DIY Bolt-On Frame Plates for Sliders

Looks good nicrains! Glass fenders?
I gave the files to my buddy who runs a big machine shop with a monster water jet. He said he can have them done for me by next week. Pro bono he's even throwing in the material. The only thing I have to pay for is the bending. He doesn't have a brake that big, but he is gonna send it out to get bent for me
Now if only I could get my sliders that quick
Thanks again 1 Bored Clerk for being awesome and thanks to the guys who test fit them on the DCSB.

 

nicrains: Awesome! Well done. Sometimes I can't believe I'm still plugging away on my sliders. I'm going to spend ALL weekend working on mine so, hopefully, I'll be done with everything except the tube kickout which I'll have bent and welded on by a shop since I can't bend...and don't want to haul it all back up to my shop just to weld the tubing on.

Bullaculla: No problem. I'm glad some folks are getting use out of these files! Seemed a shame to hide them away after I made them. Very cool that you're getting some sweet hook-ups for your frame plates. That'll help a bit on the money front!

DoorDing: It was so cool to see nicrains sliders come together. I can't wait for more projects to pop up here.

 

I want some too

 

Okay, got a lot of good work done this weekend. Didn't get as far as I was hoping but that's okay. I got both sliders done to the point where I need to get some tubing bent to finish them off. I'm going to try to get that whole thing started this week.

Fo Toes








I'm liking the look! They stick out exactly as far as the body bulges out at the door. The kick out will be 1.75" wider than that.

 

Okay, there has been a lot of discussion about additional tie in points on the bottom of the frame plates. We talked about various options that tied in at the back of the frame plate. Well, after spending some time under there, I'm afraid there isn't really any room to do anything in that area. The gas tank is very close to the frame and I'm afraid to tighten that clearance up to 0 possibly inducing rubbing on the gas tank.



So, I'm still unsure what to do back here. I may end up drilling a small hole in the bottom of the frame (where that slotted hole is in the above picture...it's a weld point for the frame, though...) but I'm still holding out for a better option.

I also had issues figuring out how to incorporate the Relentless Fab transfer case skid where it mounts to the frame. I had a decent idea but if I went that direction, it would be near impossible to get your arm into the frame to mount the two front bolts for the sliders. Anyway, after much head scratching, I think I've come up with another idea. It's somewhat time consuming (and a little fussy) but I think it'll work well... I'll let you know what it is when I have time to actually sit down and design it.

 

Oh yeah, I'm totally leaving all that up to each individual user. As it stands, with any design I come up with for the transfer case skid mount, I'll have to remove the skid to take off the sliders. Not a real big deal as the sliders will hopefully be on there for a long time!

 

I was just about to make that correction myself And yes, I'm a mechanical engineer as well.

 

The relentless skid has a built in crossmember...it's just difficult to cleanly integrate it with the sliders. I would imagine the bud built may be the same. Although, just seeing the picture you posted flashed a couple of new ideas into my brain. I have at least a week to think about it...we'll see what I come up with.

 

Haha...typical engineers. Always wanting to stick it to us poor designers.

 

^^ Ha ha ha, we're just trying to lend a hand - we didn't go through all that school to keep the knowledge to ourselves!

I'm jealous that you have access to Solid Works. I would love to own that software; so many things I would design. I've often thought that if I did, and I ended up designing a front bumper, rear bumper, sliders, etc., I would do what you are doing and make the CAD files available on TW. So hats off to you for actually doing it.

If you even need any "engineering advice" I'd be happy to try and answer any questions you might have for the benfit of TW I enjoy the intellectual stimulation from time to time - don't get enough of it in the infantry world...

 

You may be jealous that I have access to Solidworks but you'd be dismayed to see what I do with it. I'm such a HACK! I appreciate the offer for advice. I have several other projects brewing and I may tap into your knowledge as time goes on. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to jump right into another project after the slider/skid ordeal is over or if I'm going to just chill out for a while. I'm hoping for a successful conclusion to my slider project which should spur me on to get the other projects going ASAP. Of course, I have a M416B1 trailer project waiting to be finished too...

 

Just dropped the sliders off at a local fab shop to get the tubing bent/welded. I should have them back Friday of next week. I'll post pics! Hopefully it all goes well. The owner was very nice. I'm a total noob welder and he said "Pretty good for a novice. I think your truck will break in half before these welds fail". Good start! He also offered to show me some tricks to get all the corners clean, straight, and rounded like I was obviously attempting...and, possibly, failing to do. Talked to me for a little while about a feeding issue I'm having with my welder. The only thing I'm a little worried about is the potential underestimation of the importance of the aesthetics to me. I made all of the angles and fitment just so for a reason. We'll see if they are sensitive to that. I asked him to snap some photos and text them to me when they start actually bending tube and tacking stuff in place. He quoted $120-ish for the tube bending/welding. Sounded fair to me! I'll be sure to post pics when I pick them up. I'll also let you know who the shop was and what I thought of the full experience. So, until next week...

 

Ha, I've probably spent as much time with the flapwheel as I have welding! I'm sure their welding will be just great. It's the actual form/placement of the tubing that worries me a little. I'm going to ping them again early next week about sending photos or having me drop by before they weld anything up for good so I can give it the green-light.

Man, the end is soooo close I can taste it! I've got recommendations for two powder coaters...one is really close to my work so that would be handy. I was going to rattle can them, but I want all of the areas that are protected (against the frame, the top step area, and all the areas that face the body) to have a really good strong coating. I'll deal with chips and scratches in the visible areas when the need arises. I just want to know I'm not getting a bunch of rust started where I can't really see it. May go the same route with the skids. I would like to know the skids are well protected on the topside. They suck so bad to put on/take off that I don't want to do it yearly to repaint!

 

Very nice!

 

I am also thinking powdercoat, and then a layer of bedliner in the top for grip.
I was also thinking to seal the edges of the frame plates to the frame and all the holes with some surplus polysulfide I recently acquired from work

 

I'm not sure about sealing the edges. Sealant always fails...then you have water trapped back there. I plan to fluid film the frame then bolt them on. Protect the frame at all cost! Haha

 

Yeah, I want to do some pretty heavy wheeling for a while so the big heavy steel skids are worth it. When we build the truck up as a camper, I may switch to aluminum up front

 

Well, with all the foul weather and folks being out sick, my sliders weren't finished last week. They said they should have no problem getting them done the first part of this week. Which was totally fine since I ended up working all weekend and had no interest in driving from bad conditions to worse conditions and then climbing under my snow/ice packed truck and dealing with that whole mess. So, hopefully, I'll have one more update this weekend before these go out for powdercoating! Fingers crossed.

I've also had several more requests for frame plate files! One all the way from South Africa...and two from Hawaii! Hopefully we'll start seeing more slider projects pop up soon.

 

These are awesome! I may have to get that DWG file and give them an attempt myself.

 

Yes. PM me your personal email so I can spam the crap out of you...er...I mean, send you frame plate files.