Anyone running rock sliders??? How about skid plates??

[CDACamper]

Ok $2.5k is what I was thinking. What's the total depth of the slider? Im wondering how much room there is for your foot? Did you consider putting the sliders a few inches lower instead of tucked up close to the body? It would give less ground clearance but may help protect low hanging bits in the undercarriage. It would give more room for your foot on the step and the step wouldn't be quite as high for ease of access. I have been pondering this and I'm wondering if you have insight based on your experience. Do you know what the name of the plate material on top of the slider (has holes) that makes it look like a step. Was it fabricated or bought that way?
Thanks for the skid plate link and sorry for the rapid fire questions. Your feedback is appreciated!

[aarcaris]

Originally Posted by CDACamper

Ok $2.5k is what I was thinking.

Yeah, I'll let you know for sure where it ends up being when I get them back from powder coat. Hopefully it will be close to the $2.5k mark.

Originally Posted by CDACamper

What's the total depth of the slider?

The main portion of the slider is made up of a 2"x3" rectangular tube with .188 wall. This is held down from the van body so it hangs down slightly more than the 3" depth from the van body. The 1.75" DOM tube that creates the step is centered up on the rectangle tubing so the stepping surface is a little lower than the top of the 2"x3".

Originally Posted by CDACamper

Im wondering how much room there is for your foot?

The total width of the slider from the inside edge of the 2"x3" to the outside edge of 1.75" DOM tube is 6.5" We held the slider approximately 3/4" off the pinch seam which makes the distance from the pinch seam to outside edge about 7.25". The actual step part with the tread pattern is 4.5" wide. The goal was to keep the slider about in line with the fender flares mainly for aesthetics of it all.

Originally Posted by CDACamper

Did you consider putting the sliders a few inches lower instead of tucked up close to the body? It would give less ground clearance but may help protect low hanging bits in the undercarriage. It would give more room for your foot on the step and the step wouldn't be quite as high for ease of access. I have been pondering this and I'm wondering if you have insight based on your experience.

I looked at some different design ideas and options which included dropping it down lower to achieve a better step height but decided against that. The biggest reason was the look of it. For one I have always felt like the pinch seam of the body has looked a bit unfinished so having something that blends it into the body more felt like it would help fix that for me. Secondly from the look perspective I felt like not having any gap between the top of the step and the pinch seam is the best look. You could obviously still achieve this by having fill panels or something to bridge the gap if the step was lower but that didn't seem like the best solution to me. Then there came the functionality of a slider. Although I don't think I am lacking in ground clearance I still feel like the more ground clearance you can maintain the better. I have seen a fair amount of pictures of people getting hung up on steps that hang down (like the aluminess steps) and I wanted to avoid that. Lastly due to the frame being tucked up so high in comparison to the body the mounting situation is already not ideal. In most trucks, or jeeps sliders can be mounted with straight connections between the frame and slider but in our vans, they have to be angled a fair amount. My worry was increasing this angle even further would make it even harder to get enough strength out of the connection points.

So that is my long winded way of saying I had run through some options to bring the steps down lower, for me I couldn't find a way that I felt would look good and function properly.

Originally Posted by CDACamper

Do you know what the name of the plate material on top of the slider (has holes) that makes it look like a step. Was it fabricated or bought that way?

That style is called flared holes or "dimple died" panels. They are a fabricated part that first required the hole to be drilled or cut and then a hydraulic press with a dimple die is used to flare the metal out. Luckily for me my fabricator didn't even bat and eye when he saw my hole layout. Most sliders that have this feature usually use a single row of larger diameter holes to minimize the amount of work and allow for mud and muck to fall out. My concern with the larger diameter was it would be possible for my dog's paws to get stuck in the hole. So I went with a 1" diameter hole or a 3/4" flared to 1" and created a pattern that was cut on a CNC plasma table and then flared on the hydraulic press.

Originally Posted by CDACamper

Thanks for the skid plate link and sorry for the rapid fire questions. Your feedback is appreciated!

Of course and no apology for the questions happy to help where I can!

[CDACamper]

That's great info, thank you! I think that gives me enough to go on. Now I need to find a skilled local fabricator to tackle the job. Make sure you post up pics when you get them powder coated and installed.

[rizzabove]

Yep sliders are definitely worth the cost and time for an off road van in my opinion. I had mine custom fabbed. We did a bolt on design.

[kcshoots]

Originally Posted by CDACamper

I am considering adding rock sliders over the winter, and I'm looking for some feedback. I don't like the hoop steps that I currently have on my van. They can easily get ripped off, and the biggest issue is when you are stepping out of the van from the side barn doors, it is hard to see where the step is to know where to place your foot. My thought is that, like running boards, the sliders will run the length between the wheels, so you always know it will be underfoot and also add a level of protection.

Questions:
-Is my logic sound on the benefits above?
-Has anyone added sliders on their van, and what did you use? Custom or off the shelf?.

I installed Van Compass rock sliders on my 2016 4x4 Sprinter. While different than your E series, I really like the rock sliders for the reasons you state, that I always know they are there, they protect the entire length of the sill and side of van since they protrude a few inches out from the sill, and the van's weight can be supported by a rock or lift with weight spread along it's length between wheel wells. I also use them as the step to the interior slider door step. And they definitely add some protection to not just the sill and lower wall panels, but also everything underneath the van.

[aarcaris]

-After a few weeks, I got the sliders back from powder coating and was able to get them installed yesterday. For those that were curious about how strong they would be, I can confidently say they are very stout! They for sure added strength to the frame and we were surprised to see that any flex we could get in them was actually coming from the frame rails flexing and not the sliders themselves. Super happy with how they turned out and happy to have a slightly lower step into the van!

[bigriver]

Wow... outstanding!

[86Scotty]

@rizzabove and @aarcaris, very nice!

[schluchtenflitzer]

Originally Posted by CDACamper

1der, would you be able to jack the van up using those?

I think it is not possible to built really rocksliders for a van heavy like this. The frame is way to flexible (weak) and to far inside to handle this weight. Otherwise you have to built a subframe for the sliders and than your van will loose lots of clearance and you add weight like hell.
I tried this in the beginning of building VAnGO but i gave up because of that reasons.

[carpetwit]

Tim from Timberline Colorado custom-built my rock sliders and luckily I haven't been able to test them.
They are mounted to the frame and are tested to work as Jack points
Tim posted a short video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/_sJ7wIwPlL8

I really like the unobtrusive design, however, they are not quite helpful when getting into the van...