Rust from bolt on sliders?

Given that I was in the market for bolt-on sliders, I’m curios if anyone’s had any rust issues? Found this video and found it very interesting. Never thought dirt could rubb off the paint and cause the frame to rust?

 

Ahh, didnt catch the fact that they were loose. Really took me by surprise to get so much rust!

 

I think I zeroed in on the word “rust” thinking I was going to have to weld them on lol

 

I take my sliders off once a year to clean out the debris, check for rust and repaint. It's impossible to keep all the dirt out and even a fine coating of sand is just going to sit there and rub the paint off.

 

Half the time I don’t know.. lol
I meant that I let the title of the video get to me. So I didn’t really pay attention to the fact that they were loose or it being mostly surface rust. I thought I was doomed and was going to have to go the welded route.

 

With bolts? Just standard Mobtown sliders. This was last October when I took them off. Not too much rust but both the frame rails and the sliders had developed a few hot spots where rust had started. It's kind of a cascade. A rock, some debris, a high spot starts things. Rusts get a foothold and creates more abrasion and it just keeps spreading. It's all about staying on top of maintenance.

 

Would a sealant along the top and sides of the slider frame plates help keep debris and excess moisture out? ...Bad idea?

 

Not sure where you'd put sleeves and what good they'd do. My frame is open c-channel most of the way. Are you talking about the front boxed part? Mobtown does it the way most reputable designs - nuts welded on long arms that you fish down the section and hold in place.

 

what about putting some kind of rubber gasket type thing between the frame and the sliders? you guys think that would help any?

 

There aren't any long bolts with Mobtown, all short bolts. Are you squeezing the boxed section by putting a 4 inch long bolt all the way through? I'm just realizing you have a 1st gen and, yeah, that presents a different challenge. I get it now.

 

This wouldn't solve the problem and would probably make it worse by allowing more movement. Also this would make the sliders less useful, you want no movement of the slider against the frame otherwise they will definitely hit the sheet metal.

 

I'm picturing cleaning the frame and painting it before mounting, getting a big sheet of rubber and cutting to fit. might help haha might not but I might give it a try when the time comes. I don't think it would make anything worse

 

I see what you mean but I'm not talking about a thick sheet of rubber, just something thin, like a couple mm that's it. if its tightened down thoroughly it shouldn't move I wouldn't think, but I suppose there is still that possibility. I'm sure there is a reason why the manufacturers don't recommend doing that upon install tho haha

 

I wouldn’t put a piece of rubber between the frame and slider. The point of a slider is to catch and support the weight of your truck. If there is a piece of rubber between the two, then there will be movement of the slider under weight. You could tighten them to 1,000 ft lbs, but it’ll still pitch when under load, causing the slider to hit the pinch weld... which is what you’re trying to prevent in the first place. The best thing is to stay on top of maintenance (like said above). Your sliders will get nasty anyway after a few months of use. Constant rocks and debris being thrown up at them chips the paint to pieces. Gotta remove and re paint every year.

 

Once I realized you're talking about a 1st gen it made sense.

The 2nd gen is open from around front fender all the way back compared to the 1st that was only open under the bed. If I had a 1st gen I'd weld them on, which is what I did with my '91 that had a fully boxed frame the whole way.

In fact, if I had it to do over I'd probably just weld them on my truck, too. But I'm just too lazy to remake mine and too poor to sell them and start from scratch.

 

I don't take my bolt ons off for maintenance. Waste of time and effort IMO. I just grind or sand down any obvious rust spots, recoat, then spray oil between the slider plates and the frame and at the bolt holes. Sometimes I do the oil thing twice a year. Quick easy, and should be effective.

 

I have Mobtown bolt on sliders and I will never take them off. They were a PITA to put on. I had them Line-x coated and they were tight as could be getting on the frame. Never again with that damn job.

 

They all rust in the boxed section. The 1st gen (and 79-95 trucks, too) susceptibility is because they got packed inside and rusted from the inside out. So Toyota opened the frame from under the cab all the way back. But they still rust up front, in the boxed section actually.

My Mobtown couldn't be welded on directly, I need to trim the mounting plate to get some edges along the side. Otherwise there'd be just a couple of welds at the ends. But it won't take that much redesign to make it work. Just haven't really thought much about it.

It takes some time to get them removed, about a week spent on the ground cleaning and repainting everything, another day to put them back on. It is a PITA. But I've done it each of the 3 years I've owned them now and it's worth it to me. There's always been little bubbles of rust under there. I'm kind of obsessive about rust, thing is I just worry less if it goes into winter looking this behind those sliders.

 

My truck is a 2008 TRD Offroad. She got the name Donna because it is a prima donna, as in treated like a friggin princess. She barely left the garage unless it was sunny the first year I owned it and still had my old truck, Imelda. That was my 1991 XtraCab. She got that name because she got a lot of shoes (tires) in the early years as I built it up.

BTW, I was almost as obsessive about the frame on that truck and this is what it looked like after my 24 years with it (I sold her in 2015, HUGE mistake but c'est la vie).

 

Do you remember what it was called?