Project: DIY rock/tree sliders

[Stinka]

I have a UK terrano R20, different body but it has a WD21 chassis and suspension.

 

Wanted to fix up some budget sill protection, as when out rock crawling on a trail I bent the standard side steps and took a mark on my drivers sill, only minor but i figured need something more substantial. So i got an old beasty 180amp stick welder of my mate for $50 and some 2" box with a 3mm or 0.12" wall also got some plates cut from 8mm sheet( using imperial here as us europeans deal in meteric which I have found is foreign to the americans lol )

 

So i procceeded to weld them up, this is my first ever attampt at welding :

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the test, I jacked it up :

 

Ok some erious deflection, but it returned to perfectly straight.

 

 

Picture showing return to straight using my 6ft spirit level as a straight edge :

 

 

So i removed them, then i coated them with red oxide, then sprayed some matt black plastikote (rattle can ) on them and fitted the knock in plastic caps. bolted them up with m12x100mm bolts :

 

 

 

 

 

In summary, they were cheap to make, owe me less than $100, I learned alot about welding.

 

They might bend at the ends if I drop the whole weight of the vehicle straight on to a rock, but they are prototypes lol. They will protect my b pillars if i slide badly into rocks or trees and offer my sills some serious protection, so I will see how they go

[Stinka]

[vagabond]

looks nice for your first time with a stick welder, at least it doesn't look like a bird crapped on it

[Harbinger]

Nice work! Not bad for a budget job.

 

Also, as an American owning Japanese vehicles, metric is better!

[Stinka]

Cheers guys, mind is racing allready thinking about adding gussets, triangulation and all sorts