Sliders hitting pinch weld (Need Help!)

Hello TW, looking for some help!

Hoping to find someone who can do some fab work to help correct / fix sliders I purchased for my 2019 Toyota Tacoma.

I did quite a bit of searching looking for the perfect sliders for my new Tacoma. After quite a bit of research, I ended up buying the sliders from Lil B's Custom Fabrication in Colorado. Brian the Owner had the sliders shipped via freight to Orange. I picked them up and promptly brought them over to Primo's in HB for powder coating. They came out looking sweet!

Got them installed and when I left the spot where I got them installed I started hearing this knocking noise coming from the back left wheel area. At first, I thought the slider was not bolted on tight and the clanking was coming from a loose bolt. I reached out to the folks that installed the sliders for me and they assured me the sliders were on tight. He then asked me to check to see if the sliders were hitting the pinch weld. I checked and sure enough, the pinch weld was sitting on the slider.

I’ve reached out to the manufacturer and he apologized for the inconvenience and asked if I could find a fab place out here in So Cal that could fix the sliders. Brian the owner said he's done this work at his shop for other manufacturers’ sliders that had the same issue, but since he's in Colorado, I'm obviously not going to be able to take it there. Brian offered to pay for the work so long as it’s in reason. Brian does some fantastic fab work and I’m sure this is a one off. Unfortunately for me, I got the one off.

I need to get this thing fixed! The knocking sound is so annoying and its really embarrassing when I have passengers in my truck to the point that I don't offer to drive friends / family around because of it.

I have a new truck so I don't want to cut out or smash my pinch weld for clearance.

Hoping to find someone here on TW who does fab work that can fix it. Anybody have this issue? If so, how did you fix it? Can someone recommend a fab place that could possibly do the work? Any help / advice is much appreciated!

Attaching a few pics...

 

I would recheck your mounting setup just to be sure. However, you can either trim back the pinch weld or even shim (add washers) to that mounting point provide a few more degrees down turn at that point for more clearance. There really shouldn't be much flex in these unloaded. This is why I feel there may be something amiss in the mounting setup.

 

If I was in your position I would just mark where the legs hit the pinch weld then trim them back. Isn't going to be noticeable by anybody except you and a much easier solution in my opinion. I know it sucks to have to do something like that due to a product "defect".

 

Had the same happen on mine after welded on lol. I just cut the pinch welds

 

You can even just cut the pinch weld on either side of the slider leg and then beat them back so they are flat and clear the leg

 

Can you loosen all bolts and pull it down a tad?

 

Don't do this, you'll space the entire slider mounting flange away from the frame and that's where a lot of your connection strength is.

 

I’m doing a similar repair to a set of sliders by changing the angle at which the support legs come off the frame plates. It’s a much more involved process than most people would take on but I’m not most people.

The far easier solution, as others have mentioned is to clearance the pinch weld a bit.

If you ever use them as actual sliders, they will self-clearance and fold up the pinch weld up a bit. But this will mean you’ll have damage to the slider from use and the self clearancing can be unpredictable.

Those are three options and you can decide form there. The reworking is by far the most expensive, self clearancing is the cheapest, and you grinding back the pinch weld is the easiest.

 

#1 is kinda what I was going to suggest. From what you said OP, the fabricator seems reasonable enough and may be willing to work with you if you get a quote from a local place.

Cutting / notching the pinch weld sounds like a cluster IMO. Opens up chances for rust in the future, plus it will look like shit. And there is no doubt that sliders flex upward when used. If this is a mall crawler, maybe no big deal, but if the truck ever gets set down on them that might not be the prettiest sight.

 

LOL. You actually think these are more than cosmetic.

 

Haha. I hate to bag on OP but you'r right, nobody who spends $1,500 on sliders for a 2wd that are 1. powdercoated and 2. have a rock-catching V-bend in the middle actually plans on using them

In all seriousness I'm a little surprised that you heard the knocking of the slider touching the pinch weld. I would think that if they were bolted down tight they'd be pressing so hard into the pinch weld that regular road vibes wouldn't be enough to pull it away and cause a knock. It must be just barely touching/barely not touching at rest. Can you slide a piece of paper between the slider and pinch weld when the truck is parked? I guess the body mounts give just enough flex to pull the body away to cause a knock?

 

I’m just sayin’. I don’t know the fabricator but I would be willing to bet these were produced on a jig. That being said, any jig worth two squirts of piss would show an obvious deflection of an inch like the OP shows. What doesn’t make any sense is that he experiences the clang while driving and not actually under load, which means the sliders aren’t mounted properly and are bouncing on the truck (over an inch mind you). This isn’t a fabrication flaw, this is a head space timing flaw. They aren’t mounted correctly. If it were a fabrication error then you would see it with the naked eye on the plate brackets since it is such a gross error.

If these were welded on then that would be a different story and other reasons for why the contact would occur. However, bolt slider aren’t supposed to bounce during normal driving conditions.

My recommendation is to get a fresh set of eyes under your truck and confirm how they are mounted and why they are flexing over an inch.

 

They look to me like they're either touching or almost touching at rest. Meaning any minor deflection of the body even 1/16" inch could cause a knock, not 1 inch. Still kind of surprises me though.

 

I see where you are talking about now. The bouncing and knocking would drive me crazy as well. Like others mentioned, confirm the mounting config, mark the pinch weld, remove slider, cut pinch weld, remount and give it a go.

 

You might not even have to really cut the pinch weld. Gently filing off 1/8" or so with a grinder or even a Dremel might do the trick.

Although I'd still want to know why the slider is messed up. Properly built sliders shouldn't be even close.

 

The pinch weld is on the body, which is on a body mount that bounces on bumps. The slider doesn't have to move to knock.

I cut my pinch weld in the front because I wanted my sliders to be tucked to the pinch and as far forward as possible. A dremel works surprisingly well, you could probably do it with the sliders on.

 

More than likely it’s the cab that is moving not the sliders. The cab moves a lot.

 

Happy I'm not the only one, not clean but it works. Also a mild body lift works. When I re-did all my bushing I went with the 1" over bushings, should have gone that way from the start.

 

Sounds like the general consensus is to cut the pinch weld. I realize this is the easiest and most cost effective solution but just didn't want cut my pinch weld, but it's sounding like most of you would do it if you were in my situation.

The sliders are put on correct as I had several other eyes check it out. It's the angle of how the sliders were welded together that's the issue. The passenger side of the truck has good clearance, it's the drivers side that has the issue. The sliders aren't moving. The knocking is coming from cab movement as the pinch weld sits right on top of the slider and when the cab moves it knocks.

I appreciate all of your insight and responses to help me fix my issue! I'm going to see if i can knock it out with the dremel, with the sliders on.

When I do get the pinch weld cut out, would you guys just use some regular primer and paint to cover the exposed metal?

Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions!

 

a dremel should work fine if you can get it in there. and yes paint after cutting. i just used some flat black spray paint since my truck is black and you cant even see the cut/painted spots, unless you are looking for it. good luck and let us know how it goes