Just a little peek at the sliders
- Thread starter concretejungle
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Itoo have thought of building, well having someone fab them up, George's sliders. I was wondering if its a good idea to have the cats "clocked" beforehand? Has anyone done this prior to purchasing or fabbing up some sliders?
Buck
Buck
concretejungle said:
What's the length, width and thickness of those strips, distance from the attachment plate to rail and grade of steel?
It kind of looks like the weak link in the deal would be the necked down area where the rail ties to the outrigger. But if that was a problem, you'd know it by now, as many of these that have been built.
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What are the pros and cons of welding them on vs. bolting them on?
SR.GRINGO said:
Obviously the ones that you buy come that way cause regular blow-Joe can DIY install, but if you were making one:
Bolting Pros:
1) It's removable so you can take it off and re-use or sell it.
2) Probably easier to fit-up and fabricate for most.
3) You can use spacers or shim plates to make small adjustments in the fit-up.
4) If you have the equipment you can do it all in your garage at your own pace.
Bolting Cons:
1) The attachment isn't as rigid and if you don't get it snug, there will be some movement.
Welding Pros: Opposite of bolting Cons.
Welding Cons: Opposite of bolting Pros.
You'd probably need access to a lift to weld them on and a way to hold it in place. Plus you're going to have overhead welds and some tight places to try and get into to weld, plus fire under your vehicle, so you'd want to degrease everything pretty good. I think if I was going to weld it on, I'd weld the plates to the frame, then align and tack on some lugs to help hold the fabricated sliders and outriggers in place, align, then tack it to the plates. Once that's squared away, you could weld her up good.
Anyways: that's my 0.02.. haven't done one either way though
.
Rookie2
Nice work man.
- Thread starter
- #28
I pretty much followed George's design to the tee. Only difference is my outrigger that runs under the cat. In his plans there is a lip on the outrigger that the slider rests on and is welded to. On mine, i don't have that lip, my outrigger is pretty much welded on the side of the slide rail. These really were much easier than i anticipated.
Here's pretty much how it went down:
1. Printed george's plans out.
2. Used his templates to mark the cuts on the steel box tube and plates.
3. Held the mounting plates to the frame, held the outriggers to make sure of the angle, length exc.. and tacked them. (Tall jack stands work well here, or a helping hand).
4. Finished fitting each out rigger to the frame and make sure they all are equally spaced and at the proper lengths.
5. Had a helper hold the slider rail to the outriggers and tacked it.
6. Removed the assembly from the truck and finished welding it all up.
I think i only messed up on one outrigger by cutting the angle wrong. These things really are much easier if you have a friend helping you hold things in place and such.
Here's pretty much how it went down:
1. Printed george's plans out.
2. Used his templates to mark the cuts on the steel box tube and plates.
3. Held the mounting plates to the frame, held the outriggers to make sure of the angle, length exc.. and tacked them. (Tall jack stands work well here, or a helping hand).
4. Finished fitting each out rigger to the frame and make sure they all are equally spaced and at the proper lengths.
5. Had a helper hold the slider rail to the outriggers and tacked it.
6. Removed the assembly from the truck and finished welding it all up.
I think i only messed up on one outrigger by cutting the angle wrong. These things really are much easier if you have a friend helping you hold things in place and such.
- Thread starter
- #29
Oh, and by the way for those that are interested in cost. I've got about $100 worth of steel in them.
alia176
SILVER Star
concretejungle said:
You should have plenty of material for air fittings.
Ali
- Thread starter
- #31
nice alia. Those look to be of george's design. I see you used a brass fitting, and threaded it into the slider. Is there anything on the back of the fitting holding it like a backing nut or anything? What kind of fittings are those? I was going to use a larger fitting like a quick-disconnect for an air hose. Also, how much air will those suckers hold? Enough to fill ______ tires?
alia176
SILVER Star
Yup, George's design. Brass fittings such as these quick connector types are very common in the trucking and other industries. http://www.mcmaster.com has a huge selection of these fittings. Check out page 146 for various connectors. My sytem uses 1/4" hoses bought from a trucking supply store. These hoses are for air braking so the burst pressure is very high and very inexpensive/linear foot. Some of my fittings are: p/n 51025K177, 1/4" tubing with 1/8" NPT threading.
Lots of people tend to get worried about carrying 120 psi of air in the sliders. However, there's no need for this since nothing "explodes" when you get a leak. Mine holds 105 psi of air and I'm not sure of the volume, maybe 1.5 gallon for both? How many tires you can fill in a reasonable amount of time depends on the CFM output of your compressor. The extra reservoir does help with the compressor cycling quite a bit.
If you do want to use it for air, be sure to pressurize the sliders and plug up any leaks before throwring them on!
Ali
Lots of people tend to get worried about carrying 120 psi of air in the sliders. However, there's no need for this since nothing "explodes" when you get a leak. Mine holds 105 psi of air and I'm not sure of the volume, maybe 1.5 gallon for both? How many tires you can fill in a reasonable amount of time depends on the CFM output of your compressor. The extra reservoir does help with the compressor cycling quite a bit.
If you do want to use it for air, be sure to pressurize the sliders and plug up any leaks before throwring them on!
Ali
I think people should rightly be concerned about using home fabbed containers for compressed air. Especially when the primary purpose of the conatiner is for bashing on rocks.
Common sense says that this is not a good pursuit. If the slider is overpressurized it can fail explosively. It happens with other compressed air vessels that don't bash on rocks.
Common sense says that this is not a good pursuit. If the slider is overpressurized it can fail explosively. It happens with other compressed air vessels that don't bash on rocks.
- Thread starter
- #34
Rich, do you think it will really explode? Or perhaps burst a hole and quickly empty it's air content? I am curious because i'm seriously considering putting air in them. I just want enough air, heck even if it takes both sliders, to fill one 33 or maybe a 35 in emergency.
concretejungle said:
There is not enough volume to fill one tyre from 0 to 40psi. For an emergency you should carry a $20 12v compressor. They will eventually get any sized tyre filled. Pressure vessels are cylindrical for a reason and I agree with Rich that sliders are not a good place to store compressed air.
Someone asked what mods can be made to George's design. I haven't looked at them in a long time but these are my suggestions:
1. Round the bottom of both ends of the rails to help if you have to slide on a rock.
2. If you build a step that attaches to the main rail, add a spacer or something so that the step can be left on when you wheel and it won't bend upwards. You want solid contact between the step and the rail.
3. Instead of a step, weld some DOM round tubing like Hanna's or Christos.
4. Gussets (as CJ did) might help with some of the flexing. The clearances are tight and you might find the outriggers making contact with the rocker.
5. Better cat protection would be nice. I do not like the skid plate that I added to the bottom of the outrigger that goes underneath the cats.
I have posted pictures and other suggestions in the past if you want to search the archives. I think the list above gets most of them.
The suggestion for rotating the cats before you build the outriggers is a good idea. Wish I had thought about it.
-B-
- Thread starter
- #36
B, two things. After laying under there and looking at the cats for too long, i really truely don't think that rotating them is going to make much difference at all. Besides, the room is pretty tight and i don't think you could turn them all the way. I have a pretty good idea for a skid plate, i'll take a pic when i'm finished.
The other, my outriggers are within 1mm of touching the pinch weld. I'm not too worried about the pinch weld, and i hope i have them positioned to where they wouldn't deflect enough to bend the crap out off the pinch weld and possibly damage the rocker. A little damage to the pinch weld is no biggy for me.
I am planning on adding round tubing to the sliders, not so much as a step, but to stick them out a little for protection of the side of the truck. Parking lot door dings and sliding in off camber situations into a rock or stump or something. Hopefully the round tubing will protect against that.
The other, my outriggers are within 1mm of touching the pinch weld. I'm not too worried about the pinch weld, and i hope i have them positioned to where they wouldn't deflect enough to bend the crap out off the pinch weld and possibly damage the rocker. A little damage to the pinch weld is no biggy for me.
I am planning on adding round tubing to the sliders, not so much as a step, but to stick them out a little for protection of the side of the truck. Parking lot door dings and sliding in off camber situations into a rock or stump or something. Hopefully the round tubing will protect against that.
What you did would probably hold a couple hundred pounds of up force, but would hold alot of down force. However, our sliders are primarily for up force. The little welded on pieces on the side will buckle if to much pressure is put on them, you can pull on them just fine (just like you can pull on a rope but can't push it). However the side welds on the square tube should be sufficient if those are good welds (and the bottom weld) to hold more than enough weight.concretejungle said:
Nice work though!
alia176
SILVER Star
No, they will not explode. I've been bashing air sliders for about six years on two SUVs. At worst, you'll develop a hiss and all of the air will leak out. If this was a high press vessel with >1000 psi then I'd be concerned.
Here're couple of pics of turned cats and cat plate. Nothing fancy but does help! The tubes are 1.5" DOM that were added to George's sliders after the fact. I was too lazy to remove the sliders from the truck for welding and painting. The tubes stick out farther than most and do a great job. You do need to get used to getting in/out though! Only took one shin knocker to figure that out
Here're couple of pics of turned cats and cat plate. Nothing fancy but does help! The tubes are 1.5" DOM that were added to George's sliders after the fact. I was too lazy to remove the sliders from the truck for welding and painting. The tubes stick out farther than most and do a great job. You do need to get used to getting in/out though! Only took one shin knocker to figure that out
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George's sliders
Does anyone have any experience with George's sliders on a 93-94? Does the USDS front outrigger have to be modified for a 93-94. Any pics of George's sliders on 93-94? Thanks.
s
Does anyone have any experience with George's sliders on a 93-94? Does the USDS front outrigger have to be modified for a 93-94. Any pics of George's sliders on 93-94? Thanks.
s
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- #40
alia176, that last pic showing the white step rails is exactly what i was planning. Sweet.
