Mobtown Offroad Aluminum Rock Slider Group Buy

EDIT 7.21.2018

We decided to not offer them due to cost and low interest but it was fun to prove a concept!

Part Specifications:
Angle: 20° or 0°
Attachment plates, gussets and our signature clamp pieces :1/4" thick 5052 Aluminum
Washers: 3/16" thick A36 Steel
Legs and Main Tube: 2" Square x 3/16" thick wall 5052 AL Tubing
Hoop and Hoop Supports: 2" OD x .25" thick 6063 AL Tubing
Hardware: 1/2" Grade 8
Weight 73 lbs installed (Our comparable steel sliders weigh 140 lbs installed)

Cost:
Gen 2 or Gen 3 Tacoma DCSB: $1150.00
Gen 2 or Gen 3 Tacoma DCLB: $1250.00
Kick Out: $50.00
Fill Plates: $150.00
Powder Coat: $150.00

Lead times will be up to 12 weeks once 20th order is paid. I will need to order tooling for the tubing bender and it will take a little longer to obtain the lasered/formed parts for this product.

Beings as they're so light I can ship them FedEx to your door step so shipping should be much less than what our steel ones ship for Freight. If you are interested in this GB, let me know. PM would be best so I can track it. I will start a list here too:

1. @user_none 3rd Gen DCSB 0°, Fill Plates, Powder Coat
2. @18Taco 3rd Gen DCSB 0° Powder Coat, Fill Plates
3. @Antangil 3rd Gen DCSB, 0°, Fill Plates, Powder Coat
4. @ST4T3S 3rd Gen ALCB 0°, Kick Out, Fill Plates, Powder Coat
5. @jacoblb ACLB 0 Kickout, Powder Coat
6. @dark vader trd pro 2nd Gen DCSB 0°, Kick Out, Fill Plates, Powder Coat
7. @PacotheTaco17 3rd Gen DCSB, 0°, Kick Out
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How much do you think they would be?

 

If Joe is delayed getting back to you, you can always ask me too.

 

I am a complete Mall Krawler but would be interested in some lighter aluminum sliders.

 

Just using skid plates as a reference point, the sliders would be around 25-30% more than steel rock sliders. We may be able to get that down because we may change the way they bolt to the chassis. We won't have a firm cost unless we get enough interest.

 

I’m in

 

Going to sub to see how this all turns out. Curious to see the end result. Proud owner of some Mobtown sliders, so I know you guys will be happy. Some of the best customer service I have had from this company.

 

Interested.

 

I sort of started this whole thing yesterday when I sent Joe a note stating that I was possibly interested.

This is not the place to bash aluminum for use in sliders. For me I get it that they are not going to hold up as well as steel if you routinely play in the rocks but I no longer play in the rocks but still do some off road adventure travels.

I try to keep my truck as light as possible because living at 9,000 ft. takes much of the life out of even the V6 and I am naturally down about 32% of the available power (loss on a NA engine is generally accepted to be about 3.5%/1,000 ft. elev.) So hauling around say 120+ lbs of steel sliders full time does not make too much sense for me as all need is something for the rarer "surprise" moment. The factory steps are joke as most are aware and this would be considered for just some sort of better, but intermediate protection.

Using the calculator at his online store for the steel bolt on for an Access Cab, with kickout, with fill plate, but no powder coating I am coming up with $799. If indeed an upcharge of 30% for alum occurs that would be about $1040. If these came in around 50-60 lbs total for the pair and they could be made with around a 0 degree top plate (so the wife can use as a step) I say let's go.

 

I didn't see a single person mention anything negative about aluminum sliders. I think it's a neat idea.

 

^^^ Similar view on it. I want to keep the weight reasonable and am willing to take the risk that these are not for repeated abuse. But if they keep me out of serious harm a few times a year when I need them and I have to replace them more often I’m all for it. Plus the corrosion/rust issue is a bit better with AL. I get my thrills on my skis and mountain bike, I just need to build my Tacoma up enough to get me to the fun places. I’m looking at AL skids for the same reasons.

B

 

I do too. The purist hard core off road types may object but funny thing is the jeep crowd uses it in many builds.

 

Is aluminum really twice as strong as steel, pound for pound?

 

@Tn Jeff added your answers here because theyre all good questions.

We are thinking of offering them flat only so more of a step but still plenty of protection for light offroad use. We would still offer fill plates and kick outs. We hope to be able to hi lift from them. Itll take some r & d to figure out the max spacing for supports so tubing doesnt deflex beyond deformation. Wed most likely go with a thicker wall tubing everywhere and a thicker attachment plate. Plate would have a thin rubber gasket between alum and steel chassis. This is to prevent corrosion. The two metals react and dont place nice. Weight would be 40% less than steel.

 

Depends on what you mean by strong. Alum will tear and dent easier than steel for sure. But itll bend or deflect and go back to shape a little easier than steel too.

 

I guess I am wondering how steel sliders that weighed 50-60 lbs would perform compared to 50-60lb aluminum ones.

 

I’d prefer an angle over flat. Still want them tucked out of the way. Maybe split the difference between flat and typical steel (20-deg?). Also, is powder coat enough to prevent corrosion from dissimilar materials? Also, I have a DCLB and would go with kick out and powder coat, so I’m puckered a bit on pricing.

 

Pound for pound, in the exact same design, aluminum will not be as strong as steel. Now, an aluminum structure can be as strong as a steel structure but would require thicker material and better reinforcements.

A pair of DCSB rock sliders installed, in steel, weighs approximately 140#. A pair of the same sliders, in aluminum, would probably weigh in the 80-90# range.

 

Like I said, we're going to see how we can get the cost down. But it is like our skid plates, aluminum skids are thicker material and aluminum in general cost more money than steel. It's hard to be marketable when comparing the two.

 

Do you mean 40% less than steel or 40% of the weight of steel. For example someone I contacted that made both types on the same jig but beefed up the legs and bars for the aluminum version told me they came in just less than 1/2 of the steel ones.