RCI Slider install on a 2018

Good idea. Another good idea would be to get into a regular habit of checking and touching up your sliders about once to twice a year. With bolt ons some people take them off and really clean/touch up the space where your frame has been contacting the sliders. Especially if you actually use them offroad. Krylon semi flat rust tough (black) works really well for touching up the actual slider and some type of frame paint for the frame. Just used the Krylon to touch mine up the other day from impacts on the trail.

 

When all was said and done about 2 hours on drivers side (after subtracting first hour to remove and then reinstall everything for my drill bit run and first aid lol). And a no kidding 30-40 minutes on passenger side but I had my son there helping.

I chose the RCI brand due to they look great and I liked the facts of they use square and round tubing and DOM is standar.

They also offered them in a 5* angle configuration and finally they had a great group buy going on!

Shipping was a killer from CO to the gulf coast through.

 

Nice post and really nice sliders!! Looks very nice @JAL! We need to hit the woods

 

I will be in the same boat on shipping as you were. Save on tax killed on shipping.

Thanks for the information.

 

@taco_medic your right need to plan a day. Do you even hunt bro.?

 

@Stew22 here are my thoughts:

Pros:
-Strong and well made.
-The bolting piece is all one continuous piece. Some come in two separate pieces divided front and back. The single piece makes a more rigid unified connection. Basically makes your frame stronger too I suppose.
-powder coat overall is very good. I only added this because they were on sale and I picked them up here locally. Their shop is 20 minutes away from me.
-The design and placement of the top tread is very thoughtful and clean looking. The holes in the tread are not haphazardly placed and fit into the slide surround without the holes being cut in half or placed unevenly.

Cons
-hardware. The bolts should have been a bit longer and grade 8. Washers not thick enough, not grade 8. Same with nuts. What it came with was lame at this price point imo.
-water can collect on the edges of the top plate. I think this is pretty common. I don’t think I will have issues with this, but if you need top tread (I did), look at how the edges interface and whether you like the designs out there or not.
-underside. Along the edges underneath where the top tread buts up against the rails, there is oxidization. Basically light rust developing. And also on top of the little cross pieces that connect the front and back slider tubes. The powder coat could not get into these areas. Be prepared to augment these areas with paint or hit them with fluid film. I don’t live in rust country as much as some other folks but I do think I’ll need to keep an eye on the underside of these due to the top tread. I think they should have sprayed the edges of the tread plate at least with primer before welding it on. I don’t know if this is possible.

If I had to pay for shipping, I would have seriously considered the Mobtowns. These IMO seem like one of the top options out there, and they have a pic of all the hardware that comes with them. I have not seen the mobtowns personally.

Hope this helps.

 

@j-utah thanks for the info. I am looking at Mobtown, CBI, and now RCI.

Shipping seams about the same on all. Not sold on the idea of top plates. Rust is a problem in this area but not as bad as some places.

 

@JAL yes sir I hunt, fish, scuba dive, and my truck is a mall crawler but it is not afraid of mud!!!

 

@taco_medic Well then we need to get a hunt scheduled. I’m into traditional archery and do a few 3D shoots a year.

You can find some of my stuff on YouTube

Here one of them

https://youtu.be/fT_1jb_Jpwg

 

Did anyone else have a hell of a time taking the crossmember bolt off? From what I saw/read the RCI ones have you take it off as well (mine are one off TJM), I can’t believe after disasembling everything else, I’m stuck on one bolt.

 

You are talking about the “Carrier bearing support cross member” correct removed on step 2?

If so no issues removing, it or the passenger side.

 

Yes, I had to smack it with a piece of wood to break it loose then once it loosened it was fine.

 

I have these in my garage. Going to paint them up this week. A little confused. I asked and was def. told that these were 100 percent bolt on. Where did u have to drill the frame? I am not wanting to drill my frame. Thanks for the info.

 

The sliders mount plate has two holes on the bottom. Only one is used (back hole) and the other is optional. I chose to drill it since I had the drill bit handy.

 

Ok. Thank you.

 

Ok. Finally installed sliders. Love em. However I ended up with three small bolts that don’t have any nuts? Never like xtra parts but didn’t see anything in directions about them.

 

Mine came out with a little muscle but not too much.

 

@JARStacoma I had extra bolts and nuts left over.

I believe I used 6 bolts on driver side and 7 on passenger side to include the optional one drilled frame hole location.

 

Ya. I’m real curious what those would be fore. Especially without any nuts provided.

 

I'm still a little confused... So, without drilling on a 2018 there is still one bolt (on each side) that goes trough the tab on the slider that wraps around the bottom of the frame near the back, right? Is it just the one tab that wraps under the frame closer to the front that some people drill and bolt or are there other holes that one needs to drill for normal installation?