Bolt on vs. weld on sliders

bigreen505

bigreen505

Expedition Leader
Is there any significant disadvantage to bolt on sliders? This is going on the Trooper, not a rock buggy, and not on overly difficult trails either.

My concern is that magnesium chloride, this horrible gunk that CDOT floods the roads with in the winter, is the most corrosive substance I've ever seen, and I want to be able to repaint or replace the sliders as necessary as they chip and rust.
 
Scott Brady

Scott Brady

Founder
I prefer the bolt on. If you do get damage, all it takes is a few bolts to install a new one.

My bolt-ons have been flawless.
 
vanguard

vanguard

Adventurer
They say bolt ons are nice because you can take them off for touch up paint. Trust me, that's not really true. Sliders are pretty heavy and it's *far* easier to just put a piece of cardboard between the sliders and truck to "rattlecan it" than to remove them and reinstall them. Heck, I didn't even take them off to fix a bad weld. (I made my own.)

I like Scott's idea that you can easily return them if they don't hold up. I also question the way many sliders are welded on. Some people just have a tube welded to the frame. No plate, no gussets, etc. Bolt on sliders are typically designed with a nice L or better yet, U shapped bracket.
 
articulate

articulate

Expedition Leader
bigreen505 said:
Is there any significant disadvantage to bolt on sliders? This is going on the Trooper, not a rock buggy, and not on overly difficult trails either.

My concern is that magnesium chloride, this horrible gunk that CDOT floods the roads with in the winter, is the most corrosive substance I've ever seen, and I want to be able to repaint or replace the sliders as necessary as they chip and rust.
Click to expand...
Based on these comments to your question, I beg to ask: What's the advantage to weld-on sliders?
 
RAM5500 CAMPERTHING

RAM5500 CAMPERTHING

OG Portal Member #183
Another vote for bolt on sliders. I have the bolt on hannas and couldnt be happier.

Another good point a fellow cruiserfreak brought up what is your vehicle is financed (or even if it isnt) and you get into an accident with WELD on sliders, could the insurance folks deny you $ because you did (in theory) alter the frame by welding to it?
 
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mountainpete

mountainpete

Spamicus Eliminatus
articulate said:
Based on these comments to your question, I beg to ask: What's the advantage to weld-on sliders?
Click to expand...

They are always cheaper then bolt-on. Often up to $200 cheaper.
 
bigreen505

bigreen505

Expedition Leader
articulate said:
Based on these comments to your question, I beg to ask: What's the advantage to weld-on sliders?
Click to expand...

I thought they were stronger and generally the preferred way to install them. Guess I thought wrong! Cool, one more way I get to have my cake and eat it too.
 
ShearPin

ShearPin

Adventurer
Light it Up

An ex-boyfriend of my sisters who I ran trails with from time to time wanted sliders on his Jeep Grand Cherokee (probably a' '94 or '95). I tried to dissuade him from taking the easy root with a unibody vehicle and simply welding box steel under the doorframes. For the repair reasons already mentioned plus the potential for cracks given body flex - didn't seem like a good idea to me.

He persuaded a friend of his to do the welding. They guy tacked it then proceeded to weld. By the time he reached the front fenders smoke started coming out of every seam with some paint bubbling on the fender. Couldn't help but laugh. After the fire was extinguished we found a block of styrofoam type sound deading material behind the fender had ignited.

Having worked primarily on old Land Rovers the idea of sound deadning material never occured to me.....

Henry
www.4x4freedom.com
 
Ursidae69

Ursidae69

Expedition Leader
asteffes said:
Bolt-ons do not alter the heat treatment of the truck frame.
Click to expand...


I bought the DO frame reinforcements and plan to weld them on later this fall. Is this heat treatment issue something that will cause problems later or what?
 
E

erin

Explorer
I'm curious as to the heat treatment also. I would have thought that frame steel would just be mild steel with no heat treatment so as to allow it to flex. Treated steel would be more rigid, but also more brittle in regards to over flexing the frame. I would also think from a crash prespective, OEM's would prefer the softer steel so as to absorb more impact in a collision.
 
ZooJunkie

ZooJunkie

Explorer
asteffes said:
Bolt-ons do not alter the heat treatment of the truck frame.
Click to expand...

That depends on the steel and the forming process the car manufacturer used. Mild steel (low carbon steel) should not require heat treatment, because heat treatment will not further strengthen the steel. If the manufacturer like most modern companies, will or may have imployed hydroforming to form the steel box section. Which would not not require heat to form the steel, the steel is not required to be heat treated. Also, we're talking about a small section of welded mild steel on the frame, it's not enough to weaken to a point where your frame is in danger of collasping in on itself.

I guess this is up for debate. :)
 
W

waskillywabbit

Observer
Boston Mangler said:
Another vote for bolt on sliders. I have the bolt on hannas and couldnt be happier.

Another good point a fellow cruiserfreak brought up what is your vehicle is financed (or even if it isnt) and you get into an accident with WELD on sliders, could the insurance folks deny you $ because you did (in theory) alter the frame by welding to it?
Click to expand...

Bolt on vx. welded eh? I think it boils down to preference.

Welding to the frame is altering it? I guess technically you could say that, but I doubt your insurance company would much like all the HOLES you drilled in it either...now that is definitely altering it.

I bet you a set of weld on sliders I could remove a set of weld on sliders so that you never knew they were there 10 times easier and faster than a set of bolt on sliders that has drilled countless holes in the frame rails.

Drilling holes (you don't replace the metal) only weakens the frame structurally. Welding something to it properly only strengthens the frame structurally.

:elkgrin:
 
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