Rock sliders - Gen 4.

Thanks Gadget,
Nice pics, not remotely interested in the Italian made Raptor sliders. My experience of Italian made hardware (through motorcycles) is it rusts, but quick. Rust pushes through the thin powder coat and all looks awful. Your Jimny-bits ones look great and it's entirely possible that your photos have just cost me 300 quid.
Chris

Gadget,
I've had a look around the shed to find something that weighs 30k.
I have a 10hp outboard motor (a very capable little thing) and that weighs in at 27k.
These bars sound like serious overkill, you should be ashamed of yourself.
I'm ordering mine now.
Chris

I know I am a fine one to talk (see picture), but the main advantage of the jimny is that it is lightweight.

Would I do this to a jimny again, probably not as the moment the going gets tough it sinks! Watch the weight!

You're not wrong. The last toys I bought for Dreadnaught are still sat in stores because I can't justify the weight against the potential benefit and they only weigh 3.5kg. Add lightness!

I was waiting for the weight issue to come round for the gen 4 boys those mpg gauges will never be the same again :whistle:

CC Baxter wrote: Gadget,
I've had a look around the shed to find something that weighs 30k.
I have a 10hp outboard motor (a very capable little thing) and that weighs in at 27k.
These bars sound like serious overkill, you should be ashamed of yourself.
I'm ordering mine now.
Chris

:laugh: :laugh: :woohoo: my thoughts exactly. They do look like the real McCoy, certainly not cheap flimsy knock offs. I can’t wait to see some pictures of them on the J-Wagon, I’ll be getting myself a set if they’re not too obtrusive!!

I prefer the look and probably the build quality of the big jimny ones and will be watching this post closely over the next few days to see pics as I maybe ordering a set :whistle:

I hate the idea of adding weight, but until they come out with ones made from helium, these will have to do! :lol:

Just finished fitting them. I'm sure others who are more mechanically minded will find it a breeze, but I found it fairly tricky, due to needing to manhandle the bloody things and hold them in position, plus I had one bolt that just didn't want to play for half an hour, gaaaah.

After a bunch of trial and error, this is how I fitted them, diverging from the instructions a bit.

Stuff used:



1/2" ratchet & extension bar
1/2" torque wrench
13mm socket
14mm deep socket (you can just about get away with a normal 14mm)
17mm deep socket (must be deep, a normal socket won't work)
19mm combi spanner
Trolley jack or similar
Grease for bolt threads
8mm tap (to clean threads on centre bracket captive nut)
Hammer (for RAGE! :evil: )

Grease all the bolts then attach the front and rear brackets to the slider. Snug the bolts with the 19mm spanner so they can't spin, but not too tight as you'll need to loosen later.





The instructions mention leaving the centre bracket until last, but I found it easier to install it first. The captive nut on the bracket has been powder coated which clogs the threads a bit, so I quickly tapped the the threads clean.



The centre bracket slides over the chassis outrigger and is held in place with one bolt running all the way through, in one of these holes, depending on which side of the car you're working on.



Slide the bracket over and fit supplied M8 bolt and washer. This took me 30 seconds on the driver side, but 40 minutes on the passenger side as the bolt just didn't want to bite into the captive nut.



Remove the front (pictured, 14mm socket) and rear (17mm socket) body mounts.



The rear mount plate can be refitted the same way around, but you need to flip the front plate upside down so that it doesn't foul on the slider bracket.





I used the trolley jack to lift the rear of the slider and hold it in place, with nut finger tight, while I aligned the front. The front body mount bolt doesn't expose a huge amount of thead until the nut is tightened, so I found it easier to go rear first, then front. Don't forget to include the mount plates above the brackets!



Tighten the front and rear body mounts with ratchet then torque to 60nm.



Loosen the bolts that hold the front and rear brackets to the slider to give some play, then fit the two bolts to connect the centre bracket to the slider.



Check the level of the slider front to rear, I found mine were lower at the rear so used the jack to lift the rear slightly and then tightened down all of the bracket to slider bolts.



Revel in your new lardy Jimny, not only are the sills protected when off-roading, but also it gives extra protection from carpark door opening damage and gives you a handy step each side to reach roofbars/roofbox.

Excellent, they do look great!

Thank you Gadget, they look great. I now await a (hopefully strong) UPS delivery man.

Looking good

Great write up gadget! Thank you for all your effort. Are you coming to the off road event in October? I’d love to see them in person