Homemade Rock Sliders

Planning on doing the homemade rock sliders to replace my rusted away rocker panels. I've got a got a few questions.
1) What size steel tubing should I use?
2) What length? I've found 60.5" for the pre 97 but I'm not sure if post 97 is the same.
3) Where did you weld it in? Directly to the unibody seems like the best bet but I'm not sure if there's anywhere else.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WneMlAvTRo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oNpJ6_mfFo are both good resources for this project.

All the rockers I build bolt on, the pinch rail is the key.

Rocker replacements? 2x6x0.25" rectangular tube steel. Cut to length on your vehicle as fender trimming varies between owners.

Bolt on rock sliders? If you're DIY'ing it, no point. Better off welding rocker replacements in place.

Be careful with weld on sliders. The previous owner welded sliders on and the shop that installed my cage welded to the siders then came time to fix my saggy door and the sliders were blocking the fender bolts. I also wanted to swap my leaf springs and the sliders were in the way again.

NebraskaXJ said:

Planning on doing the homemade rock sliders to replace my rusted away rocker panels. I've got a got a few questions.
1) What size steel tubing should I use?
2) What length? I've found 60.5" for the pre 97 but I'm not sure if post 97 is the same.
3) Where did you weld it in? Directly to the unibody seems like the best bet but I'm not sure if there's anywhere else.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Be careful, you will want to give your money to these guys: https://www.hooliganoffroad.com/collections/xj

https://www.hooliganoffroad.com/collections/xj/products/xj-2x6-rocker-replacement-kit

If you put a good amount of weight on that slider it will bend up and if its close to the doors then it will hit. I have 1/4 supports going to the plated Unibody and its amazing how much it will move.

I went with 2x3 1/8 inch thick square tubing (keep in mind I'm nearly stock), 3x3 angle iron at the unibody frame rails with a 1x1 piece of angle at the pinch seam. I used some 2inch 1/8inchish thick round tubing for the "legs" going from the 2x3 tubing to the rails themselves. I bolted to the unibody frame with 4 self tappers and used grade 8 hardware on the pinch seam.

Probably later I'll add some "kickouts" but the last few times I used these rails they worked fine

Someone suggested I cut out my rockers and do rocker replacement sliders but I didn't want to do that because I want to keep this Jeep in largely stock condition.

RCP Phx said:

All the rockers I build bolt on, the pinch rail is the key.

Click to expand...

Did you add frame stiffeners before rails?

No, the only thing they tie into that's not normal is the rear spring pocket and a roll cage.