Strap on's or permanent fixtures

[concretejungle]

I would appreciate your opinions on the pros and cons of bolt on sliders vs. welded on sliders. Which do you prefer and why?

Trying to decide if i'm going to make George's sliders weld on's or bolt on's.

 

[Junk]

I prefer weld on personally. They can always be cut off and rewelded if need be. Generally, I think you can get slightly better clearance.

The above is what I would do if I were making my own. If I needed to buy a set that was already built, then you'll likely end up with bolt-ons. Bolt-ons can be just as strong and are easier to remove. Of course if someone is making sliders to sell, I would expect they would be bolt on since if you could weld you'd likely make some yourself.

I had previously been convinced that there was a big strength trade off on weld vs bolt on, but I no longer believe it. My sliders are welded on, but I have wheeled with some folks that have Christo's and his sliders are very solid.

Just make sure if you weld on George's, that you do all the right prep etc. I know of someone that was trying to right their truck after a roll that had a welded on slider 'plink' right off due to a non-bomber weld.

 

[concretejungle]

Junk, the only disadvantage i can see with weld on's is repairing something, such as the cats. Other than the cats, is there anything that you can think of that might get blocked by the sliders requiring them to be cut off to fix?

 

[reffug]

I like the bolt on's cause thats what I got. Plus it fun to disagree with junk. Also I tend to agree that the weld could be a problem when trying to get to something that needs fixing i.e. cat etc....

 

[nakman]

Man, I thought this thread was about something totally different...

Anyway, I'll post a vote for bolt-on. First reason, which is likely BS, but I've got this impression that welding to the frame could potentially weaken it. Again, probably hogwash take a look at your frame and all the welds already on it... then again, I'm not a welder so wtf do I know, needless to say I won't be welding anything to my truck.

Second point: what if something happens to my truck, and it's more cost effective to just start over? What if some dumbass slams into me, or I drive off into a creek, or my car catches on fire.. I dunno. But if that happens, I'll be snatching up another locked 80, then will promptly unbolt my front bumper, sliders, TC skid, rear bumper, CO2 mount, internal tire carrier, suspension, roof rack.. whatever else I stuck on the truck, and transfer all of that over to the next one. Let the insurance company total a 1996 Land Cruiser, not a built up truck that I've invested so much time and money into.

And your point above is totally valid too.. O2 sensors you can swap with sliders in place, but what if you did need to mess with the cats, or upgrade to a cat-back system? nice to be able to take the slider out of the picture, if needed. Or what if an even cooler slider becomes available in a couple years, and you want to sell your George's to someone and get something different?

So evaluate for yourself what's most important: strength, removability, portability, ease of install, quality, price... then you'll have your answer. The fact that you're upgrading & wheeling your truck is most important, the rest is just details, right?

 

[MoJ]

My dilemma - Not fabbing my own so I'm buying them. I'd prefer Slee's bolt on's but as I understand they don't have cat protection. HannaQ's do have the cat protection but I really don't want weld on's. So I thinking about getting Slee's and getting a local shop to fab the cat protection.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

What about a combo of the two? A weld-on slider that is unbolteable? Basically make mounts that weld to the frame, and then have the slider bolt to said mounts. I think it would be easier to fab both sets of mounts than trying to fabricate a set of mounts that bolts to the frame. Plus, I'm not crazy about u-bolts in this application, just seems odd to me.

Ary

 

[MoJ]

Arya-

I wasn't crazy about the u-bolts either but not worried now as there's a ton good praise out there for Slee's sliders. Wish I could speak for them first hand. I think ran across someone selling the weld/bolt combo you're talking about.

 

[ryanjl]

I think Slee's sliders have adequate enough protection against all but the most pointiest of rocks placed in the perfect position.

 

[clownmidget]

Hanna's are bolt-ons. The posts above seem to confuse that point.

Chris Geiger's (@Marlin) has some that are the combo I think. Check them as well.

All good points above but obviously depends on what you have in your garage. If you have a welder then do some weld ons. If you just have wrenches, do u-bolts.

This point has been beaten senseless but I'll reiterate, unless you have a bunch of time and some great fabrication skills (and even if you do!) it's really hard to beat the deals that Christo and Hanna have on these. $800 "might" seem like a lot but you get what you pay for.

Mike

 

[e9999]

I must say I'm amazed at seeing the small size of some of the Ubolts used out there. Can't bring myself to believe that they could hold the weight of the truck, although obviously the folks who have them say they've done it repeatedly...
weird...
E

 

[NorCalDoug]

I like the flexibility of bolt-on. If you do have to remove it, you can easily do so. And I've found the u-bolts supplied by Christo to be more than strong enough to support my rig on the sliders. Why weld if you don't have to?

 

[nakman]

Ary- what you suggest is a lot like how Christo fabbed up Scott Yoder's 4Runner sliders.. his rig is the green one at the bottom of this page http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/4runner_sliders.htm Basically he welded some receiver hitch-style pieces to the underside of the frame, then the slider essentially slid into them. But I believe before all was said and done the two components were welded together, not just bolted. There used to be a more in depth write up of that, but I couldn't find it today. Sorry for the hijack but this thread was pretty much done anyway, right? Search for "weld on, bolt on" if you need more on the original topic.

Best point made so far is to realize what you're getting when you pick up a set from George, Ken, or Christo.. a lot of work has gone into those things. I'll also attest to the "U-bolts have supported my whole truck" claim. $800 for Slee sliders has probably been the best money I've spent on my truck so far.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I'll probably be fabbing my own rails at some point because I couldn't even justify the $250 for sliders for my Heep. I have the materials and the ability, so why not? It won't be for a while, but when I do get around to it, I'll be sure to post up pics.

Ary

 

[concretejungle]

I appreciate the input. I'm in the process of fabing my own sliders. So far i'm about $100 deep in steel. I am using an angle grinder for most of the cuts. I'll try and post some pics up. I just don't think i want them welded on. I'm going the bolt-on route.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Ahh yes the good old days of using an angle grinder for your cuts(those days were only a year and a half ago for me ) I found that a cheap circular saw w/ an abrasive blade works very nicely. You can usually pick up an older quality circ saw for pretty cheap at yard sales if you spend a little bit of time. I've been spoiled lately being able to borrow a portaband from work, but those days are numbered.

For bolt-on mounting, I'm surprised I haven't seen anybody drilling through the frame and sleeving the holes(it's quite possible it's been done, I just haven't seen it). Seems like the mounts wouldn't need to hang below the frame rails this way.

Ary

 

[Beowulf]

I like the flexibility of bolt-on. [...] Why weld if you don't have to?

Agreed.

As one who paid someone else to build the sliders from George's plans I can say that it is not worth it based on the quality and price of the Slee bolt-on sliders and the Hanna bolt-on sliders.

If you have good fabrication skills, access to the equipment, and a lot of free time, then building your own is viable; though I sincerely doubt you will save any money after the material costs, prep costs, and having them powder coated at a high quality facility.

-B-

 

[concretejungle]

B, i think i'm going to use my new Milwaukee grinder with a 3m pad and sand/grind them nice and smooth then finish them with some 3m undercoating. Hell, they are just sliders and are going to get beat on anyways.

I have a fella helping me with mine. From our discussions and returning from the steel store, the cost should not exceed $350.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Beowulf, not that Slee's and Hanna's aren't absolutely quality products, but they're very pricey. I can build a set of sliders in a weekend and paint them(sliders get abused too much for powdercoat IMO) for about $100 in steel and $10 in paint. I have more time than money at this point in my life/career, so it makes sense to build them myself. I guess when you take into account the $$ for the welder and the time it took to learn welding etc that the cost is higher than just time & material, but I do this for fun, so I don't see those as costs.

Anyway, I respect the time/money/R&D/skill/etc that undoubtedly goes into Slee's and Hanna's products, and if I had $800 to drop on sliders, I would more than likely purchase them from one of those two manufacturers. In the mean time, however, I will continue building stuff myself until my money outweighs my freetime.

Ary

 

[Beowulf]

... they are just sliders and are going to get beat on anyways.

Agreed. My $250+ powder coating is trashed; at least on the underside of the sliders.

-B-