Who makes aluminum sliders?

Money is no object. How much?

 

but nobody's asking how much the aluminums weigh vs. the chrome moly... maybe that's worth an ask. (and i asked when these were prototyped before i chose SDHQ).

 

Given how much abuse slides could take
I think steel would be better.

And given how much steel can already flex aluminum would be even worse.

Skids maybe but sliders not so much to me.
I'm curious the weight though.

And aluminum can still oxidize from dissimilar metal contect ie your frame.

 

Back in my Mfg days our factory had lines that ran dedicated products day in day out and then we had what was called a short run Dept where if you needed one speciality item or just a few it would be sent there. This dept stayed very busy and made the owners a killing. You would be surprised what people will pay to get exactly what they want.

Please don’t take this as me trying to tell you how to run a business by any means but if word got out that you were the go to guy to get what no one else sold it’s hard to tell where it may lead but you may not be setup to even think about that type of work.

 

Yea, I mean that's cool. I'm not trying to trash your purchase. They are very nice looking sliders. I'm just pointing out that the 4130 is not making the sliders lighter. SDHQ made the tubing wall thickness thinner. That is where the weight savings is. 4130 also didn't make them stronger, at least not in a way that is functional. These two reasons make 4130 not well suited for this application. You could get the same strength and weight savings with plain steel, but they would be a lot cheaper. This is why SDHQ is the only company making them.

Much of this is the same for aluminum sliders as well.

 

There are these aluminum “sliders”. I know nothing about them, but I don’t like how they don’t show any mounting photos:
https://greenlaneoffroad.com/16-tacoma/aluminum-side-steps-rocker-gaurds

When I was looking for lighter sliders, Rock Road made some of the lightest, I want to say they were like 35lbs a side using a hybrid frame and body mount. The site description and photos look different, so I’m not sure if they have been redesigned:
https://www.rocky-road.com/tacoma-rock-sliders.html

Ultimately I went with the lightest DOM top plate filled bolt on slider I could find which was Apex from AllPro (before they were bought out). I never really intended to use my sliders, they were an insurance policy, but I have mildly a couple times and have some gouges in the DOM steel. Aluminum would get torn up pretty bad.

 

I would pay 1500 -2000 for aluminum sliders. That's the max I would pay. If the market can't support that price, then oh well.

I will just continue to go out there without sliders. Steal sliders seem like too much for this engine to be frank.

 

steel sliders are too much for this engine? . English please ?

 

The engine can barely move the Truck around with me in it (200lbs). why add another permanent 150lbs to strain the engine even more?

 

sorry man I'm trolling you. because you're sometimes pretty entertaining whether that's intentional or not. I'll leave you alone now, but just want to wish you good luck getting out of your driveway and to work. it's like the Smitty old days.

 

Are you getting any better mileage with 5 of the plug wires pulled?

 

The other think is you need to consider the yeild characteristics of aluminium too. It has a defined life, and most of the time when it's used in a performance world, it's always aging towards cracking . Just how it is

 

No. They were scrapped a long time ago.

 

Your claim that 4130 it's not suited for sliders is bogus. You can throw out numbers and engineering terms to defend your choice of DOM but it's simply not true. I get it man, you make sliders out of DOM and want people to buy them. I've built many sets of sliders, bumpers, cages, guillotine chain driven counter weighted dog doors with planetary gear sets, tube chassis, suspension ect. in the last 13 years, used many different materials including CREW, DOM and 4130. I have probably done thousands of bends in tubes. Any real fabricator has at some point had to use a manual tube bender and anyone who has bent 4130 on one knows how much harder it is to bend than DOM and specially CREW(seemed mild steel). It's harder to cut, harder to cope, harder to bend, harder to dent, harder to drill, harder to machine. My point is even though on paper it might not seem that much better, but in "real world" use it is better suited and will take more abuse and deflect less. That is a simple proven fact. Is it more expensive, you bet your sweet arse. Is the extra cost of material and tooling to use it worth it, well to some who want the best it is.

 

yep. kinda funny some opt to prototype in aluminum while saying 4130 is 'notwell suited for thisapplication.'. i get your point Joe. but i don't think it's what you meant.

 

love SoM talk on here.

 

I’m sorry but you’re just wrong. It might be “harder” and it does have higher tensile strength. But neither of those things permit the thinner wall thickness to save weight. Also, you are so very wrong about the deflection. Deflection is a function of cross section size and modulus of elasticity. The modulus is the same for all steel. All things equal, 4130 will deflect the same as any other steel.

4130 is fine to use, but my point is that you literally get no benefit in this application for the extra expense.

 

I never said anything about using thinner wall thickness. SDHQ does not use a thinner wall thickness. At least get your facts straight before rambling on. The modulus is not the same for all steels. Not that it is significantly higher but it is. I believe you even quoted it to be 3%. Also there is more to the equation than just modulus. So again on paper it doesn't look like that much benefit, but the "real world" benefits are real and worth it.