Stainless steel sliders

OK, so I can't think of any more search words to use to find a relevant answer, so I,m just going to ask everyone. Do we know of anyone building bolt-on sliders with stainless steel? Thanks, one and all!

 

you mean like SS plated? or square tubes of stainless?

 

I mean as in built of stainless tubing, nothing to rust.

 

Never heard of rust being an issue on sliders

 

Nope, I haven’t seen any.
I kind of think of sliders as sacrificial.
They are supposed to take the beating and damage.
Beat’em up, patch them, or replace them.
Not something I’d worry about.

 

I don't see why you couldn't. But also don't see why you would. Hard to weld, harder to machine, so more expensive.

 

Not cheap and heavy as h3ll.

https://www.industrialmetalsupply.com/blog/carbon-steel-vs-stainless-steel

Unlike carbon steel, stainless steel has a chromium oxide coating that protects against rust and stains. ... However, stainless steel is heavier than carbon steel and aluminum, with the lowest strength-to-weight ratio.

 

I've silver brazed about a dozen bicycle frames out of Reynolds and Tange 4130 Chromoly steel and have often thought that 4130 would be a great way to build super strong yet very light sliders. I know they'd be more expensive, but I wonder just how. And of course, it can be tig or mig welded as well. The main advantage would be to be able to use substantially thinner wall thickness and maintain similar strength. I know that most people wouldn't want to pay more but maybe some might if it saved enough weight. Just one of my many musings. The real cool thing about the bicycle tubing was that it had variable tube wall thickness while maintaining the same outside diameter (butting and double butting) with the Tange Prestige, which is no longer made coming in at .7mm on the ends and .4mm in the middle.

 

You certainly can. How much money and desire do you have?

304 or 321 stainless pipe would do the trick.
AceRaceparts.com has good prices on that. It will be heavy. Would polish up sweet though. Sneak a peak up your lady's skirt everytime she gets in. Lol

*Edit* After a little reading up, neither of the two above would be wanted. 316 is what would be best used.

If you wanted to save weight and had a endless budget, you could do inconel or hastelloy, for thinner wall.

.120 wall by 1.75 DOM tubing would be very very strong. More budget friendly for commoners though.

 

How much money do you have? Nobody makes them but if you pay somebody, they will build them. For that matter, build them out of Inconel or titanium if you're going that far.

 

It would be sort of pointless to have them really as the fact stands that even if you leave them bare, eventually they will rust anyways.

 

Perhaps I should explain. I live in New England, salted roads in winter. I carry a plow in winter. I intend to lift my truck for better front clearance when wearing said plow. I'm short (and old) and expect that I'll appreciate a step up into said lifted truck. I oil undercoat my trucks twice a year to stay ahead of the rust. Aside from oil undercoating, protecting rocker panels from rusting is best accomplished with mud flaps, preferably as an integral part of a running board. Think polished diamond plate aluminum, like the old DeeZee's on a '84 GMC. Salt eats them, too. I'd like a fully plated flat slider with a kick out, that would keep most of the salty slush away from the rockers. Don't care about polish, I'll paint them either body color or black, and stainless would not need to have any oil on them that will eventually get tracked into the truck on the bottoms of boots. I don't do any serious wheeling in my truck unless I have to (got a buggy for that), so they don't have to be all that rugged either. But not at all interested in boards that hang from the rockers, preferring the look of sliders. So far, I'm disappointed in not finding any of the usual armor manufacturers with a stainless option. Maybe I just haven't dug deep enough yet.

 

You may want to contact Jerry @ BAMF and tell him your situation. He is one hellova busy guy, but for your situation, he may be able to take care of you using the materials you desire.

 

Your best bet is to just get standard sliders, maybe light duty ones. With a quality powder coat. I live in the salt belt and my powder coated CBI sliders still hold up pretty well almost 11 years later. I think what you'll find is that you will be paying alot more for SS for very little return. You could probably buy two sets of regular sliders and just replace the first set if/when they rust out after 10+ years for the price of someone to make you a set of SS sliders.

 

he does put alot of speed holes in his designs, that might help the salt water to drain.

 

Salt is just the worst.

There has to be a better way to combat snow rather than using salt. The amount of things that it can and does ruin is just a slap in the face to the people paying for the maintenance of these public roads.

 

The folks that are used to the snow use mainly sand, up in the northeast such as vermont or new hampshire. Here in the tri-state area (philly, NJ, DE) they love to throw down the salt and brine which is just a liquid designed to cause frames to rust I'm convinced. It sucks but I only drive my DD when they put that shit on the roads in the winter because I see what it does to truck frames and rocker panels/wheel wells.

 

I you lived closer, I would do it. Or at least attempt it. Never made them before. It'd be a fun project.

There have to be some people that through the grapevine, that could help you could find a shop or person capable of such a task, whom is local to you.

Metal Supermarkets, or Steel Supply might have better pricing on large material orders.

Going to need to be MIG welded to save time.

 

This is why I go to the DIY powerwash carwash and rinse my vehicles off after a week of driving in that salt/brine stuff.

 

OP, just slap a set of steel sliders on and add them to your frame rust prevention to do list. I don't see the point of SS sliders when the frame is far the greater concern for rust. Here in texas,...oh wait a minute....nevermind.