slider design for my subaru?

[BIGdaddy]

lightweight but strong?

I'm thinking 1x3 mild steel with tube steel/plate styles to unibody...

 

[BIGdaddy]

I'd love to hear the pro's/con's or other idea's

what I'd REALLY like to do is to tie the sliders into front and rear bumpers as a sort of sub-frame that would allow for stress-free winching.

 

[Jrally]

I know this post has been sitting a little while, but I find it interesting. Are you planning on bolting the sliders to the subframe or welding them to it? In you sketch, it sort of looks like 2 bolt holes per spreader plate..? As you know, unnibody vehicles are certainly not the toughest of things. My 9 years of rally experience has tought me how to protect enough of the underside of unibody cars, my thoughts on the subject, anyways.
I've found that ground clearance is the biggest help of all. A stout front skidplate comes second on my list, then gas tank protection and lastly, fuel and brake lines. I believe all Subarus have the fuel and brake lines run inside the car, so you should have that covered by the manfuacturer. For the rest, if you aren't too worried about little dents, high density polyethalyne sheeting works great for making the unibody rails slippery over rocks. I've personally used ceramic coated aluminum sheeting with good success too. (cut off sheets from a refridgerator manf.)
I'm getting started on an odd trail/adventure vehicle that will certainly have the same kinds of issues with getting unibody damage from rocks.

-Jon R.

 

[BIGdaddy]

awesome ideas, thanks! I'll have to do some research on the materials you suggested

I've been thinking the subframe route would take away too much ground clearance, as you say, and I'm really trying to stay away from lifting it too much to compensate.

I've been toying with the idea of button headed bolts or counter sunk bolts that go through a flat slider surface. This surface would be bolted through and would reinforce the main floorboard and the rocker panels. My main worry is denting the rock enough to effect the doors, but I can tie that into a slider surface that goes up to the trans tunnel
in the middle of the car, so be it. All the more protection.

thats just one idea anyways...

 

[Jrally]

I've been starting to think about the same kind of thing, protecting the rockers from crushing and pinching the door. I don't worry about that kind of the thing on the rally cars, becuase the roads are generally smoother, no LARGE rocks that have to be driven over. I'm thinking about just some 1" Dia. x .125 wall nerf bars welded to the "frame rail", then gussetted to the rocker somehow, both with backer plates of course.

-Jon

 

[Hatari]

Rasta 4x4 has these for the Subaru Forester:

These are something that I have been looking at :drool: for sill protection.

 

[Jrally]

Wow, those look really nice. I need to get back to doing some aluminum welding again. I never seem to think about it as an option. We did something similar on a Corolla rally car. We used 1" box tubing and welded it the entire length of the pinch weld, under the rocker panels. It then had weld nuts on the bottom side, for screwing the HDPE sheet to the car.

-Jon