely my Jeep will suffer any of the 'big hits' I see on Youtube from trails in the US. So at this point I am thinking a 3mm (c.1/8") backer will be fine. I'm even starting to wonder about a rash guard at all, but for the extra few pounds will probably add one.

Rather than looking to get perfect measurements and getting it fully custom made, I think I will use the same approach as @hosejockey61 and simply get two lengths of steel bent to the correct angles and then fit, cut and drill myself.
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I wouldn’t trust 3mm for this application, the arb sliders look good, have a pretty decent design in mounting but they cheaped out and went with 1/8th, there’s a place in this thread discussing how their set held up.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/rock-sliders-rocker-guards-guide.8704/post-1004723
 
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JMT said:
Do you plan to add 3/16” corner armor? If so it won’t be flush with a 1/8” backing plate.
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Limited need for corner armour in the UK, based my own experience and other Jeeps I have been out with. Don't know a single person that has it.
 
Blake Stamper said:
I wouldn’t trust 3mm for this application, the arb sliders look good, have a pretty decent design in mounting but they cheaped out and went with 1/8th, there’s a place in this thread discussing how their set held up.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/rock-sliders-rocker-guards-guide.8704/post-1004723
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The 2mm rash guard would bring the part with this overlay up to more than 3/16". Area covered by only 3mm would be the same as those covered by just aluminium on Savvy and Flux's sliders.
 
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UKTJ said:
I think I will use the same approach as @hosejockey61 and simply get two lengths of steel bent to the correct angles and then fit, cut and drill myself.
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We did a large group buy to bring the cost down. If you're going to make your own and only need one set, you will most likely pay more than a top of the line set would cost.
 
UKTJ said:
I've now managed to find some more info on an Australian Nissan Patrol website. The conclusion seems to be aluminium is c.2/3 as durable as same thickness steel (seems property I am really looking for is durability rather than strength). Broadly that means a 1/8" steel backer will be as durable as a 3/16" aluminium one. It will weigh more, but can have tighter bends so will allow for a slightly better profile.

We do not have huge rocks here, although you can get some in some places it is unlikely my Jeep will suffer any of the 'big hits' I see on Youtube from trails in the US. So at this point I am thinking a 3mm (c.1/8") backer will be fine. I'm even starting to wonder about a rash guard at all, but for the extra few pounds will probably add one.

Rather than looking to get perfect measurements and getting it fully custom made, I think I will use the same approach as @hosejockey61 and simply get two lengths of steel bent to the correct angles and then fit, cut and drill myself.
Click to expand...

They are wrong because they missed dearly that 1/8" steel will bend and dent far easier than 3/16" aluminum. They also missed that one of the things we take advantage of using 6061 T6 is how close together ultimate yield and tensile are. That is what gives it the higher resistance to denting in the same thickness.
 
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hosejockey61 said:
We did a large group buy to bring the cost down. If you're going to make your own and only need one set, you will most likely pay more than a top of the line set would cost.
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I don’t doubt that if I were in the US that would be the case. But remember I would need to pay to have those bulky, heavy sliders transported at least 3,000 miles. Then I would have 25% in import duty and taxes added to the cost of the sliders and the shipping.
 
mrblaine said:
They are wrong because they missed dearly that 1/8" steel will bend and dent far easier than 3/16" aluminum. They also missed that one of the things we take advantage of using 6061 T6 is how close together ultimate yield and tensile are. That is what gives it the higher resistance to denting in the same thickness.
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Thank you for the info. But it does leave me a bit confused, raising a question in my mind. I have resisted an instant reply trying to work through this in my head, but I still can't get to an answer. Given 6063 T6 aluminium is more resistant to denting than 3/16" steel (I presume that is what is meant by the reference to "same thickness" at the end of your last sentence), why would a slider with a 3/16" 6063 T6 aluminium 'base' need a separate covering of steel - as is the case in both the Savvy and Flux sliders?

For my use case there still remains a question of 'how much protection is enough' given that I would be far more likely to be hitting tree stumps and similar than large boulders. I am sure a tree strump can do a lot of damage, but presumably not as much as a big boulder.
 
UKTJ said:
Thank you for the info. But it does leave me a bit confused, raising a question in my mind. I have resisted an instant reply trying to work through this in my head, but I still can't get to an answer. Given 6063 T6 aluminium is more resistant to denting than 3/16" steel (I presume that is what is meant by the reference to "same thickness" at the end of your last sentence), why would a slider with a 3/16" 6063 T6 aluminium 'base' need a separate covering of steel - as is the case in both the Savvy and Flux sliders?

For my use case there still remains a question of 'how much protection is enough' given that I would be far more likely to be hitting tree stumps and similar than large boulders. I am sure a tree strump can do a lot of damage, but presumably not as much as a big boulder.
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Not 6063, 6061 and rocks destroy that aluminum in 3/16" for a boat side without a rash guard. We done it with a set of Savvy Prototype mini-boatsides and JV just destroyed them in every way possible. Dents, dislocation, large gouges, tub damage, etc. Had we be able to apply even a tight fitting 1/8" rash guard, that would have solved 98% of it.

As for the denting, that is only an illustration for one aspect of what is needed to show they don't know all of what is needed. Steel in the same thickness will be overall "stronger" but that isn't the whole story. It will fatigue much slower, but dent much easier. You can flex steel the same amount many times to no ill effect. Do the same with this aluminum, it will fail catastrophically in as short as 1 cycle. I can bend 3/16" steel in a very tight sharp 90 in a press brake with no issue, try the same with this aluminum, it won't even get close to 90 degrees before it breaks. If you look at that single aspect, you could arrive at the erroneous conclusion that it is much tougher than steel since steel bends so it must be weaker. That's where the denting comes in. Steel dents easier. The force to get aluminum to dent the same amount either destroys it or gets close since aluminum does not like to do that.
 
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UKTJ said:
Thank you for the info. But it does leave me a bit confused, raising a question in my mind. I have resisted an instant reply trying to work through this in my head, but I still can't get to an answer. Given 6063 T6 aluminium is more resistant to denting than 3/16" steel (I presume that is what is meant by the reference to "same thickness" at the end of your last sentence), why would a slider with a 3/16" 6063 T6 aluminium 'base' need a separate covering of steel - as is the case in both the Savvy and Flux sliders?

For my use case there still remains a question of 'how much protection is enough' given that I would be far more likely to be hitting tree stumps and similar than large boulders. I am sure a tree strump can do a lot of damage, but presumably not as much as a big boulder.
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If I were you, I'd have a shop bend up a mini boat side in 3/16", stick a tube on it, and go have fun.
 
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sab said:
No, not new at all. I believe the TJ/LJ versions were the first steps they made. I've had a set for about three years, and they were on the market awhile when I bought them.
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Here's a post from over six years ago, so they've been out at least that long:

balfred

Post in thread 'Looking for suggestions on steps'

Check out the rockslide engineering steps/sliders. I would love to get them on my TJ. My wife's JK has them and they are well worth the high cost because you get the drop step when you open the door and they suck back up into the slider when you close it. They are an actual rock slider too unlike amp research steps. The only downside is if you remove the doors, the sensors have no way of knowing whether or not to drop down the steps so you have to shut them off until the doors are back down.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
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sab said:
No, not new at all. I believe the TJ/LJ versions were the first steps they made. I've had a set for about three years, and they were on the market awhile when I bought them.
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Oh wow. I dont remember seeing them a few years ago when looking at the JT versions but that's cool they have a bit of a record.
 
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