Howdy,

Have a Rubicon with factory sliders. Are aftermarket ones a lot better / stonger?

Preferences?

Blue Mesa

 

Lots of people looking at this.

Any Rubicon people change theirs out?

I know there's lots of opinions,

Let's hear 'em!

Blue Mesa

 

I haven't changed mine out yet but will after I get more mile on the jeep. It depends on what after market sliders you get. Some bolt the the same spot as stock and some aftermarket bot to the frame.

 

So far my stock ones are holding up. No big hits, just dragging. My plan, partly because I am poor, is to avoid big hits. After every wheeling trip I am going to inspect them and make sure they haven't gotten closer to the body.

I have added real "bolt on the body" substantial sliders on my previous two Jeeps. They took an incredible amount of abuse without any real damage. I don't expect the stock parts to hold up as well, but I am trying to avoid abuse. Hopefully we won't see a body panel wrinkling issue like some TJs had. That prompted many TJ owners to go the slider route.

 

I think the Rubi sliders are pretty weak. They might hold up to minor rubbing on a tree stump but much more than that and they'll change shape. I plan on making my own later on, probably after I damage the stock ones! Most any of the aftermarket sliders are going to be stronger than the stock ones but I don't know which ones are the best.

 

I couldn't disagree more. I have pounded the heck out of mine. No damage, other than scraping the finish off. I talked with several very experienced Jeepers and they all agree that they are very tough. I'm not saying there without fault, but I'll add some detail about this below.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. I've been in several spots where it would have been nice to have some more distance between me and some rocks.
Another issue that I have with the Rubi Rock Rails, is that they catch tons of small rocks between the rock rails and the body .
Now for some shameless self promotion: I've been thinking about developing a kit to add a tube to the stock rock rails. Now I've not done more than climb under the JK and try to picture a solution at this point, but I haven't seen any deal killers for this project yet. The criteria that I've set for the project, is of course testing on rocks, but also to make sure that you can lift the JK from the tube, with a highlift jack. Realistically this project is about 3 months out, but I'd really like to hear if anybody has any interest in such a project. Who would want a bolt on kit? If I can't get a bolt on kit to work, who would be interested in a weld on kit? Oh, I'm working on a solution for the rocks between the body and rock rails too.