200 favorite Rock Sliders

[Froggy365]

Here are some cell phone picks of my BudBuilt sliders. I have the kickout.View attachment 1928943View attachment 1928945View attachment 1928946View attachment 1928947View attachment 1928944

Thanks for the photos! Definitely very helpful! Are those the Ultimate or the regular rock sliders? Sliders

Still up in the air about the kicker option haha. I'm a function over form guy (I'd like the extra protection) but the girlfriend thinks the straight option looks better... Haha.

 

[M1911]

Those are the regular. They are 85 lbs each. I don’t think I have the need for stronger.

I agree with your girlfriend that straight looks better, but when I’m getting fishing rods down from the roof with the rear door closed, the kick out let’s me put more of my foot on the step. You can see the difference from the two shots with my foot on the slider at the driver’s and rear doors. That might or might not be important to you.

If I was buying again, I would still order the kick out.

 

[Froggy365]

Those are the regular. They are 85 lbs each. I don’t think I have the need for stronger.

I agree with your girlfriend that straight looks better, but when I’m getting fishing rods down from the roof with the rear door closed, the kick out let’s me put more of my foot on the step. You can see the difference from the two shots with my foot on the slider at the driver’s and rear doors. That might or might not be important to you.

If I was buying again, I would still order the kick out.

Good point!

 

[fireball]

If you wheel with trees, you’ll want the kick out.

I like the angled up look and dimple die top plate of the bud builts.

FWIW a textured satin black powder coat is a very good match for the bedliner in a spray can sold at Home Depot. This is the powder I use for all armor now so that touch up is quick and easy.

 

[Froggy365]

If you wheel with trees, you’ll want the kick out.

I like the angled up look and dimple die top plate of the bud builts.

FWIW a textured satin black powder coat is a very good match for the bedliner in a spray can sold at Home Depot. This is the powder I use for all armor now so that touch up is quick and easy.

True! Do you have a picture of the dimple die? Until now I was leaning toward the diamond. Thanks!

 

[JohnJB]

True! Do you have a picture of the dimple die? Until now I was leaning toward the diamond. Thanks!

Go back and look at Taco's pics, his are dimpled downward. You can also see the Taco's pics on BB's website as there are some better shots from above.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Just got done powder coating some sliders. Here is diamond and dimple down with one strait step slider and one rock slider with kicker.

 

[RET2]

Those are undoubtedly the stoutest I've ever seen!

 

[JohnJB]

Just got done powder coating some sliders. Here is diamond and dimple down with one strait step slider and one rock slider with kicker.

Hope to see you soon!

 

[Markuson]

Just got done powder coating some sliders. Here is diamond and dimple down with one strait step slider and one rock slider with kicker.
View attachment 1932711View attachment 1932712View attachment 1932713View attachment 1932715View attachment 1932716

Wow. Those are gorgeous.
I really like how gradual the kick-out is.

-More of a “transitional push” as you move past the rock/tree rather than a “kick.”

 

[fireball]

@Taco2Cruiser is the dimple/kickout slider angled up a bit? If so, that's exactly the setup I'm looking for!

What is current lead time looking like?

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Wow. Those are gorgeous.
I really like how gradual the kick-out is.

-More of a “transitional push” as you move past the rock/tree rather than a “kick.”

Exactly! Doesn’t matter what it is on an off road truck, it needs to be smooth, with easy transitions or it becomes a hang up point really fast. I learned the hard way. 12 years ago, I looked at BudBuilt, and bought someone else’s armor for my FJ. Then when on the Rubicon, bam... hang up. A little further down the trail, bam... hang up. It gets old, fast. Then I had to go the Bud to have my frame repaired from what that other armor failed to protect. That’s how I met him. Kinda sad really.

@Taco2Cruiser is the dimple/kickout slider angled up a bit? If so, that's exactly the setup I'm looking for!

What is current lead time looking like?

Yes, the rock sliders are angled up to maximize ground clearance, but they still have a .75” of clearance from the entire body, for if you jump the truck and hit with harder than 21,500 lbs of force. At that point Bud engineered them to fail and save the $15,000 frame along with the body. Everything here is routed in rock crawling and designed by a guy who spent over 30 years designed military equipment to handle combat, but fail at a certain point and save the rest of the equipment and people it’s carrying. I just found out he was the lead designer for the current in-flight refueling system our aircraft uses.

This is the ground clearance saved on the straight area of the outer tube.

This is the ground clearance saved if you want a kicker on the rock slider.

For lead time, I think we are at 7 weeks bare, 9 weeks powder coated. The real issue is that we get about 2 slider orders, a full set of skids, a early truck crossmember, and a couple individual skids order everyday. 214 armored parts is a lot for a shop of five guys. But I have a plan to get down to 6 weeks in the next few months. That’s why there are 11 getting their 200 armor shipped out this week. We are on our way to better lead times.

 

[navydivedoc]

I'm trying to find the lightest way to have decent but not rock-garden-bulletproof protection for my 2018 LC. I have a Jeep for rock duties, and my LC will serve as a much lighter duty overland camping rig and possible tow vehicle. So, I want more than bare running boards in case I do something stupid, but don't want or need to add over 100 lbs of weight that can withstand what these sliders can, as gorgeous as they are. These were mentioned back on page 2:

Bud makes aluminum "protection rails" if you really want them.

Any pics of these protection rails anywhere? I can't find them on the website

Any chance Bud could make a set of his step sliders in Aluminum instead of steel? I like the design, I like the fact that they don't use nutserts, I just don't really need this much weight and protection.

Just got done powder coating some sliders. Here is diamond and dimple down with one strait step slider and one rock slider with kicker.
View attachment 1932711

I know Dissent is working on an aluminum set, but options are always good. Thanks

 

[Froggy365]

I'm trying to find the lightest way to have decent but not rock-garden-bulletproof protection for my 2018 LC. I have a Jeep for rock duties, and my LC will serve as a much lighter overland camping rig and possible tow vehicle. So, I want more than bare running boards in case I do something stupid, but don't want or need to add over 100 lbs of weight that can withstand what these sliders can, as gorgeous as they are. These were mentioned back on page 2:



Any pics of these protection rails anywhere? I can't find them on the website

Any chance Bud could make a set of his step sliders in Aluminum instead of steel? I like the design, I like the fact that they don't use nutserts, I just don't really need this much weight and protection.



I know Dissent is working on an aluminum set, but options are always good. Thanks

Does an extra 100 pounds really matter if your rig already weighs nearly 6000?

 

[navydivedoc]

Does an extra 100 pounds really matter if your rig already weighs nearly 6000?

Having been down this road with the LJ build, any individual time you say that the answer is no, but over time those extra 50 lbs here and there really do add up. 60 lbs less on the sliders, 60 lbs less on aluminum vs steel skids, KISS drawers at 100 lbs vs ARB at 250+, aluminum bumpers can save a couple hundred, etc. Before you know it, those individual choices became a 500 lb savings, and that is significant. I'm not certain I won't go with Buds sliders in steel, they seem to be the best option otherwise, but I'd pay extra to save 100 lbs wherever I can. I realize I may be an outlier.

 

[Froggy365]

Having been down this road with the LJ build, any individual time you say that the answer is no, but over time those extra 50 lbs here and there really do add up. 60 lbs less on the sliders, 60 lbs less on aluminum vs steel skids, KISS drawers at 100 lbs vs ARB at 250+, aluminum bumpers can save a couple hundred, etc. Before you know it, those individual choices became a 500 lb savings, and that is significant. I'm not certain I won't go with Buds sliders in steel, they seem to be the best option otherwise, but I'd pay extra to save 100 lbs wherever I can. I realize I may be an outlier.

Yeah, I guess it all adds up!

 

[mcgaskins]

Having been down this road with the LJ build, any individual time you say that the answer is no, but over time those extra 50 lbs here and there really do add up. 60 lbs less on the sliders, 60 lbs less on aluminum vs steel skids, KISS drawers at 100 lbs vs ARB at 250+, aluminum bumpers can save a couple hundred, etc. Before you know it, those individual choices became a 500 lb savings, and that is significant. I'm not certain I won't go with Buds sliders in steel, they seem to be the best option otherwise, but I'd pay extra to save 100 lbs wherever I can. I realize I may be an outlier.

ARB drawers definitely do not weigh 250+ pounds (more like 150-170 so not much more than all the third row seats and gear you pull out), and I've installed 3 sets now. I won't try to convince you if your mind is made up, but the most easily justified weight you can add to the truck is sliders. You may not ever expect or want to ding your sliders, but if you "overland" enough you will definitely end up hitting them. The truck is so heavy anything but steel doesn't make sense IMO. If the Slee sliders are 70 pounds a side and aluminum is half that, you're only talking an additional 70 pounds of weight total, and it's low and central. Also keep in mind several vendors have announced things that never materialized, so you may be waiting a long time for something that won't be coming. And that means you may bash your rocker causing expensive damage in the meantime. You may not find yourself on a trail like this, but at ~16 seconds it shows what a robust slider does to protect your truck. For me, the only choice is @sleeoffroad (admittedly biased because I've used and abused their products for years) or potentially another vendor with a solid reputation and steel offerings. Just keep in mind, you may be waiting a long time from another vendor and wheeling season has already arrived.

 

[navydivedoc]

I watched this video the other day, and know exactly the hit you mean. You make an excellent point that the giant weight of the truck is asking a lot of the sliders, much more than my relatively quite light Jeep does. Maybe not the best place to save a few pounds in the grand scheme of things. I'd like to think that I won't use my 200 hard enough to justify real sliders, but it only takes one time. Food for thought, thanks.

 

[bloc]

I think it just highlights the concept of put the weight where it is actually needed.

Considering the potential cost to repair things.. strong case for weight/strength being in the sliders. Not the drawers. (For me)

 

[SQRRRL]

After crushing my running boards and almost destroying the rocker panels, I went heavy duty with. Trail Tailor.
If you contact theses guys and ask I’m sure they can come up with a solution for you.
Many choices.