I come from the lands of Siberia, we thrive in the cold.
I don’t know if I will survive this trip.. if not, my LJ goes to the next ROTM winner.
Rock Sliders / Rocker Guards Guide
- Thread starter JMT
- Start date
I come from the lands of Siberia, we thrive in the cold.
I don’t know if I will survive this trip.. if not, my LJ goes to the next ROTM winner.
Remember to back up the obstacle, for the money shot.
OP
I installed that armor literally two days before that happened. I did not install any backing plate. I did have them with me, but we just ran out of time lining everything up to drill the holes. It was like 2 AM in the morning in Moab.
This was the result of that flop without any backing plate. I really can’t imagine what it would’ve been with one or without the armor all together. But, I expect it would not have been as bad with the backing plates. I’m really fortunate. I did not have any rear fenders on, so it was all corner armor.
It all depends on the situation. When mine went onto its side, four guys just pushed it back over. In other cases, I have either tied a winch line to the frame or onto the cage. You do what you need to do with what makes sense at the moment.
I hear savvy's tailgate armor is 1/8" vs. Genrights 3/16". Any ideas of why this would be?
No idea, if accurate. All I know is that GR puts a row of bolt holes and nutserts right on an internal stiffener. Savvy put them where there aren't things in the way.
There is stuff inside the tailgate. Don't put nutserts into that stuff.
OP
That’s is correct.
This is the savvy tailgate armor (right) next to GR corner armor.
I don’t know why.
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Several reasons. You don't need the expense or weight of more material on the tail gate. It is more of a beauty panel than actual armor and only really exists to match the rest of the armor. The difference of 1/16" under the hinge side is of no consequence. The hinges mount to the face of the gate or the armor so you are moving the gate itself outward 1/16". If it ever becomes an issue, make a 1/16" shim and put it between the hinge and beauty panel.
Key thing to remember is the tail gate is fairly delicate. If you ever smack the armor enough that it was needed to protect the gate, the gate is probably bent and ruined anyway. Or, put another way, a flat sheet of aluminum in anything but 3/8" isn't going to add enough rigidity to the tail gate to save it, so why do more than it needs?
In short, I actually spent 45 seconds thinking about the beauty panel and didn't just automatically build it the same thickness as the corners.
Update on the CavFabs. @JMT for the top post they weigh 64 lbs and the sides are countersunk, the bottoms are not countersunk. The 4 holes on the bottom are straight through 3/8 and comes with panhead hardware.
The rearmost side mounting point on my TJ is cut out and accessible from the back - you may need an additional nutsert here if you can't access it for a nyloc. The backer I'm putting inside is only a 1x1 3/16" aluminum angle I had laying around. It's not overly substantial but it's certainly stronger than nothing. If you skip this then you don't need the (6) longer 1" bolts for the sides. The original packaging came with enough hardware for the sides. It ships with only 4 holes in the bottom of each slider and panhead screws for those locations.
This is what I used, in total:
(2) 3" x 1.5" - 3/8" chunks of steel (for spacer)
(2) 9.5" x 1.25" - 3/16" chunks of steel (for spacer)
(2) 20" 1x1 3/16" angle (for backers)
(20) 5/16-18 nutserts (for bottom and blind sides)
(6) 5/16-18x1.5 hex bolts (for bottom)
(8) 5/16-18x1.0 hex bolts (for bottom)
(24) 5/16 washers (for inside sides and bottom)
(10) 5/16-18 nyloc nuts (for sides)
(5) 5/16-18x0.75 countersunk screws (for sides)
(3) 5/16-18x1.0 countersunk screws (for side through backer)
Blair Spotweld Cutter
Nutsert Tool
17/32 bit
3/8 bit
1/2 step bit
The raised section for the rear torque box comes up about 3/16 short on my Jeep, and the existing spacer is about 3/8". So, I stacked some metal to make up the difference. Bolted through to clamp it together and welded it up. I wasn't worried about these welds being pretty.
Once you have the rocker tight against the side and bottom of the tub, drill out the holes with the 3/8 spotweld cutter. Remove the center bit and spring from the cutter first. For the deeper spacer holes on the bottom you'll need to use a 3/8 bit. I used a chunk of wood and bottle jack to act as a drill press to make easy work of drilling out those holes.
Once you have all your holes drilled, remove the rockers and enlarge the holes that require nutserts using the 1/2" step bit, then the 17/32 bit. Install the nutserts.
All in all, they seem pretty substantial and I like the result a lot. There aren't many options for tube-less side armor that mounts to the torque box. These rails go to the wheel well in the rear, but stop short in the front.
I got the passenger side mounted perfectly square but the driver's side is a bit crooked. Not sure if that's from tub inconsistencies or the fact I'm on limited sleep and in a hurry to meet a deadline. Take your time!
::edit::
painted and tested
The rearmost side mounting point on my TJ is cut out and accessible from the back - you may need an additional nutsert here if you can't access it for a nyloc. The backer I'm putting inside is only a 1x1 3/16" aluminum angle I had laying around. It's not overly substantial but it's certainly stronger than nothing. If you skip this then you don't need the (6) longer 1" bolts for the sides. The original packaging came with enough hardware for the sides. It ships with only 4 holes in the bottom of each slider and panhead screws for those locations.
This is what I used, in total:
(2) 3" x 1.5" - 3/8" chunks of steel (for spacer)
(2) 9.5" x 1.25" - 3/16" chunks of steel (for spacer)
(2) 20" 1x1 3/16" angle (for backers)
(20) 5/16-18 nutserts (for bottom and blind sides)
(6) 5/16-18x1.5 hex bolts (for bottom)
(8) 5/16-18x1.0 hex bolts (for bottom)
(24) 5/16 washers (for inside sides and bottom)
(10) 5/16-18 nyloc nuts (for sides)
(5) 5/16-18x0.75 countersunk screws (for sides)
(3) 5/16-18x1.0 countersunk screws (for side through backer)
Blair Spotweld Cutter
Nutsert Tool
17/32 bit
3/8 bit
1/2 step bit
The raised section for the rear torque box comes up about 3/16 short on my Jeep, and the existing spacer is about 3/8". So, I stacked some metal to make up the difference. Bolted through to clamp it together and welded it up. I wasn't worried about these welds being pretty.
Once you have the rocker tight against the side and bottom of the tub, drill out the holes with the 3/8 spotweld cutter. Remove the center bit and spring from the cutter first. For the deeper spacer holes on the bottom you'll need to use a 3/8 bit. I used a chunk of wood and bottle jack to act as a drill press to make easy work of drilling out those holes.
Once you have all your holes drilled, remove the rockers and enlarge the holes that require nutserts using the 1/2" step bit, then the 17/32 bit. Install the nutserts.
All in all, they seem pretty substantial and I like the result a lot. There aren't many options for tube-less side armor that mounts to the torque box. These rails go to the wheel well in the rear, but stop short in the front.
I got the passenger side mounted perfectly square but the driver's side is a bit crooked. Not sure if that's from tub inconsistencies or the fact I'm on limited sleep and in a hurry to meet a deadline. Take your time!
::edit::
painted and tested
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Has anyone used savvy sliders and nemesis hi-lines? I already have nemesis hi lines in the attic waiting for install but love the look of the savvy sliders
Unless you already have the Savvy sliders, it's unlikely you'll be able to acquire them new or as take-offs.
Just got a message from Gerald at savvy and he expects the savvy LJ sliders to be available by next month
