AMP steps / Rock Sliders

[scatter]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply here, been out and about. I made the rails out of 1/8" thick, 1-1/2" x 3" rectangular tube. I cut the ends at an angle and sealed 'em off and then welded a 1/8" thick, 1-1/2" strap full length along the back. The strap sticks up 1/2" above the top of the rail.
I then held the whole mess up under the van with the welded strap up against the body, and on the outside of where the inner and outer body panels come together, and drilled 5/16" holes thru the strap and double thick body panels. Make sure that you don't drill where there are any drain holes. I reused the two bolts that hold on the hoop steps and added nine others. I was going to weld several 3/4" x 3/4" tubes to the back of the rails and then fasten them to the frame. This really wouldn't make the rails hold any more weight, but it would resist the bending moment that would come from a vertical load right at the outside of the rails and also help with a side impact load. I've done this on my Bronco's and Jeep, but those rigs really took a beating. I figured the SMB will go nasty places but not really any hard core rock crawling so I left 'em off of this rig. Besides, I have plans for the open space between the inner body and the frame rail on the drivers side and didn't want to block off part of that. Anyway, the frame brackets would be easy to add if you want 'em.
As I mentioned, I can jack up the van with the rails the way they are and that should be good enough (yeah right) for me. Another reason I wanted the rails was to protect the rocker panels from flying rocks off the tires from high speed dirt driving and to hold up the side door stairs we attach when camping. (That's what the four little tabs on the passenger rail are for.
Anyway, here's some photos.



This is the passenger side rail



The driver's side



Front of rail


A wider rail could be used as a step and would protect the body more, but not what I wanted. Also, if you did go with a wider tube, the frame brackets wouldn't be a bad idea.
Anyway, I hope you guys can follow this. If not, let me know and I can take more pictures when I get 'em back from powder coating or I can draw up a little sketch.

[Jeffrey]

Scat,

VERY nice. This is the kind of thing I'm looking for. I had custom sliders on my Land Rover and have seen many types on land rovers and jeeps over the years. I also have the ability to fab them. My main concern is how to bolt to the frame, if possible. You mentioned bolting to the double thick body panels, or maybe passing fasteners through them to the frame?

I always consider rock sliders the most important point of protection on an off road vehicle. They have saved me numerous times while actually sliding over rocks until my tires contacted the ground again.

Anyone want to buy a nice set of nerfs?!!

[scatter]

OK kids. Here's the finished product. Just got 'em back from powder coating.


Here's The Finished Rails




The Drivers Side




The Passenger's Side With Steps Attached



As I mentioned, they do the job for me without getting in the way and it's nice to finally have the steps too.