Hello all,

So the last piece of armor I'm considering for my 2013 JK is side protection. I'm looking at rockers that also have a step so my tiny wife can more easily climb up into the thing after the 3" lift and 35's are mounted. I'm looking at the Smittybilt SRC and two off-brand competitors E-autogrilles (same as my bumpers) and Tyger (never heard of them). I don't plan to wheel too heavily, trails, no real rock crawling in my future. I mostly hunt and fish and would like to be able to go out with the local jeep club and hit some trails every now and again.

The question I have is with the mounting. I'm worried that if I do bash the sides of my jeep into a rock that the tabs which hold these out will simply bend the rockers up and into the wall/lip of my jeep. Is this something that happens? Both the E-auto and SRC utilize the body mounts, and the Tyger is bolted to the frame. I'll post pictures and I'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences. In my simple mind, the Tyger presents the most secure mounting with bolts on the bottom and side of the frame.


First are the SRC:

Here are the e-autogrilles:

Last are the Tyger:


Furthermore, if someone has a better product they'd like to recommend, I'm certainly all ears. Bear in mind I'd like to stay below $400 on this component and the step for my wife is a must. Thanks for any insight!

 

I've got the smittybilt ones. I'm 230 and stand on them all the time washing the roof or getting in the jeep. Some have had trouble with mounting holes needing to be enlarged. I didn't. I really dig them. Not sure how they'd hold up bashing a rock but they do what I need them to.

 

ACE rock rails are the way to go. I beat the b*lls out of mine. They don't mind or move. Just a couple dents and some scratching. I dropped my passenger side onto a rock off at least a foot drop. I thought I destroyed something. Only a little dent on the tube. Great product. Super easy install. Can't be beat

2015 JKUR, Anvil, 3.5" AEV, 35x12.5R17 Nitto Trail Grapplers, Bestop Trektop Pro, TruckLites, Poison Spyder Stubby, Smittybilt 12.5 XRC, Red Prolink, EVO rear bumper cover, Banks CAI & Cat Back,

 

Cool, thanks for the info! I did a little research and if I already had stock rubi rails I'd definitely go this route. Otherwise that gap offering a view of the pinch seam is really unsightly. However, I notice that they are mounted exactly the same way as the smittybilt and e-auto rails, which increases my confidence there.

Appreciate it!

 

I had Smittybilt ones and im glad i replaced them. They hang too low so your loosing 3-4 inches of ground clearance. Tubes are very weak. Landed gently on small log and it bented the tubing.

Replaced them with EVO weld on to frame sliders. Took it to trail that has big rocks and banged sliders multiple times. When i came out to inspect my damage, i could not find any except for paint scratch. Had i smittybilt sliders, they would have stayed on the trail.

This is my experience. Take it or leave it

 

I was wondering how much clearance you lose with that double bar setup. Thank you.

 

I have LOD sliders in the mail. A little over budget at $530 shipped but you get what you pay for. Frame mounted so they will be very solid and a very well built product all around.

 

Smittybilt are the budget ones I went with. First time out, I went over a log, and the log jumped back up and flexed the rail into the pinch seam.


However, having just been a a couple trails I should have avoided, I scraped the heck out of them, and they held up very well keeping the rocks and stumps off the body, and they did not flex up this time. If you are not rock crawling, this or the E's would be the way to go. I have heard issues of the E's powder coat not holding up though.
I also had no real issues with hole alignment.
I had about 600 lbs of people standing on the one side and they remained solid as well.
Clearance? They don't hang any lower than the frame. yes, off camber you'd loose some clearance, but it has so far not been an issue for me.

 

Ok. This is exactly my fear, but I suppose at the end of the day a bent pinch seam isn't the end of the world. Truthfully, as long as they're not hanging down below the frame that is probably going to be alright for me, too. I don't plan to do a whole heck of a lot of actual rock crawling, so if I find myself trying to flex over a boulder that needs the extra 1" of diagonal clearance there, I should probably just go hunt turkey somewhere else.

Thanks for the perspective!

 

I have the ACE rock sliders, but i haven't have a chance to test them out yet, i just got them last week
My 3 little ones are using the sliders as steps, so i know for a fact they're more pleased than me in that regards
Took me literally 20 min to install them, and mainly because i had to clean the dust on my breaker bar, jaja, if you don't have one, you may need some muscles to get the body mount bolts out , a pry bar will make this job a breeze.
I'll know more about their durability in the following week or so, but they do have a lifetime warranty, so i'm not really worried about that, they look great, they seem fully functional with their design, and i'm sure they should get the job done.
20150824_175128 by SilverFJ RSM, on Flickr

20150824_180217 by SilverFJ RSM, on Flickr