Rock Hard Patriot Sliders finish not holding up

[Cruizer8]

So about a year and a half ago I got the Rock Hard 4x4 Patriot sliders. They work great and I enjoy them, but over the last 6 months or so they have started to get some surface rust. I was just wondering if anyone else has had the same experience or if I just happened to get a bad finish job on mine?

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[ATL_Rubi]

So about a year and a half ago I got the Rock Hard 4x4 Patriot sliders. They work great and I enjoy them, but over the last 6 months or so they have started to get some surface rust. I was just wondering if anyone else has had the same experience or if I just happened to get a bad finish job on mine?

That's a weird area for it as it's not a high traffic spot on the rail, I would assume

 

[whiteglad]

No finish can withstand being pelted with gravel and road salt. My Rock Hard sliders are three years old and have no finish wear here in a dry climate with no road salt. I have gone hundreds of miles on desert trails.
When I lived in the rust belt, I routinely and periodically touched up painted surfaces with Rustoleum rattle ans,

 

[Cruizer8]

That's a weird area for it as it's not a high traffic spot on the rail, I would assume

I agree, which is what makes me curious if my pair didn't get finished as well as normal. The underside isn't as bad and that is where road salt should have a bigger impact.

No finish can withstand being pelted with gravel and road salt. My Rock Hard sliders are three years old and have no finish wear here in a dry climate with no road salt. I have gone hundreds of miles on desert trails.
When I lived in the rust belt, I routinely and periodically touched up painted surfaces with Rustoleum rattle ans,

I definitely deal with road salt, but I have also kept it fairly clean and garage kept. My bumper and some other metal surfaces have a similar looking finish but none have any sign of surface rust. I'm just not looking forward to fixing it cause it means removing them to do it right.

 

[bd100]

Similar issue with their control arm skids.

I find that powder coating either lasts well or hardly at all. 20+ years on my old pickup, mostly fine. 1 yr on the JT bed skids, one side rusting the other fine so far. Etc. I almost wish they'd just use good enamel paint.

 

[SargeDiesel]

So about a year and a half ago I got the Rock Hard 4x4 Patriot sliders. They work great and I enjoy them, but over the last 6 months or so they have started to get some surface rust. I was just wondering if anyone else has had the same experience or if I just happened to get a bad finish job on mine?

I've had mine for about the same amount of time as you and mine show no wear whatsoever.
Is it possible you had a chemical or corrosive substance of some type come in contact ? or Like you mentioned, possibly a bad coating job.
Not sure what could be done other than prepping the surface and rattle canning them...
I will never take mine off the vehicle... lol with the body bolt issues, it was stressful just putting them on... ha ha

 

[KrashEd]

I have had Rockhard equipment on other vehicles and the finish flaked after a year or two. We live in PA and drove the vehicle in the snow....They salted the roads so expected the rust. As others have said, it only lasts so long in the rust belt.

On the other side of the coin, with any paint job or coating, prep is 90 percent of the job. It is possible they were light in the inside of the rails when they sprayed the powder on the metal or didn't have a good charge on the metal.

When I get something bare metal, I use a thick coat of Steel It paint and let it cure well. It survives the elements.

 

[whiteglad]

I could take mine off--and did take them off my 2020 and put them on the new 2022. However, I changed the bolts to grade 12.9 Allen head and used high pressure chassis grease instead of loctite on them. They never loosened with use, so I consider loctite unnecessary there. I really wish Jeep would quit using Loctite on the body mount bolts.

 

[Rusty PW]

With powder coat. It's either hit or miss, depending on where you live. One stone chip starts the rusting process. It will start at the chip, then rust under the powder coat. Once that happens. Expect the powder coat to flake off. I been using rattle can truck bed coating on parts like this. Stones and rocks can't chip it. Plus it's easy to touch up.

 

[RodRecket]

The title and original post peaked my curiosity. I have a similar look on mine and I would be more perturbed if I didn't use the piss out of them on the trail. After each trip I get underneath with spray paint and touch them up so prevent rust issues which subsequently solves (covers) that corrosion issue.

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