Offroaders, how many wheel with slider?

[bmxking5]

I just had mine made a couple of weeks ago: .120 wall, 1.5" DOM, with 3 frame mounts.
Pics are in my sig.

 

[Rick]

...at least from the Amish shop I deal with.

Did you tell them it's for a horse drawn rock crawler

 

[JDraper]

Well, since they're for Ben, that just might be true ! He'll probably need a couple of horses to help him wheel

The Amish are not exactly what everyone perceives them to be. They will use modern technology if it suits their needs. The shop I deal with uses Mig welders, tube benders, lathes, mills, etc. They have a phone and a fax machine, and the owner (who is also Amish) drives a 1998 Explorer.

 

[Savage Wolf]

great ben's sliders are going to look almost the same as mine looks like I'm going to need to change mine then... but really they look good, if it wasnt for the fact that I had the stuff I used already laying around I would have gone with 1/4" thick tube and pull-pin mount like the ones Gloria was making
my current sliders I made more as steps and to keep the imports out from under my truck

 

[JDraper]

This is the third set I will have installed with this design. The first set was one of Gloria's that I put on Karol's truck. I liked the way hers were designed, so I copied a good portion of the ones I make from them. I also made Doug's sliders, but they don't have the pin mount (Ben's won't either), they are just bolted to the frame. Using the pin mount style proved to be somewhat of a PITA when I mounted them on Karol's truck so I decided to just go with the bolt on design.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll be working on a Gen II front bumper design this summer . I'm thinking of taking the bumper I made for my sammy and upsizing it for Explorers.

 

[Blee1099]

great ben's sliders are going to look almost the same as mine looks like I'm going to need to change mine then... but really they look good, if it wasnt for the fact that I had the stuff I used already laying around I would have gone with 1/4" thick tube and pull-pin mount like the ones Gloria was making
my current sliders I made more as steps and to keep the imports out from under my truck

The only difference between your sliders & mine are that mine will be used on the trails.

 

[JDraper]

Well, Ben's sliders are now installed. Here's a couple of pix of them going in:

The mounts we made for the frame:

Front mount in place:

Rear mount in place:

Test fitting the bar:

Bar mounts welded on:

Bars installed !!

It took us about 8 hours to build and install the bars....

 

[bmxking5]

Nice job Draper. It almost looks like you've made sliders before. :thumsbup:

 

[JDraper]

Nice job Draper. It almost looks like you've made sliders before. :thumsbup:

Gee, I "almost" might have!! :mattmoon:

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Ben/Jeff

I'd love to see a pic off the frame mount to "outrigger" bar. I really like the your design, and would appreicate any tips.

DeRocha and I are going to be building a pair of sliders for our trucks soon.

 

[JDraper]

Ben/Jeff

I'd love to see a pic off the frame mount to "outrigger" bar. I really like the your design, and would appreicate any tips.

DeRocha and I are going to be building a pair of sliders for our trucks soon.

After doing 3 sets of these, IMHO, the easiest way to build them is to first get the frame mounts in place (just a piece of 1/4" x 4" wide flat stock) and temporarily bolted down, then bring the slider into the location you want it, measure the distance from the frame mounts to the slider and cut your outriggers to that length. While the slider is sitting in the position you want, mark it as to where the outriggers are to go. Take everything out and weld the outriggers to the sliders. Then, reposition the sliders and tack weld the outriggers to the frame mounts. After that is done, remove the frame mounts and finish the welds.

I also recommend using a stiffener between the top of the frame mount and the outriggers. It made a big difference on Ben's sliders as far as vertical stiffness. Check out http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133670 for more pictures. Scroll down to the bottom for close up of the frame mounts and the stiffeners.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Thanks!

Those pics look great.

Did you do any re-inforcing to the frame, or just bolt through the thin metal?

 

[JDraper]

The front mounts actually go through the boxed frame section so you'll need long bolts there. The rear just bolt directly to the frame with fender washers behind them. You could put a re-inforcing plate on the rear ones, but it hasn't appeared to be necessary so far. The C-Channel will flex a little if you lift the truck off the ground, but that's not a problem.

 

[leebo]

Jeff, have you had any problems with the welded to the mount?? If you rember how Gloria had hers bolted into the "hitch", that's how mine were as well. I've got mine removed right now, and I'm not sure I want to fight them back into the correct spot to get the bolt into them. I'm debating about welding them into the mount and saving o'well. Just wondering about any problems if you've had any.

Here's a pic about the mounts I've got
http://www.explorer4x4.com/zimnerffront.jpg

 

[JDraper]

Lee, I haven't seen any problems with any of the sets that I've done so far. The ones I bought from Gloria are now on Karol's (ExplorerEB96) truck, and the alignment issue with the receivers is one of the reasons I went to a solid mount on the subsequent sets I've built. Right now Doug and Blee1099 have sliders that I made on, and Parli22 is on the list to get a set made. As far as I know, neither Doug or Ben has had any issues with the one piece sliders.