New Sliders! and a question..

So I finally got my Demello DIY sliders welded up today and I'm wondering if I have to worry about the frame rusting under the brackets because the top of the bracket isn't welded..
We ground off the powder coating on the frame to get a good weld which I will be repainting tomorrow but since the top of the bracket isn't welded and the powder coating has been ground down beneath do I need to seal it with something? I had a couple of ideas but I have no idea what would work best... silicone, expanding foam, or just try to spray some of the paint into the bracket?

Anyone have any experience using any of these things to seal the top?

There's not a huge gap but I want to make sure I'm not screwing myself...

Here's some pics

Here's how they came out







Before I got them painted






My buddy welding them on







Tacked up..






Brackets tacked up.. here you can see where the powder coating is ground down and where the top of the bracket is..

 

badass man!

 

So how much did those cost ya?

 

Thanks!

All said and done I paid $320.

 

anyone with weld on sliders seal the top of theirs?

 

bump.. anyone?

 

The top of mine are open and I wondered the same. Fortunately, I live in a desert climate. I considered hitting the unwelded cracks with silicone then coming back and painting over them.

 

Now that I look at it again, you live in Phoenix. What are you so worried about rust for? You guys get like 0.000003" of rain per year.

 

I know I thought that too but i have a chip on my roof that rusted up after only a month or so and I was driving around a few days with the paint removed from the frame and after only a few days i had some light rust spots that i had to regrind before welding. Although I did drive through some water and probably got some water on the frame form that.. I'd just rather be safe than sorry especially if its something easy like putting some silicone across the top.. I'm just not sure how well it would hold up with the heat and all..

 

mine are open but i've never thought about this. i will probably just hold a can of spray paint up there and spray the hell out of it

 

That's probably the coolest part of the truck. Not to close to the engine/exhaust and never touched by the sun.

 

True.. I guess ill go with the silicone and see how it goes. Thanks man

 

You can buy high temp silicone if it makes you feel better.

 

use JB weld for metal to seal it up...

 

We usually paint the inside of the frame after we weld them on. If you don't have time to paint them inbetween paint jobs you can spray them with some wd-40 then wash it off later when you are ready to paint.

 

I recommend paint. I would stay away from the silicon or 3M rubberized undercoating. I went to a competent and respected body shop and they gave me good advice.

Here is something to know as well. The welding process will burn the paint on the inside of the frame. You will need to paint the inside of the frame wells also.

The last thing I can share with you is that if your welder had to weld where the frame is boxed, then you will want to protect the inside part of the boxed frame with cavity wax. <---You will need a body shop to do that for you.

 

Looks great. I want bolt-on version just like those for my access cab. Maybe come summatime............

 

I welded mine on and sprayed the shit outta of it with rubberized paint and some other flat black I really cant hit in between the brackets but I am not to worried about

 

clean, prime, and paint should be good