New Slider Mounts - no U-bolts - drop bracket compatible (1 Viewer)

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Sep 6, 2003
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Tulsa, OK
I was going to wait till I had the whole thing done to share, but I'm excited and can't wait. So here's the out riggers. Had to get a little creative with the drop brackets, but I think it worked out well. I also like the angle iron to locate.
Slider Construction Center 1.jpg
Slider Construction Center 2.jpg
Slider Construction Rear mount.jpg
 
more .....
Slider Construction Front 1.jpg
Slider Construction Front 2.jpg
 
Well done. I like the drop bracket idea. I don't know the kind of wheeling you do but those bolts might snap if you hit pointy rock(s) with enough force. Maybe it's just the pictures but they (bolts) look pretty thin to me.
 
Riad said:
Well done. I like the drop bracket idea. I don't know the kind of wheeling you do but those bolts might snap if you hit pointy rock(s) with enough force. Maybe it's just the pictures but they (bolts) look pretty thin to me.

The bolts are 3/8" Grade 8. I know grade 8 is usually goldish it seems, but Atwoods has gold grade 5 and blue grade 5. For comparison, Slee uses 7/16" u-bolts, metaltech and hanna both use 1/2" ubolts - all 1 per outrigger mount. I think 2 3/8" Grade 8's should be at least as strong. And I kinda forgot until I just looked at the picture, the rear most our rigger I need to put the angle on and redrill the holes, they are way too far down.
 
parabola said:
I like the angle iron to locate it! Wish mine had that when I was installing them. Would have made things alot easier.

Stronger too. There is one on the top too. So, for the outrigger to bend vertically, it has to bend the outer plate, both angles, the bolts and the rear plate, which I would have put angle on too, but then it won't slideunder the lines along the frame.

The rear one doesn't have the angle yet, but it will.

Assembly is definately easier - before the outriggers were all tied to the slider it self, I could just throw them up and they'd stay. I'm not sure if they will with the weight of the slider out there, but I still should be able to put them on as a one man job.
 
Nice work.
Wish I had gone that route as the ubolts are a PIA and expensive
 
Will you be adding gussets to the frame mounts?
 
Will you be adding gussets to the frame mounts?

yes I did - 5 years ago :) Wow, two of my sldier threads from 5 years ago rejuvinated in one day - kinda cool
 
I should really learn to look at dates...
 
I should really learn to look at dates...

It's not a for sale ad, so it doesn't expire, the information (and your question) is as valid today as it was 5 years ago! I'll reference my old threads on stuff all the time when a question comes up that I know has been discussed intellegently before.
 
any serious wheeling will beat the crap out the steel and bolts hanging below the frame

5 years of serious wheeling - serious enough to bend lower links, and beat up link mounts enough I had to reinforce them - says differently.

U-bolts have been used by everyone for a long time, this isn't any more vunerable.

So, nice try - but you don't know jack.
 
why dont u just weld them on

my guess is that he is going for the easy removal option in case of severe breakage. also if you welded everything on you would need to have a fairly large scab-plated area, to spread the load along the frame to prevent the welds from cracking along the heat affected zone.
 
mine are welded on, have had no problem dont run a scab plate, whats going to break? i would think some bolts would break before the welds,in fact the only people ive seen have issues r the ones bolting on there sliders, i would think if you want the best hold it would be to weld to your frame?
 
ajax1 said:
mine are welded on, have had no problem dont run a scab plate, whats going to break? i would think some bolts would break before the welds,in fact the only people ive seen have issues r the ones bolting on there sliders, i would think if you want the best hold it would be to weld to your frame?

If the length of weld is long enough that's fine, as the load is spread over a large enough area. I can't remember whether it was was on this forum or another but I recall a thread where some weld on sliders had torn the frame at the weld. 2 possible reasons for this are that there weren't enough support members welded to the frame to distribute the load, or the cross sectional dimension of the members wasn't big enough to spread the load along the length of weld. I've seen some weld on shock towers do the same thing. It would also depend on the thickness of the frame. Just something to be wary of.

And with bolts as long as you get the correct grade, pitch, diameter, and use the correct number they should be strong enough.
 
I built sliders like the Eagle. In my case serenity’s speculations are correct; for some reason I like the Idea of being able to remove them if I want. Nothing I suppose a die grinder couldn’t fix if they were welded. The thought of welding the frame also made me a little uncomfortable, but I admit I am ignorant and have nothing to support my intuition.

I don’t think anyone would argue that in this case proper welding would be stronger than using bolts. I think the issue becomes important depending on why you have sliders on in the first place. If your intentions are primarily to rock crawl (or “rock surf” as some have suggested is a more appropriate term for the 80 given its wheel base), then superior strength and a clean lower profile is key, and welding seems compulsory.

In my case (and I suspect others fall in this category as well), the sliders are there for protection, not a primary component of vehicle mobility. Does this mean I do not do any “serious wheeling”? I suppose it depends on your definition. For me it is mostly about getting out of town with my family, experiencing beautiful places away from the masses. And with that in mind we have found ourselves on trails that seemed pretty **** “serious” (≥ class 6). And I have to admit that I get a major kick out of challenging my 80, and it’s capability never ceases to amaze me, but pushing it to it’s limit, and going out of my way to smash the undercarriage on every rock and stump is not the primary reason I’m out there. Maybe my sliders would be welded on if it were.

MY sliders have been well used over the last 2 years and I have had no problems with the bracket & bolt setup, and I am glad I have them otherwise there is a good chance my doors wouldn’t open. But there are a lot of guys on this forum who I suspect given any definition would qualify as “serious wheelers” (as lame as that sounds), who don’t even have sliders… and their doors still open. They must be better drivers than me…
 
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