Finally flopped.

[CreeperSleeper]

Well, it was bound to happen… Last Saturday, fate finally won and I flopped my 80. It was a soft flop, thank God, but a flop just the same. It was on an obstical called Can-Opener on Archer’s Firebreak in the Tillamook State Forest OHV trail system. Now I have made it up Can-Opener a few times, but always in the dry. In fact, the only time I ever tried it wet was to get the MetalTech rock slider shots! Well, this time I went for broke, and broke I did. The pics will show the body damage, but I also broke a passenger side Birfield. That makes two in a month… This is becoming an expensive year!

Here I am first starting up Can-Opener. This will give you some idea just how steep it really is:


Here I’m just approaching the hard section. If you have never wheeled in this area, take a look at my tires… The mud is like baby crap.


This is about as far as I made it on my first run. The majority of rigs stop right about here.


Setting myself up for a second attempt…


Denied… I’m going to need more momentum for this.


Crap… That didn’t work. I have to be farther up that wall… At this point I told my passenger I was going to take one more shot at it, then back down and claim defeat.


YES! I made it past the first rock! Now stay on it to keep momentum. In this pic, you can see just how much I’m side walling that hill. And it is still as steep as the approach!


Well, the cameraman couldn’t cycle thru shots fast enough, but this is after I laid it over and bounced back to my tires. It was here that I lost momentum.


And here that I broke the Birf…


My fearless passenger and best friend Jordan goofing around as we are waiting for the hook.


The depressing part of the story is a J**P got me to level ground! (Actually, that J**p is owned by Randy, who owns J&H 4WD in Portland, OR. This man is a master at recovery and I was very thankful to have him and his equipment along!)


DAMAGE PICS… Damn, lost another taillight… (BTW, look at the slider!)


Amazingly, everything still opens, all the windows work and no glass broke… Not even the mirror.




And for those who don’t know this truck, this is what it looked like when I bought it 2.5 years ago:

[-Spike-]

The slider BENT? BOO!

Nice pics.

-Spike

[LandCrusher'70]

Originally Posted by -Spike-

The slider BENT? BOO!

Nice pics.

-Spike

2X - That's crazy!

At least you weren't drifting or jumping it . . .

[FJBen]

still haven't licensed it in how many years???

[Buckru]

Cheers for a great attitude

I can't believe the slider bent like that.

Buck Buchanan

[CreeperSleeper]

Originally Posted by -Spike-

The slider BENT? BOO!

Nice pics.

-Spike

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70

2X - That's crazy!

At least you weren't drifting or jumping it . . .

LOL! The slider isn't bent, just the rub rail. The slider body got hit a lot harder and didn't do a thing... but save my butt! MetalTech sliders FTW!

[e9999]

sorry to read this.
Leave it be, it has more character now and you don't have to be careful any more...

[CreeperSleeper]

Originally Posted by FJBen

still haven't licensed it in how many years???

LOL! I'm awaiting custom plates...

[CreeperSleeper]

Originally Posted by e9999

sorry to read this.
Leave it be, it has more character now and you don't have to be careful any more...

It's the price to pay when wheeling as hard as I do... I'm not too worried about it... It will just give me an excuse to build tube doors and fenders!

[beno]

CreeperSleeper wheels his junk indeed!

Good attitude. Ya play, ya play, right?

-o-

[-Spike-]

Originally Posted by CreeperSleeper

LOL! The slider isn't bent, just the rub rail. The slider body got hit a lot harder and didn't do a thing... but save my butt! MetalTech sliders FTW!

Rub rail? You mean the part that's supposed to contact the rocks, so you can pivot on them? That shouldn't bend, in my opinion. Maybe if you got T-boned, but not as a result of a soft roll. Maybe that's the way companies make sliders, but the ones I and others I know have built certainly wouldn't bend from contact with a rock. I'm not trying to rag on Metal Tech, but that would be unacceptable on my rig. The slider shouldn't bend, it should hold the truck off the rock, and perhaps keep you from rolling in the first place.

-Spike

[brokenparts]

damn dude... you wheel hard. I wont even try Can-opener when its wet.

[Mars]

Wow...super surprised that slider tube bent! What's the quality of the tubing?

[Sackman]

Aw That'll all buff out!

[CreeperSleeper]

Quick note about the sliders: First off, the slider that was on that side originally was not welded in the correct possition... Let's just say that Mark didn't weld that one ops: As for the flop, I bounced off the slider back onto my wheels... that's a bit more than a "soft roll". Look at the angle that I'm sitting at and think of the force that would be need to bounce myself (all 6000 lbs of me) back on it's tires, enought to stay on the tires.... I don't care if it was 1/2" wall DOM, that SOB was bending! The majority of the weight was on that section of slider...

[jfz80]

congrats !!! glad it wasnt any worse. time to update your status here.

[CreeperSleeper]

Originally Posted by jfz80

congrats !!! glad it wasnt any worse. time to update your status here.

Good point...

[TiredIronGRB]

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70

2X - That's crazy!

At least you weren't drifting or jumping it . . .

That's exactly what I was thinking, nice looking country out there.

[helocat]

Originally Posted by -Spike-

Rub rail? You mean the part that's supposed to contact the rocks, so you can pivot on them? That shouldn't bend, in my opinion. Maybe if you got T-boned, but not as a result of a soft roll. Maybe that's the way companies make sliders, but the ones I and others I know have built certainly wouldn't bend from contact with a rock. I'm not trying to rag on Metal Tech, but that would be unacceptable on my rig. The slider shouldn't bend, it should hold the truck off the rock, and perhaps keep you from rolling in the first place.

-Spike

BS. You lay the whole weight of a truck on its side teeter tottering on a rub rail, things can bend. Rolling over is 10x different than “contact with a rock”.

You are correct they are meant for the truck to pivot around things with them and they do this season upon season. Now the main body of the slider is a whole nutha’ story THAT part is the main part to take the entire weight and slide off rocks, it’s off the charts in strength due to how it’s formed and reinforced being built like an aircraft wing. Perhaps this is the part you are thinking of that should not bend. The only part that failed in this roll over (on our sliders) is the one piece of metal off the shelf and not custom made. (Every part of a MT slider BUT the tubing for the rub rail is 100% engineered and custom laser cut and formed for what it’s used for. These are the only sliders I know of like this.)

ANY slider using tubing as the rub rail would have the same result unless you’re using .250” wall or better. Even then you would probably dent it a bit. The weight penalty for tube that thick for the chance you may lay on it is not worth it. Part of the performance of the slider is the weight to strength.

Now what to do if you dent your slider tubing on a Metal-tech slider? Ship it to us and we will replace the damaged tubing free of charge. I would rather replace a tube now and then than go booty fab and up the wall thickness just to add over 2x the weight to the sliders, for the few that might dent them like Chad.

Mark

[-Spike-]

You and I have different opinions on what a slider should be able to do. In MY opinion you should be able to drag the entire weight of the truck over a rock on the slider without bending it. You should be able to put a Hi-Lift anywhere on the slider and lift the vehicle. You should be able to support the truck on jackstands positioned under the sliders without fear that the sliders can handle the weight. If it is possible to do these things with your sliders (I have no idea, I've never seen your sliders any more than what I can see in the pics in this thread) then they are fine sliders. If you are saying the slider is tucked under the truck, and the steps aren't structural, then they aren't the sliders for me. The whole point of sliders is to keep the rocks away from the truck, not just protect the frame rail and rocker. Sliders that I have booty-fabbed are made with .250" wall 2x2 and 2x3" square tubing. Friends of mine find .188" wall to be sufficient. Yes, they're heavy (around 70 pounds per side IIRC) but I don't have to ship them so I'm not concerned, and 5-600 pounds of extra metal on my truck (bumpers, sliders, skids, whatever) doesn't bother me. But that's all about what I want from a slider, and may not be what your customers want or feel they need.
I have no doubt you have a quality product as I've heard nothing but praise from people on this board, it simply doesn't suit my needs from what I see in the aftermath of Creepersleeper's incident. I could be wrong, if I were able to see his truck in person I might change my tune.

Everything in this post is my opinion.

-Spike

[IronYuppy]

Originally Posted by helocat

...
Now what to do if you dent your slider tubing on a Metal-tech slider? Ship it to us and we will replace the damaged tubing free of charge. ...

Now that's a stand-up thing to do. Not many vendors offer that kind of warranty on armour.

Another reason I'm going Metal-Tech (as soon as I can afford it!)...

[IdahoDoug]

I have no hand in what's moving into a debate on force, but I think it's *very* important to differentiate between the very low forces on a slider of dragging it over rocks or lifting with it and what happened here.

Merely lifting a vehicle is child's play - let's call it 3000lbs if you are lifting 50% of the truck's weight with a hi-lift (you aren't). Dropping a 6000lb truck only a few inches may generate a peak force of many times that - say 40,000 lbs - if the surface it hits does not deform (like a rock).

It's why you can try unsuccessfully to push a nail into a board by standing your 175lbs on it all day. Then easily do it with a 1lb hammer in 3 strikes.

DougM