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Sliders - bolt on or weld on?

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Old 11-27-2009, 02:22 PM
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Default Sliders - bolt on or weld on?

I've been window shopping for rock sliders for my Rubi

My shortlist was down to LOD when I saw the Gen II EVO sliders.

The Gen II look awesome - question is, what happens after a year or three when they are all banged up.

If you trash a slider, how hard is it to get it removed and replaced after it has originally been welded on?

Is replacing a welded slider likely to be a problem (i.e would it weaken the frame if it were cut off and replaced) or is it all good ..

TIA,

Steve
Old 11-27-2009, 02:48 PM
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Not sure what you are planning on doing, but you would probably never have to replace either of those sliders, unless you were in a vehicle collision of some sort.
Old 11-28-2009, 03:15 AM
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I'm fairly new to this so just gradually getting my confidence up and a bit more adventurous in the wheeling. I wasn't planning on doing stuff as serious as a lot of folks here seem to do regularly any time soon (not until I get a lot better at it and my Jeep is no longer my daily driver).

I figured that there might be a "sacrificial" element to the sliders - at least in the long term and wanted to make sure that if I went with a welded set-up then that wouldn't cause me a problem in the very long term if they needed replacing.

I've so far avoided doing anything other that lightly touch the Rubi rails but want to make sure that I protect the rockers before I bend them.. (that and I'm having a whole heap of fun modding the Jeep

Thanks,

Steve
Old 11-28-2009, 03:42 AM
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You can certainly FUBAR a slider enough to warrant its replacement, but the more likely scenario would be the powder coating will eventually need to be redone. I had my ARB rock rails stitch-welded on, but they can be cut off and the welding points ground down w/o issue.
Old 11-28-2009, 06:06 AM
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Yeah, my guess is that unless you really hit your jeep or get in an accident, the sliders will hold up. Only thing to worry about is the powder coating. and you can always take bolt on ones off to get re-powdercoated.

That said, my PureJeep rockers are on to stay. There's enough silicone on them to seal off anything. The only way I can fix scratches is with touch up paine and/or a spray can. I have hit them pretty good a few times, and the powder coat is holding up great.
If it were my choice, between the 2 you mentioned, I would go Gen2 EVO and never look back...I kind of wish I had waited a bit longer to get those. They are bad ass.
Old 11-28-2009, 06:20 AM
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Originally Posted by joneszj
Yeah, my guess is that unless you really hit your jeep or get in an accident, the sliders will hold up. Only thing to worry about is the powder coating. and you can always take bolt on ones off to get re-powdercoated.

That said, my PureJeep rockers are on to stay. There's enough silicone on them to seal off anything. The only way I can fix scratches is with touch up paine and/or a spray can. I have hit them pretty good a few times, and the powder coat is holding up great.
If it were my choice, between the 2 you mentioned, I would go Gen2 EVO and never look back...I kind of wish I had waited a bit longer to get those. They are bad ass.
a semi-satin black matches the powder coat perfect, you cant even tell
Old 11-28-2009, 07:41 AM
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Default Welded

I bought mine and the sliders were custom made and welded. I have sanded them down and sprayed them with bed liner so if they get banged up then I can repaint/spray them. Secondly, if you really bend them you may have to worry about your frame as well. Cutting them off is easy enough, then you can just buy bolt ons and be on your way.
Old 11-28-2009, 10:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Piginajeep
a semi-satin black matches the powder coat perfect, you cant even tell
Awesome. I was thinking it should be close, I'm glad I can get some of the scars off of mine now.
Old 11-28-2009, 10:41 AM
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We are on our third set of rock guard/sliders (by choice not that the previous ones needed replacing) and I'd say having seen the Gen II EVO guards they are on my list of future mods. I really like the fact that they weld on (I've seen them on one of our local jeepers rig) and they are rock solid. The set we have now are SmittyBilt (I know shitty bilt) but they've taken some pretty damn hard hits without any issues and like several of you have mentioned the only thing you really need to do with sliders is to touch up the paint/powdercoating every once in a while Also, if you use your rig as a daily driver you'll never have to worry about door dings cuz those things will break the other guy's door before coming close to yours



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