Rocker Armor!
 

So i have seen a lot of threads on here that are just, Hey! I had this great idea to make my jeep a hover craft! and they never go anywhere with it. This probably looks like one of those but I really want to flush this Idea out before I actually get it done.

So basically I Landed my jeep on a rock the night before I was planning on ordering some slidders and this was the result.

[IMG]http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2549/0430011205.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

As most jeepers do when you break something they think oh well I will just upgrade it. So i began to search for a viable replacement knowing that certain companies made armor for lower quarter panels. I thought possibly there would be something for the rockers but there wasn't except by one company and they wanted your first born child and your birth right inorder to buy them.

So I took some measurements and came up with this on Autodesk Inventor.

[IMG]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6475/rockerarmor15.png Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

I was going to make it out of 1/8 sheet metal the diamond plate just looked cool.

Here is a top view I was thinking I could drill some holes in the top every 1.5-3 inches? and spot wield it then the back would be wielded to the seem on the bottom.

[IMG]http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8...ckerarmor1.png Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

Then to make it go all the way to the edge of my fender the top is cut out on the ends.

[IMG]http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/4...ckerarmor2.png Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

I by no means an expert with this type of fabrication so here are my questions....

What potential long term problems do you fore see?

Would spot wields be strong enough and what spacing between each wield?

Thicker or Thinner steel and why?

And Personally preference...

Would you still run sliders in conjunction and why or why not?

Feel free to put in your two cents on this.. even if it isn't related to my questions.

pics dont work for me...

Fixed.

landing on a rock with 1/8 steel thats welded directly to your rockers is still going to dent. Also, if you only spot weld, water will get between the steel and your rockers and will cause rust. Even if you rhino line it, the edges will still scratch on the body side and rust will still come.

By no means am I bashing your idea. I hope you aren't getting that impression. I love the idea and I want to see you go through with it. If anything, it will at least look really cool. I've got the same dent in my rocker on the passenger side and if yours comes out looking good, I might just do the same thing and still get rocker guards that are mounted to the frame.

No that's great input I have thought of some those things.. The rust isn't a huge worry for me being in a dry climate. But I can see what your saying it would just be simpler and better looking if I did spot wields. I am totally open to negatives about it because then I can get an idea of problems that I may be able to fix. I am still going to get slider as well.

def will still dent.. you could weld together some rockers for not too bad of a price

I want to see you do this and then do a slider. I feel like just the diamond over the rockers will look really good and then if you do a slider, you'll get the protection you need. Spot welds would be easier but being in a state that is just as wet as it is dry, that wouldnt really work for me. Anyways, I just say do it and post some pics. I'm very interested.

Seam sealer?

if you are getting sliders aswell, 1/8 would be more than enough.

i would spot weld every 4 inches or so and use seam sealer to make sure dirt and water didnt get between your stock rocker and the guards your making.

you may aswell make guards for the bottom of the doors at this point. it would help cover up that nasty scratch you put there!!:thumbup:

I have done a little body work before so the doors I was just going to attempt to at least make them look better lol. I am planning on rhino lining all the way to the body line right below the door handles and in flat black no one will see the dents once the are a beat out a little.

But the sealer is a great Idea hadn't thought of that. I might just go to the edge and not bend the top. Then I could use thicker diamond plate because I wouldn't have to worry about clearing the doors and all that. I'm going to try to get some prices on getting it cut and bent tomorrow so I will tell you all what I hear on that.

i dont think that would be strong enough for what you want it to do.

how about doing the weld in rocker replacements? pretty simple and just use a 2x6 piece of box steel. buncha write ups about it

I did mine and they came out sick. I used overkill 3/8 thick 2x6.

^^^ In the process of doing mine as we speak. Can be time consuming if you don't have a plasma cutter, sawzall blades seem to bend a lot on 3/16 steel

Yah I think those like look like crap no offense but I don't like it and the idea is more to patch my dent and make it look cool then to make it strong enough to support the weight of my vehicle. It would also be three times as much work and involves cutting sheet metal that doesn't need to be cut.