Rust from bolt on sliders?

Any welded up steel tubular structure (that you care about) needs to be corrosion protected inside as well as out. You will have pinholes and weeps in all the realistic welds, especially at the frame connection if you are going weld-on.

However these sliders are all pretty thick so it isn't so much of a problem compared to thin wall welded 4130 fuselages. I have no idea if any of the manufacturers corrosion protect the inside of the tubes, but I assume not. Normally on fuselages you need a weep hole anyway when welding, as when you preheat the tubes and are welding you don't want a pressure or suction.
The old days used hot linseed oil but newer options include 'tubeseal' http://www.conaircraft.com/products/polyfiber/oils/tubeseal.php

 

Anybody can argue it will be too hard to remove, but properly prepped I have never seen any failure of polysulfide sealant. I don't think it is probably necessary, but just thinking about it...

 

Tubeseal looks like good stuff - is it just a type of expanding foam? Aircraft materials can be typically so super expensive!

 

No, it's a very light weight oil capable of climbing tube walls, that gels at any pinholes to seal tubes closed. I assume it reacts with atmosphere to do the sealing job.

It is probably similar/same as some of the fluid film or CorrosionX products if we check msds.

 

Agree that most are
(Or at least most of the welds done by a competent welder. 0% of my welds)

But only takes 1 or 2 pinholes in an assembly.

(Keep in mind that in my world an 0.063" wall tube would be considered stout, 0.035 or 0.049" typical light, and anything 0.125" wall probably involves landing gear.)

But it is amazing what you can get seepage out of, even after careful inspections and magnaflux.

But I will be the first to admit that as it applies to sliders, everything I am saying is academic at best.

 

So besides the fact that one is permanent and the other isn’t, is there any advantage between weld-on vs bolt-on?

 

In my opinion, it is easier and lighter to design the weld-on to a specific strength.

Or to put another way, to make a bolt on as strong and as stiff as a weld-on, it will almost always have to be heavier and more complicated than the weld-on

I am going bolt-on, so just keep that in mind when I say 'stronger' , stiffer, etc.

I well designed bolt-on will always be much better than a poorly designed weld on.

In either case, it is critical how and where it attaches to the frame, with what gussets, how many locations, reinforcements.

 

I personally really like welding on my sliders on my rigs(but I don't usually weld sliders on new trucks). They're a touch more solid when it comes to deflection on drop impacts. But most current bolt on's are similarly strong these days and if you ever wanted you could weld on the bolt on sliders which would be ridiculously strong since they almost all have a very large plate that wraps around the frame. Our bolt on sliders can easily hold the truck up on the rocks with minor deflection. We use all 1/2" grade-8 hardware, and include a few extra holes in our bolt on mounting plates that can be drilled into the trucks frame for even more strength.

Weld on is only as good as the welds of the installer, and also the design of the mounting. There should be frame plates that are gusseted on the ends of the frame stand-off legs on the sliders, and there should be at least 4 of those stand-off legs spread as best as possible over the length of the slider. Welding just tube stand-off legs, even with gussets, to the frame of the truck directly is a big no-no. It'll be far easier to peel off, or dent/tear the trucks frame due to the lesser surface area.
Those are a few things to keep in mind.

 

Thanks a lot! I was checking out your sliders and really like the design of the rear kick-out. But I didn’t see a “16+” option, just second gen for weld-on. I’m assuimg 2nd gen weld-on sliders will fit the 3rd gen? Still deciding which way to go. Ideally the truck is staying until it falls apart. The older I get the more I realize I have to quit buying new cars lol.

 

The extra laminated reinforcement on the frame of the 3rd gen's and the new-ness has kept us from offering weld on's for them. You'd have to modify our 05-15 weld on's to work. Personally I'd just go with the bolt on option for your 3rd gen.

 

Gotcha! Really like the design of your kick out so I’ll mostlikely get a set of yours. Would you say it’s “good-enough” to use as a step for passengers? Gotta make sure it’s wife proof or else..lol.

 

Haha, well we offer several styles. The flat outer w/filler plates make the best steps. The standard 15 degree sliders certainly can be used as a step too, they're just higher up than the flat ones. Might want to add some anti-slip tape to the top of the tube where it gets stepped on to keep from slipping as easily.

 

I've welded them on in the past but did bolt-on this time because Tacomas are known to have rust issues. I've never had the best luck painting sliders after they're welded on, especially without ending up with black paint overspray on the truck or kind of inconsistent coverage in the space above the slider legs. So since I don't intend to beat on this truck nearly as much as previous ones, at least least at this point, I figured bolt-on would be sufficient to do the job and be easier to maintain.

 

Sorry to bump up a two year old thread. What's the best way to clean and touch-up the frame itself? I'm thinking of crawling under there with some soap, water, and a brillo pad to try to clean off all the surface rust from 4 years of sliders rubbing...

If anything needs a bit of sanding or paint touch-up should I just rattle can gloss black? Primer first? Didn't really cross my mind to do annual maintenance on these things, but now that they're off I'm seeing the importance!

 

Get a welder and some 97 cent walmart paint