RockHard 4X4 Rock Sliders (Angled Down)

[kevman65]

Received these a week ago today, didn't have any time off until today so I mounted them.

First, these are stout, close to 100 pounds each. Second, one person can mount these, if they have a jack stand and a floor jack.

I had to remove my Rubi rock rails first, this was good, gave me an idea of where everything was.
Thought I would be one of the lucky few and not have to drill, no such luck. Let me just say drill them all and it makes life easier.

Body mount bolts. Middle one was a MFer on both sides, and no thread locker on it. Turned hard almost all the way out.
Front one has red thread locker, 2 1/2 turns with breaker bar and either ratchet or impact the rest of the way out.
Rear one has blue thread locker, 1 1/2 turns with breaker bar and then impact or ratchet the rest of the way out.
A HUGE helpful hint, middle and front have a spring metal retainer ring, grab that thing with long (6") needle nose pliers and pull it out. It is almost impossible to get get everything lined up to get the bolt to start if that ring is in there.

Now for the jack stand and floor jack. Put the jack stand on the opposite end from where you are going to start. With one end of the slider on the ground, lift the other end into stand and slide it under pinch seam. Run the stand up as high as it will go so that pinch seam goes between studs and mounting flanges. Now put the floor jack right next to stand with handle angles toward where you will be on the other end, jack it up until it touches. Go to opposite end and lift and guide studs to holes, now jack the floor jack up until your studs are lined up with holes and slide them in a little at a time.

After that it's just washers and nuts for the pinch seam and then body bolts.

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[kevman65]

 

[FR33DOM]

Looks great! These are top contenders for me soon!

 

[whiteglad]

I installed the angled up Rock Hard patriot rails a few weeks ago. On my JT, the rear body mount bolts came out easy, the middles were tight all the way, and the fronts very tight. I did not use heat, just a long ratchet and cheater pipe. I did not have to drill out any pinch weld holes. I did decide that the stock bolts might have lost strength from the stress of removing them against their loctite, so I bought grade 12.9 M12x1.75 allen head bolts from McMaster, a five pack of 120 long, and two of 220 long. I used grade 8 or 9 washers (if you use 7/16, you will have to use a carbide bur to open them a few thousandths). I used grade 12.9 M8x1.25x30 bolts at the tub mount positions I installed the bolts with grease. I raised the rail, which I guess weighed about 70 lb, with a floor jack in the middle and put jack stands at the ends. I am very happy with these rock rails, perfect fit, good powder coat. You should like your angled down rails similarly. I chose angled up partly for door protection in parking lots.

 

[syreeves]

Does it help for stepping in and out? What i mean is - are the outer rails stable and useable as a step? My wife HATES my JTR simply because she can barely climb in. 5'2"... Also I look stupid climbing in and out at the office in a suit. I've got the Mopar 2 inch lift and 35s... anyway you could show a few pics of feet location for front and rear steps? I am looking at the angled up bars too but I think angled down gets me a lower initial climb-in step and I suspect the short supporting bars help avoid slippage?

In any event thanks for the tips and pics so far!

 

[kevman65]

Does it help for stepping in and out? What i mean is - are the outer rails stable and useable as a step? My wife HATES my JTR simply because she can barely climb in. 5'2"... Also I look stupid climbing in and out at the office in a suit. I've got the Mopar 2 inch lift and 35s... anyway you could show a few pics of feet location for front and rear steps? I am looking at the angled up bars too but I think angled down gets me a lower initial climb-in step and I suspect the short supporting bars help avoid slippage?

In any event thanks for the tips and pics so far!

Yes, my wife is 5'-1 1/2" tall and she uses them as a step all the time. You need to buy some grip tape, traction tape however you know it as and apply it to the parts of the bars she uses as a step. Just when wet they are slick for "women's" shoes. That is not a put down, most women wear a slick sole shoe and in that case the bare bars are slick when wet.

No, they are not flimsy, the bars themselves are designed to slide on boulders, trees and such and support the weight of the Jeep.

Since your wife is of shorter stature, you need some type of grab handle that attaches to the sport bar. I advise against the JEEP grab handles, one of the screws broke when my wife was using it. Get one of the better velcro wrap handles.

Also, since my wife has learned this is easier, she needs to be facing toward the interior of the Jeep when entering or exiting.

 

[syreeves]

Yes, my wife is 5'-1 1/2" tall and she uses them as a step all the time. You need to buy some grip tape, traction tape however you know it as and apply it to the parts of the bars she uses as a step. Just when wet they are slick for "women's" shoes. That is not a put down, most women wear a slick sole shoe and in that case the bare bars are slick when wet.

No, they are not flimsy, the bars themselves are designed to slide on boulders, trees and such and support the weight of the Jeep.

Since your wife is of shorter stature, you need some type of grab handle that attaches to the sport bar. I advise against the JEEP grab handles, one of the screws broke when my wife was using it. Get one of the better velcro wrap handles.

Also, since my wife has learned this is easier, she needs to be facing toward the interior of the Jeep when entering or exiting.

Thanks! BTW when I said "stable" i didn't mean flimsy - I get what rockrails are. What I meant was "are the too narrow to provide stable footing?" - sounds like you dealt with this partially through grip tape which is something I had considered - just didn't know whether it would stick long term if it gets wet constantly. One thing I have considered is ordering the rails unpainted and then having a local welder fashion a plate to close the gap between the round bar and the part that attaches to the jeep body. Then I'd clean and cover with bedliner material rather than powdercoat to achieve rust protection and surface grip.

Anyway - thank you for replying! Again - really appreciate your install info and pictures - your rig looks great.

PS - did you know that "women climbing into big trucks" is a thing on You Tube? I'd never show my wife (or my HR dept) but: . Its funny because its funny but some would see this as demeaning. I just think its just the internet doing its usual thing...

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