Rock Sliders or Rocker Guards are an important addition to any vehicle that spends time offroad. Whether you are an avid rock crawler or exploring class-4 roads. Rock sliders protect the vulnerable area of your vehicle while also providing a jack point and a step bar all in one.

The Benefits of Rock Sliders

The main purpose of a rock slider is to protect the rocker panel of a vehicle from being damaged while offroading. Rocker panels are the lowest part on the body of the vehicle found below the doors. When rocker panels are damaged they are extremely expensive to replace and when damaged can interfere with opening and closing of doors.

When you're offroading on serious trails or a gravel road you can encouter plenty of obstacles that can cause damage to your vehicle. On a gravel back road you may come across a downed tree that seems small enough to travel over but once your front tire comes down it could be too late. The same will happen on a offroad trail but way more frequently and that's what makes offroading so much fun. But you have to protect your investment. Peoples quick response to avoiding your vehicles body making contact with obstacles is to lift your vehicle. That's true! You will gain more room between your vehicle and the ground but, no trail is the same an certainly no trial is flat or without obstacles and the inevitable will happen.

Rock slides act as a Swiss Army knife when it comes to uses. Their main purpose is to protect the rocker panel. While offroading an uneven trail with rocks and roots will make contact with the lowest parts of a vehicle. The rock sliders will take the impact of the rocks rather than the thin steel of the rockers. The thick steel of the slider wont fold, keeping it's shape, the vehicle can continue forward down the trail.

Most rock sliders have steel directly under the rocker panel but then add another tube a few inches away from the body. This tube protects from a side impact and also acts as a step ladder. If your stuck in the mud and you need a place to stand or your vertically challenged co-driver needs a boost into the vehicle the additional tube comes in handy.

Typically when jacking up a vehicle the jack has to be placed under the axle or a designated jacking point determined by the manufacturer. While offroading getting a jack under the vehicle may not be an option based on the situation. Depending on what part of the vehicle broke will determine if jacking the vehicle up from the axle is an option. Similarly depending on the trail will also determine where you will be able to jack the vehicle from. If the trail is ruff and rocky finding a flat spot under the vehicle to jack from can be tough.

The strength of the rock slider makes it a great place to jack the vehicle from and gives you more locations to jack the vehicle from since the sliders run from the front fender to behind the passenger door. Many offroad jacks have an adapter to safely jack from rock sliders.

Rock Sliders and Step Bars

Understanding the difference between a factory step bar and rock sliders is very important. While step bars look rugged nowadays, step bars will not withstand the abuse rock sliders are designed for. Step bars are just that, designed to assist entering and exiting a vehicle. Made out of light steel or aluminium to conserve weight a step bar bolts to a vehicle with small brackets. While offroading if a step bar makes contact with the ground, rock or stump they will crush, bend or break.

Rock sliders are built out of thick steel tubing, the same material roll cages are made from to protect race car drivers from impacts. Rock sliders are designed to withstand the weight of the vehicle when resting against an object and resist bending.

Mounting rock sliders to a vehicle is done in two ways. fist, sliders can be welded onto the vehicles frame. This is the strongest way to attach them it's also very permanent. The second way to attach sliders is bolting them to the frame. The mounting brackets are made of thick steel that bolt to the frame with Grade 8 steel bolts. The only drawback to bolt-on sliders is the bolts can get damaged by rocks making removal later very difficult.

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Add Rock Sliders to your vehicle and protect the vehicle you worked so hard to build. Stop by our shop or visit us online to find rock sliders for your vehicle today.