PsychoCupcake

PsychoCupcake

I'm going to jump in on this thread now too. I exchanged emails with VKS last night as I am having a similar issue, although perhaps a more extreme case. I'll second what Skull Daddy said, shortly after painting and mounting my Prerunner sliders, I noticed lines in the paint on the long tube of the sliders that runs parallel to the bottom pinch seam. It was clear that something was flexing and pushing the seam into the slider. I wasn't too worried about this at first, but my later issue is definitely a problem.

I went wheeling a couple of weeks ago and took a hard hit to the passenger side slider (albeit at very slow speed). Anyone that knows me is fully aware that I don't own some mall crawler. I wheel relatively hard, and I get that dents, dings, and scratches are part of the game. What isn't okay with me though, is when something that is supposed to protect my Jeep actually ends up causing damage.

Long story short, the slider mounting plates bent. One ripped the lower bolt out of the frame and stripped the threads. The slider jammed up so hard into the body that bulged the lower quarter panel and cracked the paint. I also have chipped paint and dents in my rocker from where the slider impacted it. See previous post for pics.

The response from VKS is that I should have welded the mounts to the frame. I would argue that other frame mounted sliders on the market don't require you to do that and don't end up with this sort of a problem. Additionally, welding to the frame comes at a cost. Any auto manufacturer will tell you that the frame is heat treated steel and welding to it changes the properties. So weld away, but do it knowing that you are changing the strength properties of the frame. And God forbid your sliders bend or twist or jam up into the body, and then you are cutting those welds off to remove them.

My plan is to make new frame mounts using 1/4" steel instead of 3/16". They will be boxed and gusseted, instead of using round tube.

I'll mention that I absolutely love the way my sliders LOOKED. I just think the mounting setup left something to be desired and I'll try to remedy it on my own. (Also thanks to SDG for letting me hijack your thread with such a long post.)

DJ1

.....very interesting because I haven't fully mounted my VKS set yet since I was still screwing around getting the rest of the EVO rockskin install completed.....


.....hmmmm these maybe going on the selling block. Fresh gloss black powder coat. Who's interested lol


Psycho, you've got the same lower door hinge pinch I got running the ACE body mount sliders....


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BoraBora

This is why I bought RockSkins.

Welded the VKS frame mounted (EVO look alike) sliders on a year ago, and haven't had any issues. The RockSkins also covered the huge dents from where the stock Rubi Rails flexed into the sheet metal.

The body mounts are going to have some play when you're off camber...they're rubber. The sliders can contact the body when you're resting your Jeep on it, but the RockSkins, or whatever other rocker protection you buy, will be right there instead of your paper thin sheet metal.

I don't like body mounted sliders. I like wheeling without having to worry about the sheet metal.

PsychoCupcake

Ya I've got some aluminum Poison Spyder rocker armor sitting in my living room. I'm thinking it's time to put those on.

BoraBora

...so weld them on if you're seriously abusing them.

DJ1

The body mounts suck, that's a given but I'm surprised the VKS is flexing. There are rigs running frame bolt-ons like White Knuckle and LOD and this type of crap isn't happening.

There are a few that have actually bolted on the EVO's that are supposed to be welded on and those haven't flexed from what I know of....




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PsychoCupcake

Yep exactly my point. I know plenty of people running the bolt on LOD sliders that aren't having this issue. Same goes for bolt on Shrockworks, etc.

I don't know if it's a difference in plate thickness... I can't recall if the other companies are using 1/4" or 3/16". I know a lot of places use square tube instead of VKS using round. I also know a boxed and gusseted construction would be stronger. Poison spyder uses boxed plate for the frame mounted ones.

DJ1

Just glancing around, White Knuckle and LOD use squared tube and only have 2 extensions to the frame from what I can tell. EVO uses round tube BUT their 2-door sliders have 3 extensions to the frame versus 2 on VKS.....


Decisions, decisions....

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BoraBora

I really don't think the sliders are to blame here.

The body mounts are rubber, and therefore the body will have some play. If your sliders are aggressively angled towards the body, it's probably gonna touch. I'm pretty sure there was another thread on this somewhere, and it's why I welded my sliders ~0.5" lower than I wanted to.

The tubing on the sliders, ESPECIALLY these VKS ones, is not going to bend enough to make contact with the body, and magically bend back. The frame mounts are gusseted to the tubing, and there's about an inch worth of distance between the body and the slider. $200 in rocker armor and you'll never have to worry about any of this...

Edit: took another look...my VKS frame mounts have way more gussets.