Rock rails - can anyone recommend? - Page 5

Greggd · 05-03-2010, 07:53 PM

I wish that I could find the photograph of one of our Quigley's with the mangled body from Rock Slider's that were attached to the Body . I would not even consider that as a viable option for the protection of your Van . When I wrinkled our Quigley it took a 1,000.00 dollar
repair to a 3,400.00 repair because the whole lower panel had to be cut out and replaced
as per (FOMOCO) dealership .
Greggde

cellularSTEVE · 05-03-2010, 11:22 PM

I am still interested but agree with Ron and Gregg. I would only do it if they were frame mounted. Keep us posted, please.

steve

TwinStick · 05-04-2010, 10:29 AM

ANYTHING other than frame mount would not hold up if you really ever use them as rock sliders. Mounting to the body, IMO, is just for looks & a step in. Frame is THE strongest point on the vehicle, so, IMO, it is a no-brainer, mount them to the frame. The ones on our Power Wagon are frame mounted in 4 spots, with 24 grade 8 bolts per side, 48 total.

AndrewST · 05-04-2010, 10:05 PM

Update: 5 would be interested.

I called him today... he still didn't have time to put together a price !

As I will go to San Fransisco next week, I will swing by to talk with him and will try to get the cost as soon as possible.

While I am there, I will ask if he could do a frame mounted version. Will keep you posted.

cellularSTEVE · 05-05-2010, 11:28 PM

Sounds great. Thanks Andrew!

steve

AndrewST · 05-14-2010, 11:38 AM

It was good that I went by, I got a cost.

The body mounted rock sliders as the picture costs $ 860.59 incl. tax

If you want him to mount them it would be $225.- additionnal.

He is looking into the body mounted one but one problem could rise to have one made for all is that Sportsmobile underbody has loads of items installed underbody and they may all be in different mounting places.

If you are interested, PM me and I give you his contact so you deal direct with him.

I am waiting for the cost of the frame mounted one and will get back as I get it.

jage · 05-15-2010, 09:04 AM

Frame mounted and NOT body mounted right? I had Rock Rails on my Cherokee that frame mounted and then attached to the pinch weld, but that's a unibody. The frame and body on the van need to flex independently, and those rails are nice, but just extending them to the frame sounds like a bad idea.

Which brings me to... if the nice thing about those are that they are tucked to the body and look good, and they are not appropriate for also frame mount, then a frame mount application is going to be unique and new, and if unique and new, why constrain yourself to this guy?

I actually think his rails are great for what they are- catch a rock and you won't bang up the underbody. They are way more protection then the steps or nothing, but you can't stand the van on them, hi-lift from the side, etc. For all of that I think, again, it's really a different application- body armor (what he's got) vs. rock rails (an actual factual use the rails as part of your driving surface...)

Whether you NEED true rock rails is a totally different discussion, I'm just wondering if it would make more sense to check with other people about producing them.

AndrewST · 05-16-2010, 12:28 PM

The price above is for the body mounted one.

I want to see what he come's up on a frame mounted one.

Jage I agree with you, I am not tied to him and am open to other manufacturing options.
I may end up doing my own design and have it manufactured or do the first one myself

And yes the rock sliders work fine on a jeep which is short and light, on a van, I do not think it could be used as such but could provide some good protection.

Stumpalump · 05-17-2010, 10:49 AM

I think those body mounted sliders are just dandy. Thinking they are DOM and mounted very well you would be speading any load over a very long section of body. To build off of the frame then you are putting all of the side load on the frame rail. If they are mounted solid to the frame then you are changing the way the frame is suposed to flex. The other problem is that the body is as low as the frame bottom so you would have to come down off of the frame adding more leverage and weight. On a hit they will flex up and contact the body anyway so building them close to the body and plan for that type of contact. The other thing is as heavy as these vans are and with all the crap we have bolted to the body then a body mounted tube that long acting to stiffen the body may keep the flex and associate squeeks and creeks down in a better place to stiffen.

Crawl under the rig and see how stought the factory body reinforcing is from the outside to the frame. It's almost got a unibody frame under the body that goes to the frame mount. That would be the place to jack the slider from if you had too in a pinch.