Sliders from DTR Fabrication

I was doing some research on sliders for my 2011 DCLB, and I came across a craigslist ad for sliders built by a shop called DTR Fabrication. Seems like a small, locally-owned shop in the Phoenix area that sell powdercoated sliders for $900, install included.

Has anyone ever heard of or purchased from DTR fab? They advertise no-drill sliders and the installation method looks... interesting to say the least. They use some sort of u-bold configuration to clamp the sliders to the frame. If these sliders are legit, it seems like a hell of a deal.

 

It looks like they use conventional bolts in some areas, but a u-bolt clamp for the middle section.

 

Hm,

Never purchased anything from DTR or heard anything about them until I googled them after reading your thread. Nothing to say on their craftsmanship or personas apart from the fact that they seem nice/cool/respectful online.

However, when it comes to the slider itself, that's another story:

If you want a 'slider' so you can have a place to step to access the bed or work with a rtt then these will certainly do that for you. If you want a slider that can help you overcome a stray rock/boulder that you need to gently bump into on an otherwise easily traveled trail, these sliders will also take care of that for you.

If you need to do anything 'real' with a slider, i.e. what full blown weld on, or heavily bolted sliders, accomplish then these will not cut it. Hard pulls at an angle from a fellow 'froaders winch to keep you from rolling down a hill? Hell no. Actual difficult wheeling where you will come down hard on a rock, or you need to purposefully engage the slider onto something firm for some reason? Also pass.

Definitely a unique way to get an easy to install 'slider' onto your truck, but the term is definitely loosely used.

Disclaimer: I feel confident in sharing this perspective with you as I am a practicing structural engineer with significant experience in steel to steel connections.

 

Good to hear, thanks for the insight. Where do you think these sliders would fail that conventional bolt-ons wouldn't?

I also hope they would have lock nuts or something on those u-bolts to keep them from coming loose from vibration.

 

Quick answer: There simply aren't enough bolts, nor are there enough bolts at crucial locations, to handle the forces generated by even half a vehicle falling just 6-8". You won't see catastrophic failure in that case although you will likely see deformations, but for $900 you shouldn't see any issues.

Longer answer: Forces can be magnified depending on load orientation and the path that the load takes before reaching a restraint, more so if the load is retrained in some manner at a location other than a connection before reaching the connection (think of a crowbar. The ground restrains a position of the crowbar, but you ultimately want the curved end to pry up or on something else. This mechanical advantage works in your favor in this situation, though it doesn't work in the crowbars favor. Thankfully crowbars are incredibly strong relative to the forces a single human can generate under normal use.) This is poorly restrained for the real world loads a set of sliders is likely to see. As a result, damage to the slider and/or the truck are much more likely.

 

Great, I see what you're saying. Thankfully I don't see myself wheeling THAT hard with my DCLB. Strongly considering these, especially with the 2-4 week lead time. $900 installed including kickout and powdercoat is a great deal for a light duty slider

 

He used to post a lot on the az Tacoma fb page. His work seemed nice but for basically the same price and cheaper you have places like Westcott who have been putting out quality stuff for a while and done a lot of research. I’m sure this guy makes nice stuff and looks like he takes his time and isn’t just rushing stuff out. That being said I always wondered about research and development knowledge. Things aren’t always as easy as 2 plus 2 when designing stuff

 

DTR is a good guy. I give him my vote. Was nice to take advantage of a short lead time on a quality product that didn't require freight costs. From our interactions, he was open to a lot of other tube bending requests and has a quality PC connection as well.

 

If you're in Arizona check out Avid.
https://avidoffroad.com/cart/index.php/

 

Since structural engineering and load testing has been brought up, I think its important to note the materials at play.

For a fact, I know DTR is using DOM tubing and anyone coming in under his price is likely using a lesser steel or perhaps a thinner walled tube reflected in that $150 different price point. Also, when I contacted AVID, I was met with similar lead times to a lot of the other national fabricators. You win with either one on losing the cost of freight and receiving a finished product in hand, but if its build materials or lead times, I still give my up vote to DTR.

 

The Toyota frames are the weakest link in any slider in reality with the hard wheeling you describe. Go and actually look at the frames of those of us who really wheel hard there's dents and deformations all over the frames from hard drops etc. It's the same argument people use for DOM needed for sliders. Engineering gets you the general idea actual use and real world application gets you the knowledge of what truly works and doesn't.

Disclaimer: I've got yrs of experience wheeling harder than most and not afraid to put my truck on some crazy trails and obstacles some considered buggy trails.

 

Ah, wheeling that hard in either of my 3rd Gens is outside of my current budget, but I do have a friend or two who likes to send it like you describe. Used to go full send with my old XJ's, but those days are past.

People tend to think, just because I don't run down or fully explain every tiny thing that could happen (i.e. frames being bent, seen em in real life and I've watched 4x Innovations drop test videos), that 'ye dumb old inexperienced enginerd' can't possibly fathom what actually occurs out in the 'real world'. Of course I understand that a gusseted tubular member orthogonal to a flat plate, applying a couple (tension and compression simultaneously) would deform a flat plate. This is not something that can only be gained through real world experience, as it is a fundamentally simple mechanical situation that is resolved and understood through just a few simple equations.

Perhaps I simply parsed out the information requested (what's up with these sliders) without dropping (no pun intended) into the rabbit hole of potentially sheared cab mount bolts caused by an appropriately placed drop from a sufficient height onto a sufficiently firm object. Or any of the other things that could occur. Being able to concisely respond to a question asked is a mighty fine skill to have, as it gives people what they are asking for!

One final thing to mention: A slightly dented frame due to the extreme use of a slider on a difficult trail is one thing. Your slider will move upwards a small amount, and that's about it. Your rocker panel is still fine, slider is still usable, and for the most part, your frame is just fine. That same drop (or one much smaller) on the DTR sliders in question? Potential removal of the slider from the frame, resulting in damage to the cab of the truck, among other things.

Two entirely different outcomes, the first of which is 'reasonable/expected' while the latter is 'destructive/dangerous'.