Round Sliders

[Ricel]

So been looking into making my own sliders next month, and looking around, I really haven't seen too many companies putting out round rock sliders. (for the actual lower protection bar)

It seems that if I do a full round DOM build slider, it would make it that much easier to add on a bump out and step (notch the ends and i can just pick the angle i want)

Is there any real reason this isn't the more common option?

 

[ChiXterra]

Probably bending the DOM....

 

[Ricel]

isn't it suggested that round tube is stronger than square do to its shape?

 

[ChiXterra]

It is stronger. I am just talking about bending the DOM for steps, etc. It takes a heavy duty bender to bend thick walled DOM, which is something many places don't have.

 

[TN4x4Xterra]

Could always combine both....square and round

 

[Ricel]

well most combine them already. Im talking about the long bar. ment to protect the pinch seams. (no bending required)

 

[ChiXterra]

well most combine them already. Im talking about the long bar. ment to protect the pinch seams. (no bending required)

I'd prefer to have a flat surface for that.

 

[Silver dude]

Round bars make it harder to use as a jack point with a hilift jack. Where the square is a more stable jacking surface. I know very few guys actually use a hilift on their slider. But, is what it is.

 

[Ricel]

Ok, that makes sense. Any other reasons why I'd want to strafe away from tube bottoms?

 

[TN4x4Xterra]

well most combine them already. Im talking about the long bar. ment to protect the pinch seams. (no bending required)

I'd rather have a flat surface for that one....

 

[TKDx00]

The 5 reasons why I used square over round:
1- cheaper price for the material
2- square would land evenly on the rock surface and tend not to slide off
3- cheaper price for the material
4- I can add a step later easier to a flat surface instead of trying to cut the curve of the rounded tube
5- cheaper price for the material

 

[TheFauxFox]

... trying to cut the curve of the rounded tube

This...

 

[Killswitch]

Round bars make it harder to use as a jack point with a hilift jack. Where the square is a more stable jacking surface. I know very few guys actually use a hilift on their slider. But, is what it is.

When you jack from sliders, you do not go all the way underneath and jack from the square tubing. That is highly unsafe. You can jack from the round tubing "step" just fine, the best way to do that is with a hi-lift adapter like this. I would not recommend jacking from the sliders without something like this. It is risky as it is, doing it without an adapter just adds to that. I have done it but I have also helped drop a truck off a hi-lift by trying to do it without an adapter so I can tell you from experience, not a good plan lol.

As far as the main beam of the sliders goes, I personally like the nice square/rectangular tubing. Mine have plenty of surface area and have protected my rocker panels fairly well (chunks of missing fender not included haha), plus like others said, they slide fairly easily so I can drop on them and kind of make them work in my favor. It's not like round sliders are going to be bad though, I know several members on here that are running them and doing just fine. PM Tomsredx, he can tell you all about this.

 

[RacerXXL]

When you jack from sliders, you do not go all the way underneath and jack from the square tubing. That is highly unsafe. You can jack from the round tubing "step" just fine, the best way to do that is with a hi-lift adapter like this. I would not recommend jacking from the sliders without something like this. It is risky as it is, doing it without an adapter just adds to that. I have done it but I have also helped drop a truck off a hi-lift by trying to do it without an adapter so I can tell you from experience, not a good plan lol.

That's the adapter I have on mine from Wabfab. For my truck I need to have one as all the jacking points are tube and raising the truck one time with a Hi-Lift on tube and I knew I needed to have one.

 

[RacerXXL]

It is stronger. I am just talking about bending the DOM for steps, etc. It takes a heavy duty bender to bend thick walled DOM, which is something many places don't have.

I have bent plenty of DOM tubing, thick and thin walled, with a JD model 32 manual bender it's not that hard. Any custom fab shop will have a manual bender.

4- I can add a step later easier to a flat surface instead of trying to cut the curve of the rounded tube

Notching round tube can be hard without a notcher or a mill but it can be done. Luckily I have access to a mill, makes it go much faster.

 

[granitex]

As stated before, notching the tube is not bad, nor is bending DOM. The main reason that square tube is used is that it is easier to do, and when it is easier it is more cost affective in the long run.

If you want to run a set that has a round tube Trail Gear has a set for toyotas that come in peices that you weld yourself, all of the notches are pre-cut, but you will have to make a few adjustments to make them work.

 

[Ricel]

I love that Mill. Makes life so easy.

 

[Cyclemut]

I'll tell you 1 reason in particular.

Warpage while welding. If you're not careful, they warp pretty easy when building them.

We did the sliders for Boulder Nissan and ended up using square for the top tubes with DOM for the bottom. The first set warped on us when we had a wind gust come through the shop while we were welding and warped the set. Total PITA! After that is when we decided that the combination of square and round was stronger. But round still looks cooler.

 

[Ricel]

Sounds good guys.