I’ll preface this by saying I admire your workmanship and the skills to he able to do this, and I think the end result looks really nice.
But, I think purely from a point of view of it’s functionality as a rock slider you have made it significantly worse. Now its a much better step and a much worse rockslider. Ideally the bar of a rockslider should sit directly under the sill as that is its primary job to prevent sill damage. You have moved it out so now if you drop onto a boulder (as opposed to a ledge) it can come up behind the bar and between the supports and still damage the sill. Also by moving the bar out you have increased the leverage if you do sit on a rock with it and it’s more likely to bend or break mounts, whether or not that’s actually an issue I don’t know, if your welds are good it may still have enough strength but it definitely degrades it’s overal tolerances.
But as I said, kudos for the work and it looks great. And I say this as someone who has side steps and not sliders so there’s that. Your modified sliders are probably still better at protection and less likely to be damaged than my steps.
View attachment 7832883
you can see it here, we cut the brackets and welded in some tube to space it out 40mm. Which makes it sit in line with the factory tires. Im going to a 285 tire so they will stick out 10mm wider which will be perfect. They work perfect as a step getting into the car. They are not the best for getting out of the car as they still sit narrow but i did not want to sacrifice clearance off-road. So im happy to jump out.
View attachment 7832883
you can see it here, we cut the brackets and welded in some tube to space it out 40mm. Which makes it sit in line with the factory tires. Im going to a 285 tire so they will stick out 10mm wider which will be perfect. They work perfect as a step getting into the car. They are not the best for getting out of the car as they still sit narrow but i did not want to sacrifice clearance off-road. So im happy to jump out.
Hi Caveman, I get why you modified the rock slider. The step height into the cab is high, especially for anyone shorter or kids, grand parents etc. We all want to have steps that are robust and practical and that give more protection than just standard side steps. Everything is a compromise. If just a side step, you have ease of entry and minimal protection. If just a rock slider, zero ease of entry and maximum protection. Your idea addresses the best of both, as it provides better entry than a rock slider and more protection than a side step. AnD3rew has some good points. To address one of And3rew points, perhaps a skid plate could be attached to the bottom supports to prevent a rock from coming up and damaging the sill. I like AnD3rew have ordered side steps, however I will be looking for a solution that incorporates the best of both. Couple questions if you have the time. 1) What is the height from the ground to the step? 2) Is the diamond plate steel of aluminum? 3) How did you attach the diamond plate. DaBull