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ACE or Rock Hard 4x4 rock sliders?

1fastss

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Chocolate Thunder

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I love the RH. They may take more work to install than some, but the way they are attached to the body and the frame makes them like a tank. Very solid mounting. I believe they extend out to provide more lateral protection and are also somewhat functional as a step.
 

davewald

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I have scraped and bounced on my RH ones several times, and haven't even had to touch up the paint. They are very solid and install was fairly easy. I like that they attach to the frame.
 

cs2k

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Was faced with the same decision months ago and went with RH. The reasons are the following.

1. The RH mounts to the body mounts, the bottom of the tub AND the pinch seam, the ACE only uses the body mounts. One of the main failure modes of rock sliders is when they get hit and flex into the rocker panel. I have seen this failure mode mentioned for Rubicon sliders, the LOD sliders , The ROAM sliders as well as the Genright ones. Having 3 distinct mounting point increases the stiffness of the RH slider and reduces this type of failure mode.

2. The main selling point of the ACE is being able to use it with the mopar rubicon sliders. However, that means carrying around another ~40 lb of weight. I also read somewhere that the ACE sliders are 50lb each vs 45lb for the RH. That means if you use the ACE with your stock rubicon sliders, you'll be carrying around 50lb of extra weight compared to the RH. 50lb is incidentally almost the exact combined weight of my aluminum engine/trans skid + my 2 diff skids.

3. The RH is made of DOM tubing, ace advertise theirs as "steel tubing" , which might mean they are using the weaker HREW tubes.

4. The Ace uses circular main tube as well as the kick-out step. the RH uses a beefy square section for the main slider and circular tube for the kickout. Based on testing in this video, I think square sliders are better for heavy duty usage.

Been very happy with mine so far and they have taken rock hits like a champ with no damage to the body.
 
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JSFoster75

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I put the ACE sliders on my Rubi simply to be used as steps for my wife and daughter. I chose them because I wanted to keep the factory sliders that I had painstakingly added strobe lights to... I was quite surprised at how sturdy they feel. I don’t do any rock climbing, so I can’t say how well they would hold up under those conditions though.
 
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WannFly

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currently on the this boat myself and doing research. glad i found this thread. though i dont foresee myself climbing any rocks anytime soon, that might change tomorrow morning. right now the main purpose of getting this is to ensure my vertically challenged partner can get in without doing some serious Yoga pose. But i want to go with something strong that I can go rock crawling with should I choose to.

another option on the RH side is this one: https://www.rockhard4x4.com/product_p/rh-90105.htm
 

WannFly

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B/W came across this response on the product page at

https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/...tube-slider-rocker-guards-w-black-logo-plates

that says :


  • Can the ROCK HARD 4X4 PATRIOT SERIES TUBE SLIDER ROCKER GUARDS W/ BLACK LOGO PLATES support the weight of the vehicle?

    • 0 of 0 people found the following answer helpful
      A: These mount using the pinch seam holes and the body mounts. Even with the dual mount, these are not meant to support the weight of the vehicle.
can anyone validate this? does this mean it is not recommended to use this as a jacking point to lift the vehicle? if you are sliding over a rock, the weight of the vehicle would be on the sliders, so not understanding what they are saying here
 

Chocolate Thunder

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B/W came across this response on the product page at

https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/...tube-slider-rocker-guards-w-black-logo-plates

that says :


  • Can the ROCK HARD 4X4 PATRIOT SERIES TUBE SLIDER ROCKER GUARDS W/ BLACK LOGO PLATES support the weight of the vehicle?

    • 0 of 0 people found the following answer helpful
      A: These mount using the pinch seam holes and the body mounts. Even with the dual mount, these are not meant to support the weight of the vehicle.
can anyone validate this? does this mean it is not recommended to use this as a jacking point to lift the vehicle? if you are sliding over a rock, the weight of the vehicle would be on the sliders, so not understanding what they are saying here
I have these. I bought directly from RH and had them powder coat the step plates on top black, I didn’t like the 2 tone look of them and the all black is much better IMO.

Wife is 5’3” with short legs and she finds them helpful for ingress and egress. What’s more important for short girls getting into lifted Jeeps are good grab handles (I have GPCA).

As far as their ability to support the vehicle weight, they absolutely can. You can jack up the Jeep using them as a jack point if you need to. However it’s not ideal and I don’t recommend doing it unless you need to. I’ve done it a few times without damage for convenience but I haven’t left it supported by the sliders long term, used them as a lifting point then supported it with stands.

They are also very good as actual rock sliders and give good lateral protection against some obstacles like stumps or rocks.
 

RubiRob

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Very happy with my rock hard patriots. They’ve been beat up a lot and still are doing great. Only dented one section of one tube doing cliffhanger last year. After my jeep was totaled I had them redone and they’re back on the new jeep.

F115F0FC-D630-45AB-9B5D-754E8FE22930.jpeg
 

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WannFly

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I have these. I bought directly from RH and had them powder coat the step plates on top black, I didn’t like the 2 tone look of them and the all black is much better IMO.

Wife is 5’3” with short legs and she finds them helpful for ingress and egress. What’s more important for short girls getting into lifted Jeeps are good grab handles (I have GPCA).

As far as their ability to support the vehicle weight, they absolutely can. You can jack up the Jeep using them as a jack point if you need to. However it’s not ideal and I don’t recommend doing it unless you need to. I’ve done it a few times without damage for convenience but I haven’t left it supported by the sliders long term, used them as a lifting point then supported it with stands.

They are also very good as actual rock sliders and give good lateral protection against some obstacles like stumps or rocks.
Thank you for your response. my partner is 5"2 and the first thing she said after sitting on the stock Rubi 4Xe when picking the Jeep up at the dealership is "we need steps". didnt think this would be my first mod, but here we are.

I have been reading some horror stories about removing the body bolt and breaking it in the process. what was your experience?
 

Chocolate Thunder

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Thank you for your response. my partner is 5"2 and the first thing she said after sitting on the stock Rubi 4Xe when picking the Jeep up at the dealership is "we need steps". didnt think this would be my first mod, but here we are.

I have been reading some horror stories about removing the body bolt and breaking it in the process. what was your experience?
I peed myself a little in anticipation of breaking one of the front body bolts. I read every thread and suggestion on what people did right and wrong. In the end, I got it done without incident.

The best suggestions seem to be 1)heat 2)work slowly 3)know when to stop. Heat the bolts as much as you can to weaken or break the Loctite. Back the bolts out slowly so you can feel when resisting increases. Stop. Heat some more, then reverse direction back in for several turns. Then back out again slowly until you encounter resistance again and repeat. I used an air impact to break each bolt then a long breaker bar to turn by hand.

For best use as a step, get the top plate.
 

guarnibl

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B/W came across this response on the product page at

https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/...tube-slider-rocker-guards-w-black-logo-plates

that says :


  • Can the ROCK HARD 4X4 PATRIOT SERIES TUBE SLIDER ROCKER GUARDS W/ BLACK LOGO PLATES support the weight of the vehicle?

    • 0 of 0 people found the following answer helpful
      A: These mount using the pinch seam holes and the body mounts. Even with the dual mount, these are not meant to support the weight of the vehicle.
can anyone validate this? does this mean it is not recommended to use this as a jacking point to lift the vehicle? if you are sliding over a rock, the weight of the vehicle would be on the sliders, so not understanding what they are saying here
I read that as it's not supposed to be used as a jacking point. Theoretically the entire weight of the vehicle shouldn't be on the slider if you're sliding.
 

rickinAZ

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I peed myself a little in anticipation of breaking one of the front body bolts. I read every thread and suggestion on what people did right and wrong. In the end, I got it done without incident.
I have to agree with Jeremy on the daunting nature of the posts. In reading them, it almost seemed like a broken body bolt was inevitable. I ended up chickening out, and having the dealer install my ACEs. In part due to a very compelling charge for the work - $100.
 

MyDaughters20JL

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I peed myself a little in anticipation of breaking one of the front body bolts. I read every thread and suggestion on what people did right and wrong. In the end, I got it done without incident.

The best suggestions seem to be 1)heat 2)work slowly 3)know when to stop. Heat the bolts as much as you can to weaken or break the Loctite. Back the bolts out slowly so you can feel when resisting increases. Stop. Heat some more, then reverse direction back in for several turns. Then back out again slowly until you encounter resistance again and repeat. I used an air impact to break each bolt then a long breaker bar to turn by hand.

For best use as a step, get the top plate.
maybe I'm having understanding dyslexia, but wouldn't you want to use the breaker bar first & then graduate to the impact AFTER the bolts have been properly loosened? just trying to get MY ducks in a row so that I don't end up with busted bolts
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