Repositioning sliders

Hey everybody, I have a set of custom sliders that ended up being a little ‘too tight’.

These are bolt on, and powder coated. Everything is perfect, except they are up against the pinch weld right up front. There are couple options I see.

1. Bang the crap out of the pinch weld but that’s right where the bolt is so I’m not interested in that.
2. Take them off and down to a shop and have the legs dropped. But that would likely involve stripping, cutting, welding, and powder coating again.
3. I can remove them and ‘open up’ the mounting holes a little so they drop down a little. This would break the powder coat seal, but I could rustoleum the crap out of that area.

They need to drop down about 1/4 -3/8 up front. The rear is fine. I’m leaning towards option 3 as that’s just about how much room I have before the plates drop to even with the bottom of the frame.

My question is, what’s the best way to hollow out those mounting holes on the plates? In that area I suspect the plates are 3/8” thick. No drill press at home, but I do have decent cordless and corded drills. Or is this a ‘money well spent’ to have a shop hollow them out?

 

A die grinder would be my tool of choice. Or drill a 1/2” hole right above it, then cut the little slivers with a saw/angle grinder.

 

Cheap die grinder and carbide bits will oval those holes out.

 

With a good rotary file.

 

No, I prefer a dull one. I’m a glutton for punishment.

 

Then use a cheap rotary file in a drill. That’ll teach ya.

 

So what’s the work difference between a decent die grinder and a rotary file in my drills? Is it 10 minutes bs 45 minutes? Or 1hr vs 8 hrs?

Grainger has a decent price on Dewalt with a bag and battery.

 

A drill spins at 2,000 rpm. I just looked at a makita die grinder and it spins at 28,000 rpm. You’ll be at it all day with a drill

 

I saw those ratios. Assuming efficiency is proportional to rpm, you’re probably right. My time has value so Grainger here I come.

 

I’ve used an electric die grinder before and it’s a freaking beast. A drill can’t hold a candle to it in this scenario. You’ll be glad you got it.

 

Am I going to regret getting the cordless version?

 

I doubt it, cordless tools are awesome. As long as it’s a quality one with a decent sized battery. For a short use like this you’ll be fine.

 

I would chop of the bolt plates and weld the sliders on. Saves a bunch of weight and you can get them on exactly where u want

 

That’s an option I hadn’t really considered. Appreciate the alternative perspective. I think I’m still likely to keep them as bolt on though. I know welded is lighter and probably a bit more robust. I’m just not ready to weld to my frame.

 

A cordless drill and a unibit. Will take you 1 min. Get a pack of cheap unibits at harbor freight

 

Now that might work I suppose. I should probably have a pack of those anyways, right? LOL.

I’d have to start with a small diameter probably centered just above the bolt slot. I’m really only going to want a 1/2 - 2/3 hole.

 

They are great, and work very fast. I have a really nice pencil die grinder with carbide bits but I perfer the hole saw for fast easy stuff. Plus the shavings are big and heavy, with the pencil die grinder the shavings are super fine and you always get them in your skin. With the unibit you just gotta be careful because the shavings are hot as hell as it rips the metal super fast causing a lot of heat.

you can press the unibit against the top and it will kind of elongate the hole, but will wear the bits faster. Not sure how much you need the slider to drop? You might just be able to enlarge the hole a few sizes and that’s all it will need rather than elongate the hole.

 

The challenge I might have is that I won’t have a complete hole. I may start with the smallest bit and drill in solid plate. By the time I get to the bigger diameter, I’ll have opened up into the existing bolt slot. I suppose with some care and attention, I could keep the bit centered. I’m only going to be able to drill from one side too. The plate thickness is probably taller than the steps. I think what will work well is to do a pilot hole with the bits and go as big as I can safely, then finish off with the die grinder.

 

I’ll bring up one thing that hasn’t been brought up yet:
If you oval or enlarge the mounting holes so the sliders can move down a bit you would now be relying on the clamping force of the bolts to keep the sliders in place. If you should happen to use them as actual sliders and come down on an obstacle, they would most likely move back up and likely slam into the pinch weld area where they’re making contact now and cause damage to the area. How much damage depends on the hit of course but either way they’d self-clearance. Another possibility is the enlarged holes could be damaged and elongated further.
The above considerations are only concerns if you plan to use them as intended. If they’re more of a “just in case” deal then you’ll be fine but I though I’d mention something I saw other miss.

 

A quick question: How are your body/frame bushings?