DIY Bolt-On Frame Plates for Sliders

Thanks!

I read about those bolts...then saw how awful it was to jam my arm way up in there and decided to get that handled!

I have not made a backing plate cut file. I used two different sized plates due to...well...due to nothing at all. Haha...

Here's what I used:

2" x 4" x .188" - I used this size for the front three mounts and the last mount
2" x 3" x .188 - I used this size for the three in the middle. I had to trim the one second from the back on both sides to fit around some frame elements. You can see those in the my build pics.

I can see why most manufacturers seem to do with 2" x 2". They'll likely fit everywhere and need no trimming. I'm not sure the extra size of mine will buy you any additional strength anyway.

I imagine this will be a very slow growing thread but I am excited to see where it goes and what people come up with. Building stuff for yourself is extremely rewarding.

 

Good job!

 

Oh ya I know the forces are VERY different but it's still an important stat to know, at least to me.. The main purpose of sliders is obviously rock defense but being able to left on a trail can be made MUCH easier if the sides of the truck can be used... Anyways, thanks again for making these files! I'm sure they'll be used!

 

Oh lord...no more forums! Haha...this thread maintenance stuff is a lot of work. I'm on TW and Expo and that's it for me. Expo hasn't let me post pics for a week so I'm not sure what's up. TW is always welcoming of my photos.

I'd be happy if everyone came here or to Expo to check out the project.

 

Just sent out the cut files for quote for the step portion of my sliders. Hopefully I get a quick turn and good price like I did on the frame plates! I already have a shop lined up for the tube bending portion of the build but I'm going to wait until I have the rest of it all welded up so they have something to fit the tubing to.

 

3 so far. At least one is a DCSB so, hopefully, we find out if they fit the same.

 

Subbed good work

 

Very nice work indeed. I have beefed sliders that require four holes to be drilled in the bottom of the frame rail, which I don't mind at all. My thought is that you have a lot of plate in weak axis bending that is only restrained by one bolt in the bottom of the rail. If you can get a sharp enough radius you could extend the lower flange and have it cup around the inside of the frame rail. That would give a bearing point and reduce/eliminate your weak axis bending.

 

I'm gonna try an plot out a paper copy of the plates this week and see how they line up to my double cab. I'm thinking there the same frame but not sure.

 

I thought about this type design too but then figures that getting the plates/sliders on the frame might become very difficult if not impossible with the cup.. haven't tested anything yet but it seems to me like there wouldn't be enough room to get it wrapped around the frame and then slid up onto the sides... just seems like it would bind but maybe not?

 

Yes, the tolerances would have to be pretty close for this to work. The overlap on top of the frame flange would have to be sized so that you could slip the slider on and still get the faces to meet up.

Here's another thought on getting the bottom flange secured by the slider.

 

looks like a good design. i guess my only question here would be what the forces would be like right at that bolt when a slider got slammed? gimme a min, think I got another idea that might combine the two and possible take care of the forces problem

 

Typically, the bolt will be located in the lower flange of the frame. By putting the bolt further inboard you'll increase the tension on the bolt. With that being said the plate will bend before you pull the bolt apart.

OP, I hope you don't mind our discussion here. I'm not trying to step on toes, just tossing out a few ideas.

 

I wasn't so much concerned about "pulling it apart" as I was shearing it at the joint between the two pieces of the bolt on plate. I know shear strength of Grade 8 bolts is really high but its still something to be considered. plus with your original design the piece that is bolted on more "clamps" to the frame than anything which could lead to excessive wear and tear on both the slider parts as well as the frame. Here's my idea at an attempt to mitigate all those problems.

ignore my sloppy handwriting, if you cant read it lemme know:



and to the OP, agreed, if you'd rather this continue elsewhere we can move it, not tryin to thread jack

 

From looking at the plates the OP has produced there is only one hole in the lower flange and one hole in the transfer case cross member. As an improvement I would suggest adding some type of clamp, similar to what we've posted above to the two spots circled in the picture below.




Travis, the clamp configuration that you posted would be difficult to fabricate since we're talking about a piece of flat rolled plate. The clamp that I showed would have to be milled from a billet, but wouldn't alter the ability to produce a flat rolled plate for the frame plate.

 

being new to the fabrication world, i hadn't thought about that side of it really. But with that in mind, couldn't the design i posted have the extra piece on the rolled plate be welded on after? And I was thinking of a more continuos piece that ran most of the length of the mounting plate instead of just a small clamp

Also, I went and looked at my frame. Theres a few holes in the frame under the back half of the OP's plates if I'm not mistaken and that what my design was taking advantage of

 

I can see a continuous bracket being a good idea, just have to watch out for brake lines and other hardware that's housed inside of the frame rail.

When you weld a flat plate/bar to another flat plate you end up with a radius and not a sharp corner like you have shown. The weld is called a fillet weld.

 

ya the welding is something I actually knew (i've been reading/learing a lot recently as i'm gonna be ding some of this soon i hope) but i was thinking there could be ways around that problem with a little work, not sure exactly how but ya... and I'm pretty sure that the bottom of the inside of the frame (on second gens at lest) is clear of all lines and things, they're all up on the inside wall if you get what I mean

 

Getting a bend like this is extremely difficult (I'm going to call it impossible in the scope of this project).

 

This is a very valid idea that I had kicked around. The frame does have a small bend up along the bottom plane along the centerline of the truck (if that makes any sense) so you could actually slightly hook into that feature. You could also modify this general idea/layout and use the bolt as a jack screw to exert a tremendous amount of clamping force on the frame.

I have additional support on it's way. I have a transfer case skid (Relentless fab) that will bolt to my frame plates via a welded on bracket right between the front mount and the driveline crossmember bolt. I imagine that will support that portion of the frame plate more than adequately. The rear most edge of the frame plate is my main concern. There are two spots on the bottom of the frame back there that are ripe for a drilling. The frame is two layer and there is already a set of holes that go through the first layer of frame. It wouldn't hurt too much to drill the second layer and put a bolt through there. It's also a little tight on the drivers side in that area because of brake lines and the gas tank. May be a bit of a hassle or a little too tight of tolerance to put a clamp back there.

One last option that I may try out first: I could use a piece of angle for the backing plate for the last bolt on the side of the frame plate...it would extend past the inner edge of the frame. Then I would extend the frame plate lip under the frame toward the center of the truck then bolt through the angle and the frame plate thereby sandwiching the 'L' of the frame between the 'L' of the frame plate and the 'L' of the backing plate with a bolt on each leg. Should be very stout. That's the one I'll probably experiment with first.

It looks like I'll have updates after this weekend...I'll be building the step portion of my sliders. I may or may not have enough time to get to these solutions this weekend...time will tell.

This is all good. Keep up the conversation!