Rock slider concept
Posted: 22 Mar 2019 16:54
Often I get ideas in the middle of the night. The problem is I never knew which are the good ones and which are the bad ones.
Some of you know that the concept behind my rock-sliders is to feed (and spread) the loads directly into the whole sill area, instead of passing them to the chassis the way most South Africans believe it should be done.
There are two reasons I do it this way. Firstly because a set of brackets strong enough to do the same job would weigh many many kilograms, and secondly because, since the chassis and body move separately, thus the sliders have to be mounted at least 15-20mm away from the body, thus lowering clearance even further.
But even so, the sliders I make are still extremely heavy (between 55 and 67kg depending on model).
And typically Patrols have two problems: belly clearance and being overweight. I know my car is lower than most, but I often smack my rock sliders pretty hard long before the rest of the chassis (which is still about 50mm lower) touches.
So here's the concept: a contoured piece of metal glued to the bottom of the sill, covering basically the whole area from 10mm below the joint right at the bottom to the edge of the door, held in place with the same type of silicon adhesive/sealant now used to fit the windscreens on modern cars.
The advantage is much lower weight (16kg for the set) and less effect on clearance (10mm instead of 60-70mm), the disadvantage is that one loses whatever protection the sliders deliver to the doors, and the loss of having a step. To my mind, assuming "rocksliders" not "side steps" (AKA Tinfoil trappies) the stepping surface of the slider is so close to the door that it doesn't make much difference.
Some thoughts please?
Some of you know that the concept behind my rock-sliders is to feed (and spread) the loads directly into the whole sill area, instead of passing them to the chassis the way most South Africans believe it should be done.
There are two reasons I do it this way. Firstly because a set of brackets strong enough to do the same job would weigh many many kilograms, and secondly because, since the chassis and body move separately, thus the sliders have to be mounted at least 15-20mm away from the body, thus lowering clearance even further.
But even so, the sliders I make are still extremely heavy (between 55 and 67kg depending on model).
And typically Patrols have two problems: belly clearance and being overweight. I know my car is lower than most, but I often smack my rock sliders pretty hard long before the rest of the chassis (which is still about 50mm lower) touches.
So here's the concept: a contoured piece of metal glued to the bottom of the sill, covering basically the whole area from 10mm below the joint right at the bottom to the edge of the door, held in place with the same type of silicon adhesive/sealant now used to fit the windscreens on modern cars.
The advantage is much lower weight (16kg for the set) and less effect on clearance (10mm instead of 60-70mm), the disadvantage is that one loses whatever protection the sliders deliver to the doors, and the loss of having a step. To my mind, assuming "rocksliders" not "side steps" (AKA Tinfoil trappies) the stepping surface of the slider is so close to the door that it doesn't make much difference.
Some thoughts please?
