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Best Rock Sliders for Serious Wheeling?

jhackathorne

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As a welder/fabricator for Jeeps over 10 years I am impressed by the quality of the work. But at a $2000 price point, its just EGO and brag time at the Sonic drive-in.

My round tube rock sliders work better...WHY? they are round so no matter the angle you slide, there is nothing catch on. BONUS: Because they are round they become assets and you use them against boulders to make tight turns in 7++ trails..

Back when I was building my round tubes I sold them for $300 for those and $250 for the square tubes. Sure the price of steel has gone way up and I doubt I could sell at that price today, but its all based on the cost of steel.
I'm sure you could have something similar built for significantly less than sliders in the +$1500 range. There is a local fabricator here I was considering going with. You just have to be ok with a lead time.
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MarkyMark

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I went with rockhard 4x4 sliders. These bolt up to the pinch seam, body and frame. 3x mounting methods so IMO they should be perhaps the most secure and strongest non welded sliders on the market.

Reason # 2 is because they have a solid top surface to keep a clean step after going thru mudd. I had some nice looking slotted sliders in my last Wrangler and it sucked on Mondays getting out of a dirty Jeep only to get clothes dirty from the weekend fun. Solid sliders also protect the paint much better and less chance of mudd flinging inside the vehicle if odorless or window rolled down.

I had shrockworks sliders on my 5th gen Ranger. Solid product but they required drilling one hole in the frame to mount them. I don’t know if drilling is required for the Wrangler application from shrockworks but given a choice I would prefer not adding additional holes in the frame.

I looked past ACE sliders because they retain the stock Rubi sliders. Why carry around the weight of the stock sliders for no additional protection?

The front body bolt is the only bolt that has red locktite. Broken body bolts is possible but my torque wrench never clicked when set to 50# when I removed my bolts. So it’s not always the nightmare you read about on the internet. If you wanna check before purchasing boldly bolt sliders just try to rotate the front bolts before pressing the buy button.

My rockhard 4x4 sliders offer good foot placement to use as a step.

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Hey @Megawatt, was wondering if you had any further update on your Rock Hard 4x4 sliders. I'm leaning pretty strongly towards them. Have you taken any serious hits with them? Any flexing into the body? Thx for any update or advice.
 

Megawatt

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Hey @Megawatt, was wondering if you had any further update on your Rock Hard 4x4 sliders. I'm leaning pretty strongly towards them. Have you taken any serious hits with them? Any flexing into the body? Thx for any update or advice.
I can’t say looking at the underside that I have had serious hits besides the normal rock sliding stuff out here. Still happy with them and no surprises so far.
 

MarkyMark

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Has anyone run the TNT Sliders yet? I like them because:
1) Frame Mounted
2) Don't have to remove front body mount bolt to install (which seems problematic)
3) Will not interfere with my NextVenture Skid plate system which use all the bottom of frame mounting points.

I do wish they came powder coated and were a bit cheaper, but point #3 with my skids is the "deal breaker". Just wondering if anyone has actually run the TNT System at this point?

If not, I'm looking for a frame mounted slider. . . that does NOT mount under the frame on the middle or rear mounts (where my NextVenture skids interfere.) Advice is welcome. Thanks!
 

limeade

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Hey @Megawatt, was wondering if you had any further update on your Rock Hard 4x4 sliders. I'm leaning pretty strongly towards them. Have you taken any serious hits with them? Any flexing into the body? Thx for any update or advice.
I've taken a few serious hits to my Rock Hard sliders. No flex, but did dent the tubing very slightly. Even though they are a bit of a pain to install, they are very sturdy and some of the best on the market for serious rock crawling.

If I were to buy another set, these would be at the top of my list.
 

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jhackathorne

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Has anyone run the TNT Sliders yet? I like them because:
1) Frame Mounted
2) Don't have to remove front body mount bolt to install (which seems problematic)
3) Will not interfere with my NextVenture Skid plate system which use all the bottom of frame mounting points.

I do wish they came powder coated and were a bit cheaper, but point #3 with my skids is the "deal breaker". Just wondering if anyone has actually run the TNT System at this point?

If not, I'm looking for a frame mounted slider. . . that does NOT mount under the frame on the middle or rear mounts (where my NextVenture skids interfere.) Advice is welcome. Thanks!
From what I have seen, next to nothing meets your wants. Most everything uses the body mounts and/or wrap under the frame to attach. The TNT looks like they could work. It is hard to tell from their pics and NVM pics if the passenger side front mounting would work. You could always cut off the front bottom portion of the TNT and weld those onto the frame.
 

aerosynch

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Has anyone run the TNT Sliders yet? I like them because:
1) Frame Mounted
2) Don't have to remove front body mount bolt to install (which seems problematic)
3) Will not interfere with my NextVenture Skid plate system which use all the bottom of frame mounting points.

I do wish they came powder coated and were a bit cheaper, but point #3 with my skids is the "deal breaker". Just wondering if anyone has actually run the TNT System at this point?

If not, I'm looking for a frame mounted slider. . . that does NOT mount under the frame on the middle or rear mounts (where my NextVenture skids interfere.) Advice is welcome. Thanks!
I run them and have only used them on the current JLU, previous JLU, previous JKU, and previous JK. So you can say I like them and they have worked.

Mounting is easy with the body mounts and the self tapping screws. I’ve hit all of them hard and use them to pivot on rocks and so far so good.

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MarkyMark

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I run them and have only used them on the current JLU, previous JLU, previous JKU, and previous JK. So you can say I like them and they have worked.

Mounting is easy with the body mounts and the self tapping screws. I’ve hit all of them hard and use them to pivot on rocks and so far so good.

@aerosynch, thanks for the info! Apprecitate it. They look great. . . A few questions if you don't mind:

- You mentioned that you've hit them pretty hard, rock pivots, etc. Any concerns with them coming up into the body, flexing, etc?

- Do the "self tapping" screws seem to be holding tight? I've never used those before.

- Curious, did you paint them or powdercoat (since they come raw).

Thanks again for the help!!
 

aerosynch

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No worries. When you smack them hard they do have a little bit of flex but there is a decent enough side gap between the sliders and body that it doesn’t concern me. You would have to jump the Jeep onto a rock if anything I would think.

The screws are fine as they are a secondary mounting in addition to the center and rear body mount bolts, the smaller bolts on each side, and the front frame bolt mount as well. Each side is supported by 13 bolts if I’m not mistaken.

I had the sliders powder coated satin black locally.

I have attached another photo of the mounting from my previous JLUR, but it’s the same as my current ones.

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MarkyMark

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No worries. When you smack them hard they do have a little bit of flex but there is a decent enough side gap between the sliders and body that it doesn’t concern me. You would have to jump the Jeep onto a rock if anything I would think.

The screws are fine as they are a secondary mounting in addition to the center and rear body mount bolts, the smaller bolts on each side, and the front frame bolt mount as well. Each side is supported by 13 bolts if I’m not mistaken.

I had the sliders powder coated satin black locally.

I have attached another photo of the mounting from my previous JLUR, but it’s the same as my current ones.

Thanks! Perfect! Major help.
 

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MarkyMark

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Rusty's Rock Sliders. . . Rock! :)

Thanks everyone for the help with the selection. After exhaustive research I ended up going with Rusty's Rock Sliders. https://www.rustysoffroad.com/colle...ter-jl-wrangler-4-door?variant=32892091531360

Reasons were:
1) Are frame mounted
2) Because of the way they mount, they don't impact my Next Venture skid plates. I think this would be true with other ones too.
3) Wrap up on the sides to protect the sides of vehicle
4) Have inserts in them to keep debris from flying up on your jeep
5) Are super beefy and heavy duty
6) They come powder coated
7) Pre-sales customer service (Jodi in specific) was phenomenal.

Comments on getting them:
1) Super responsive sales team for questions and feedback. This included answering a rather stupid question I had during install. Never went to v-mail when they were open. . .
2) Super fast shipping. Received them in CA in less than a week from order.
3) They were super well boxed / packaged. (See picture)
4) Finish (welds, powder coating, and fit) was great.

Installation comments:
1) I was terrified of snapping a body mount bolt. Didn't have any issues. Just used the "one turn forward, 1/2 turn back" process for backing out the bolts.
2) Doing the install itself was simple and straight forward (except for the drilling). Great video on this is: by JeepDawgs - just followed it.
3) I followed the video. . . . did the install by myself. Some tips:
a) Used WD40 for the lube.
b) balanced the back-end of each slider on a couple of 4x4 boards while installing the front body mount bolt (loosely).
c) Then took my jack and with a couple of wood blocks jacked the back of the slider into place. It got hung up slightly on the bolts (like JeepDawgs mentioned). However, I was able to just jack it into place and it "popped" past the threads and right into place.
d) Drilling the bolts out wasn't too bad. . although I did manage to break a couple of bits due to impatience. The front passenger bolt was a pain in the @$$ as I was drilling through a weld. . . I think it took more time than all the other drilling put together. Regretted starting the hole there - but then got stubborn and elected to finish it there.)
4) In my opinion they look phenomenal. . . .

I haven't done any wheeling with them yet - but they look super solid! Can't wait to hit the trails this summer. Looking to do the Rubicon. . . See you out there!

Passenger Slider from back.jpg


Passenger Slider from front.jpg


Shipping Box.jpg


Slider Before Install.jpg
 

jhackathorne

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Can't go wrong with Rusty's. They have a great reputation for a reason.
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