Got Sliders? Custom Slider Build for 05+ Tacoma

[barlowrs]

Hey Guys, well the next stop on my truck build is a good set of sliders, unfortunately none of the sliders on the market are what I am looking for, so I decided to go custom. I cannot say I am building these. I can weld, but fear my skills are not up to par enough for a strong set of sliders, and I lack a tube bender. I enlisted the help of a fabricator down in San Diego area. The guy is very good, and was looking to start making second gen sliders, so it worked perfectly, he makes the sliders how I want, and he can use mine as a jig to work out the mounting points and everything. Win -win for both of us.

We are still not completely done yet (should be done Wednesday), but I wanted to post this to get people opinions and see if there is any place for improvement....so here we go:

Basic specs on the sliders:

Tube: HREW 1-3/4" x 120
AC & 4DSB Length: 82"
Frame Plate Thickness: 1/4"
Gusset Thickness: 1/4"
Bolt on Hardware: 1/2" grade 8 with 1/4" thick inner nut plates (nut welded on plate)
Rear Mounting Foot: allows leaf hanger on frame to slide over obstacles

(DOM or Cromoly available but cost more, but HREW is very strong as you will see below in my “testing&#8221

Here are pictures of the drivers side after we got the basic slider done and mounting figured out:



The mounting for a bolt on 05+ is very "non" strait forward. The holes in the frame do not line up nicely at all, and it is very hard to get a good mount close to the front and rear of the slider. We were able to figure out a good custom bracket and means tou mount it (the frame is boxed this far up, so you need to reach far into the frame. The front leg is only about 7” from the front of the slider. This means that the most critical place on the slider (the front, as that is where you come down onto rocks most commonly) is FULLY supported. I dare you (that have sliders) to go out and measure the distance to your first leg. Most sliders on the market these days are much further than 7”. (you can see the front mount in the pictures below)

The rear was also a challenge, as we did not want to leave a long gap unsupported. E devised a VERY clever rare mount that is only about 9” from the rear of the slider. Once again, this means that the rear of the slider is FULLY supported. Also, the rear mount is pretty cool as it acts as a sort of slider to where your leaf back mounts and blends what is normally a sharp edge on the stock Tacoma:

Here are a few shots mocked up and then installed on the truck:

Before we decided to finalize the design, we wanted to test them….so how do we test a set of sliders? The HI LIFT TEST!!!!!

So, first off, my truck is by NO means lightweight. I have full winch bumper, with winch, 33+” tires all the way around, larger susp components, etc. I also had a FULL load of wheels/tires in the back of my truck (my spare 33+” and 5 stock OR wheels and tires) and a full tank of gas.

So, what is the hi lift test? JACK THE ENTIRE SIDE (not just one wheel) off the ground using the CENTER (longest tube allowing for most "bowing") of the slider (Notice both wheels are off the ground):

There was MINIMAL flex (though the fabricator was still wants less so is investigating ways of making it less). However, I am not worried about this as the flex was VERY minimal, and working as an aerospace engineer, I know materials, and I know that NO (affordable) material will not flex. Flex is ok as long as you stay in the elastic region of the material, meaning, as long as it come back to how it was before, you are good to go… and as you can see by the following pics….it did!!!

You can see the before in the pics above.

After Test:

Now remember, we are lifting the ENTIRE vehicle from the CENTER of the slider, and she bounced right back to where we started. I'd say it passed

Now onto the other custom part I wanted, a kickup. Here are a few teaser pics of my special kickup that we are working on (please note, supports for the hoop will be added, this is just a teaser pic). Hopefully by Wends they will be fully supported and ready for a few cans of rustolim!!!!!

So, those are going to be my sliders. If anyone has comments or ideas let me know, as the fabricator is always open to improvement, he is all about making a good product that will function properly. I am VERY happy with how mine are turning out, and how they performed though (hence this slight ad for hime..haha).

And now for the advertising, he made me a beautiful set of sliders, and I fully believe this guy does good work, so I figure I can pay it forward, if anyone is interested in a set like mine, you can contact the fabricator as described below. I do not get a cut or anything if you buy his stuff, I really am just very satisfied and would like this guy to be successful with his new sliders.


Contact info for the fabricator
Name on Tacoma World, TTORA, etc: Beefed Taco
Website: http://streetacos.com/

I am not making these, just helping, so if you have questions, I may be able to help, but for details contact the fabricator above. Also, if you want to know about pricing and buying a set, contact the fabricator above.

I will update this thread with the completed product once they are painted and installed!

 

[Herbie]

Those look great. Can you share a ballpark on what you'll be paying?

As it happens, I'm in San Diego and I'm also looking for a pair of rockrails/sliders for my van.

I've got a set of plans and photos for what I want, and a feeler out to what fabricator friend, but if he declines (busy guy), I'll need someone else to take the job...

 

[barlowrs]

Those look great. Can you share a ballpark on what you'll be paying?

As it happens, I'm in San Diego and I'm also looking for a pair of rockrails/sliders for my van.

I've got a set of plans and photos for what I want, and a feeler out to what fabricator friend, but if he declines (busy guy), I'll need someone else to take the job...

I beleive he is going to be charging right around the $400 mark for them. That is a VERY fair price to me, as he has not just made a set of sliders that look good, but also PROVEN they work. Contact him for details though.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

They do like nice and well designed, and I'm not knocking the design, but how do you figure the center is the weakest point? I figure the front or rear end is. The center benefits from spreading the load relatively evenly amongst all 4 support arms. The front edge mostly stresses only one of the supports.

 

[Mamontof]

Wow look great .
Easy mounted , well design , great build.

 

[barlowrs]

They do like nice and well designed, and I'm not knocking the design, but how do you figure the center is the weakest point? I figure the front or rear end is. The center benefits from spreading the load relatively evenly amongst all 4 support arms. The front edge mostly stresses only one of the supports.

By lifting on the center of the OUTER tube, I am essentially lifting the longest part of the slider. beuase these have a kickout, the rear might be more worst case, as the rear is a larger lever from the mounting brackets.

Essentially, I know the legs are small enough they will not bend, so we were not worried about them. We were mainly concerned about the long running tubes. The center allows for the most "bowing" while, by using the outer tube, we still have the most amount of bening moment on the mounts (with the exeption of the kickout area). Esenatilly, jacking anywhere would probably yeild close the the same stresses. I also picked the middle, just to be able to get the full truck off the ground, not just the front wheel or rear wheel.

 

[barlowrs]

Well after a few coats of rustoleum, they are finally done!

Here are some pics of them mounted. The mounting went on with no hitch at all, I was able to do it alone (as these would probably break my gf in half). All the bolts dropped right into place and lined up perfectly….and here is the finally results:

Now to go beat them up.

 

[maXTERRA]

Damn nice job there!!
Truck is lookin very sharp.

 

[Blackwater]

WOW, sliders look great. Love the kickout/up

 

[off-roader]

WOW, sliders look great. Love the kickout/up

Look very nice and the kickout's look good. I wonder how they'd fare versus a bargain basement brand like trailgear?

 

[barlowrs]

WOW, sliders look great. Love the kickout/up

Thanks, yeah, the kickout/kickup is the reason I went to a custom fabricator rather than buying off the shelf..Allpro makes ones with kickout, but not kickups, and I wanted both.

Look very nice and the kickout's look good. I wonder how they'd fare versus a bargain basement brand like trailgear?

Thanks, I have no exp with other brands, but I can tell you these ones are solid. We spend a lot of time figuring out the mounting location to get the legs as far foward as possible to support the front end (where you commonly come down on rocks) I have heard several reports of off the shelf ones having the front bend up because they are not sell supported. (I will not mention brands, as I do not have first hand exp with any, this is just other reviews I have read).

 

[rezdiver]

nice sliders.

question regarding strength, testing with a lift from the highlift on a static load is great but how well do you think the tubing will handle having the whole weight of the truck on one side landing on a rock with the impact forces using the .120 tubing? I would think that they would cave in fairly easily.

 

[barlowrs]

nice sliders.

question regarding strength, testing with a lift from the highlift on a static load is great but how well do you think the tubing will handle having the whole weight of the truck on one side landing on a rock with the impact forces using the .120 tubing? I would think that they would cave in fairly easily.

True, the lift test is no where near a real impact, though it was the only test I could safely do (until I actually take them out and use them). As far as strength coming down on an impact, I EXPECT them to do just fine. most off the shelf sliders for this truck are all using HREW, and some are only using 1.5" not 1.75". By looking at other sliders reviews, they seem to be holding up fine. The only complaints I have read is that occasionally (I will not mention manufactures) the front end bends up when you land on it (coming off a rock with the front tire). In building these, we investigated ways of mitigating that, and we discovered that the front leg on said brand was pretty far back, giving no support up front. We were able to get the front leg VERY close (7" i think) to the front of the slider. This help supports and mitigates the bending up in the front. it makes the installation more of a challenge, because you have to reach INSIDE the boxed frame, but you can see in the pics, the backing plates have "extensions" on them to allow you to reach up there.

All in all, I completely agree that a static load test is no where NEAR a dynamic load test, but that is all I can do for now. We are just going off the exp of other on the dynamic loading, and so far, that exp says we should do just fine. (Only one way to test them out though..haha time to go beat them up! :smiley_drive

 

[rezdiver]

I have always been a fan of building the main tube out of box tube minimum3/16 or 1/4 but that is a lot of weight to add.

easy dynamic test in the garage would be to take a 12pound sledge and swing away to see how easily a .120 wall dents on the floor, lol

 

[R_Lefebvre]

12 pound sledge? I can dent .120 wall with a ballpeen. Of course, I still use it. There has to be some rationalization between reasonably light weight protection, and making something indestructible for bashing around. Also, when things are too strong, they just pass the load somewhere else. Like the frame. I'd rather my protection gets bashed, but doesn't destroy the frame.