Rock Sliders - Who's The Best?

Due to unforeseen expenses I have to sell my Mobtown offroad sliders. Thread in 3rd Gen market place with details.

 

Actually, most of the vendors have these pics. If not on their websites, in their vendor forum--both wheels off the ground. Not taking anything from Mobtown as they have some unique design features, just that 90% of these are fully capable of supporting the truck regardless of gusset design.

example: SOS

 

I haven't looked at any vendor images except the one you posted. However, specific to the one you posted, the load of the vehicle is distributed over 2 point sources. In the Mobtown photo, they used a single highlift, meaning the load was concentrated on one point source. I'm not saying the other vendors cannot lift via one point source, however this image does not display it.

Also, it is well documented that most vendors have a cantilever end towards the rear of the slider. This is the weak point. When using a highlift here or coming down hard on a rock here, their sliders have been known to bend up into the cab. Mobtown has analyzed this area heavily and added gussets to prevent this issue.

That said, the other vendors do have solid products. There's just a flaw or two that could potentially be a problem in specific situations.

 

Except in the pic I posted, the whole truck is supported by the outside of the sliders, not just tilted up. Not sure, but it seems like you are implying a bumper jack tilting up a truck as somehow a greater stressor. The point is most of these slider designs are ample and it is more of a preference of details. You stated that Mobtown is the only one with such a capability, and I was simply correcting this misunderstanding. I have seen the bumper jack lift pic from most of them. That said, Mobtown has a very well-thought design .

 

No doubt it takes a hell of a lot of force to collapse the tube with a centered gusset. Joe and I both come from a heavy industrial background where these types of design elements are common. Is it necessary for rock sliders? Probably not, but it doesn't cost more or take anymore time so we do it because it's better. We try to take that approach in all of our designs, but there will always be compromises.

@3dBdown Thank you sir. I too would think most frame mounted sliders can support the weight of the truck regardless of gusset design.

 

I definitely agree with you that most of the vendors out there have good designs. It's hard to go wrong. I think Mobtown is just 1 small step ahead of everyone else for true bolt on sliders. They have several items no one else has for added strength.

As far as the stresses of lifting the vehicle, the image Mobtown posted is actually higher stress than lifting the entire vehicle via the sliders. You're talking about 4 points of contact on the image you posted versus 3 on Mobtown's. Think of it this way. For round numbers, lets say the truck weights 4000 pounds. Using 4 points of contact, each lift point is averaging a load of 1000 pounds. When lifting via a highlift, the entire weight of one side is concentrated at one point and the wheels carry the load on the other side (3 points of contact) so each point carries about 1333 pounds. Yes, it is easier to lift the vehicle and provide less stress as the truck gets tilted more and more because more of the load transfers to the side still on the ground. However, when you start lifting with the highlift, you are still carrying virtually the entire weight of that side because there is minimal lean of the truck. All I'm saying is that there is definitely more load applied when using a highlift because it concentrates the load at a single point. All vendors can support this load in the middle of the slider. Not all are capable of supporting this load on the end closest to the bed. These ends are a cantilever end because there are no existing mounting holes in the frame there. The longer the cantilever end (like dclb) the less load needs to be applied to bend the tube. This is a known problem for many vendors that Mobtown has addressed. Again, many people do not have this issue. It's all in how you use the sliders. But since the question was who makes the best sliders, I'd have to give the edge to Mobtown.

 

You are arguing with a mechanical engineer fyi. Lifting up one end of a board is not the same as lifting half of the weight.

 

lol and you are arguing with a structural engineer. Lifting on the end of a slider and getting the whole vehicle off the ground does lift the same initial weight as lifting with the shop lift. It decreases exponentially as the truck begins to lean.

 

touché. Good thing one of us is a real engineer.

 

Sorry, I don't like arguing, especially on this forum. Good to see people with technical backgrounds sharing advice.

It is definitely a good thing vendors are showing these images. It shows what their products are capable of. For someone looking to buy sliders, best advice is to make sure you see this type of image so you know the product is a true slider. Everyone will have their preferences when selecting a product and that's good. That's how we get competition and good quality products.

 

Lol, I have 20 years of blue collar hard labor before my desk job that I can fall back on for street cred, but that looks like a legit engineer fight.

 

@MojaveMadman's fabrication skill is solid. He's building me a set of sliders that are really beefy for my mall crawler. I'll post pics up next week when he installs them .

 

Ha! Lets all hug it out.

 

Annnnnnnnd my pants are off.

@jowybyo is an aerospace engineer I believe.

@Mobtown Offroad is a mechanical designer, didnt get to finish school but what I missed in education I gained in real world experiencing working under multiple PE's and just learning by doing and researching.

Between the two of us we are Captain Planet!

 

if you do this, keep your door open where the hi lift is. I had gotten an earful for doing it with the door closed

 

Yup. One slip of the jack and bang! Time for a new door skin.

 

Swwweeeeeeet!