Sliders and Skid Plates, oh my! (WARNING: Pic Heavy!)

[Darkside]

Those look incredible. Another mod on the wish list.

 

[HeftyFabworks]

BigJ,
I would be concerned that a slider that long only has two mounting point. Far better than the factory steps for sure but in the rocks they may not hold up. Even on the Toyota Tacoma's the standard is 4 mounting points.

Our background isn't desert trucks. We have been building rock crawlers for years. My personal rock rig is a 93 bronco that scales in at 7200lbs curb weight on 40" swampers. I'm no stranger to wheeling very heavy rigs very hard. There are several factors in designing and building the slider correctly to support the vehicle. The truck frame is a huge factor. The Raptor frame is much more stout than the toyota frames. We build sliders for toyotas as well and you are correct we have more frame contact points. Toyota frames are Much Much smaller than the Raptor and are made of steel that is only 1/3 the thickness. These are all factors that we have to consider when designing the sliders. Also the inside tubing actually spreads the load to the frame evenly rather than just a single mounting point. This also increases the strength.

 

[Four by Six]

Another newbie question

Another newbie question from me, as I have absolutely no rock crawling experience. Shouldn't there be smooth aluminum plate on the bottom of the sliders? There are huge gaps between the crossbars where I could see damage still occurring to bottom of truck, and wouldn't the bars capture or grab the rocks when sliding? Or do you actually want some grab to stop the sliding?

Oh, and glad to hear the Ford frame is so much stronger and thicker than the Toyota frame. Looks like I made the right choice!

 

[Maxx2893]

I was wondering this too about the aluminum being on the bottom

 

[White608]

Another newbie question from me, as I have absolutely no rock crawling experience. Shouldn't there be smooth aluminum plate on the bottom of the sliders? There are huge gaps between the crossbars where I could see damage still occurring to bottom of truck, and wouldn't the bars capture or grab the rocks when sliding? Or do you actually want some grab to stop the sliding?

Oh, and glad to hear the Ford frame is so much stronger and thicker than the Toyota frame. Looks like I made the right choice!

On my Jeep I had 2 mounting points, there was just the pinch seam in the middle. It didn't have anything like alum or plate to glide on the bottom. Run a lot of old creek beds and such (crawling) only one time did a rock catch on the rails. It was going down a really steep section and I slammed onto it. Normally there close to in line with your tires ...

 

[BigJ]

I'm sure Hefty would build them in if you wanted, but they'd probably suggest you use some seriously thick steel, not thin aluminum. Which would jack the weight waaay up.

And I'm just not sure they'd be of much use anyway. The idea here is to stop a rock from coming up into the rocker. So when you feel and hear stuff start to grind (or "slide" a few inches), you stop, get out, evaluate, and presumably lift yourself up and over the rock. I doubt you'd want to just keep driving, letting the thing grind 6 or so feet along the way.

Like I keep sayin, I'm no expert. But just thinking the sequence of events thru, plates under there don't make much sense to me, especially given the weight penalty steel that size brings with it (I'd guess an added 70-80lbs per side, just for that plate alone).

 

[203kris]

Great thread- two big thumbs up. I come from a rock crawling/mudding background (from the forests of Washington state and Alaska), and I can't imagine not adding further underbody protection. This is going to help me out a lot.

 

[Bluoval1118]

This is the first time I have seen this thread and I am very impressed! I was looking into the Hefty Sliders the first time I saw pics of them but hadn't really seen them on the truck yet. This is next on my list. Great job BigJ and Hefty Fabworks

 

[BigJ]

Hey guys. When I added my ADD Venom bumper (click here for those details), the brushed aluminum of the sliders kinda starting sticking out like a sore thumb to my eye. So I grabbed a rattle can of Rustoleum Truck Bed Liner and went to town. What do ya think?

 

[BIRDMAN]

looks great! now your mirror reflectors stick out like a sore thumb because they don't match your bumper anymore