There are atleast 4 studs on the body that are 3-4 inches long and are only threaded about an inch or so that you can not simply bolt a peice of square stock to without a spacer or just cut it out all together and use a bolt. I use extentions on them,,,but I also us aluminum 2.5" rod sections for spacers

Ah now I get what you mean, and on a sammy you're right as far as I know   and I know of people over here who cut them out too so I guess that's the way to go  

Back to rock Crushin...   Lookin good Digger  

Here is one of me testing the rails on the 4dr last month.

Yea,,,,,Just square stock eh?

Then I bet you just left the center STUDS without support, clever Dutch one. There are about ten bolts holding the body to the frame, you would need a spacer for the studs in the "bed" OR cut them out and replace them with bolts.

Check my webpage about the BL and we'll talk again ( but in another thread, this one's about rockerpanels )

http://www.nitromax.nl/SAMBODYLIFT.HTM

bus driver: the new rocker panels are just that, 2 sections of 2x2" square stock welded together to form a 2x4" platform, then this is welded in place of the original rocker panels.  It is welded to the body, the full length of the rails, both on top of the rails and underneath(basically it's welded everywhere the rockers met the body). This distributes the load over such a large area and it's such a solid piece by itself, I don't think I'll have any problems with it...

Rhinoman: sorry, no other pics- YET. I still have the other side to do, so if there's anything in particualr you want a pic of, let me know and I'll try to remember to shoot it for ya!

Chet: actually, the bottom of the front fender is trimmed flush with the rock rail and there is a piece of 1" angle welded on top of the 2" stock right behind the bottom edge of the fender. They aren't installed in the pics yet, but there are 2 screws through the fender into the angle to secure the fender edge to the rocker while still making it removable.

PWSX3: Yes, I just attached it to the body and not to the frame. My 2" body lift looks basically the same as ed oorklep's; 2" square stock pieces welded to the body and bolted to the frame with the stock rubber bushings. When I jacked up the side of the Tracker using only the rocker for support, nothing gave any hint of flexing or moving, not the body or the body mounts. Would I trust these rails to land on exclusively from jumping several feet in the air? No, of course not, but they are perfect protection for the type of trail-running I do.

I did it this way to kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak. I definately HAD to repair my rockers and I wanted some added protection for them. Rather than doing it in 2 separate steps(repairing the rockers, THEN building separate rock rails) I decided to make the new rockers as strong as rails. Once it's painted up nice, it will be hard to tell I actually did anything to it until I slide over some rocks without taking any damage! LOL!

sweet  what do you estimate that it weighs?  when you do the other side could you shoot a pic sorta from the bottom looking up after you cut away the matal and after you weld it in?  good job man!

I would guess that each side weighs less than 30 lbs or so. They are beefy and heavy, but not as heavy as say a cinder block which weighs around 40 pounds... I'll try to get the pics for ya! I'm doing the other side on monday, so look for them monday night or tuesday!

Latest update, passenger side done!

I weighed the rocker platform before welding it in to the body and it weighed 26 pounds. I figure I cut off about 1 pound of stock sheet metal per side, so all told my rockers added about 50 pounds total. Not too bad I don't think.

Here's some more pics:

Smashed, rusty old rocker panel:


No rocker(rough cut):


New rocker platform shimmed into place just prior to welding:



Front end view with fender held out of the way for a better look, welded:


I didn't take a new pic of the panel welded in, I forgot and was trying to get done quickly, but here's the driver's side welded in:




Well, that's about it for my rocker pics. The only other finishing touches not pictured are the "L" Brackets welded on top of the rocker for the bottom of the fender to screw into and the finish paint job...

Next week's lesson: totally Stealth Sammy Rocker/sliders!!!

looks good! I started on the drivers side this weekend and got the 4x3 welded in place although I need to reconstruct the area above the rocker and below the rear drivers door it was covered in 1/4" of bondo and rusty sheet metal. I am going to the wrecker tomorrow to see if they will cut the section out of one of theres for me rather than me playing with it and f'n it up! I also started just back of the front fender as it will seldom get crunched (I hope!) I didn't get any pics of the before but will take some of the pass side.

Sounds good, Chet! One thing, though; right at the front edge of the door, back edge of the front fender is where the worst of my damage was! The driver's side was actually smashed up in behind the door! I would highly recomend tying it in all the way forward like I did to avoid the rail from taking an end-shot and getting pushed backwards...

When I did my rails I did lots of prep and finish work with the grinder.  A week later my White kick was rust colored.  Turns out the metal shavings had covered / burned into the paint.  Lots of cleaning and polishing later it is almost back to normal...   Take care when the sparks start to fly.    

I welded my front fenders to the sliders.  I like diggers ideia better, But I figure if they get bad enough too remove then I won't mind cutting them.

sweet, thanks for the added pics, that answers a lot of Qs for me before i do this.

I can add a little tip to help out anyone thinking of doing this: Be aware that the factory wiring harness, though small, still runs along the driver's side rocker panel. To make sure it's out of the way when cutting, pull the rear speaker, reach down into the hole and gently pull the harness up through the speaker hole. Secure it with a bungee while you do the cutting, then once the rocker's cut off, I used zip-ties to secure the harness to the highest point of the door sill, through the holes that open out to the floor boards...

I finally took a couple finished product pics that I wanted to add to this post.

Here's the finished passenger side:


Overview:


Here's a Tracker I saw while driving along that was running 3" tube nerf bars. Totally stock, apparently. Check out that breakover angle! LOL!!!

i built my own and welded them to the frame,they work awesome beleive me.saved my but more times than i can count. there are some really good pictures on ______granitepath.com_______ under kevin and adri (natebert and hcgalvins web site)

I really tested them out tonight out in the woods. I slid over a few rocks and logs, etc and the rocker rails didn't even flinch. Only damage in that area at all is just some paint scratching! WOOHOO!!! LOL!!!