Ok, I'm going to be cutting the rusty rockers out of my zuk soon, and wondering what everyone's pro's and con's are for tying the rocker protection into the frame are. I'm thinking of using 2x4 1/4" rectangle for the rockers, is this too heavy to have just welded to the body? I saw these pics in the Cruiser section, and it got me thinking...

Another...

These are just welded to the body...

Yes and no.
The 1/4 will be hard to weld in properly but it can be done though I don't think it will provide the strength you are looking for. So I would tie it into the frame. Jayzuk did something cool with his rockers but I don't have the pic at work so I'll post it later or tomorrow. Basically he cut the rockers at the point where it dips in towards the door and then under the body and welded some light guage sheet (not body metal probably 1/10th of an inch -- I haven't memorized the guages vs. thickness charts) on a 45* angle (like loads of Heeps and yotas have done). It makes the zuk look huge due to the increased clearence. He didn't use any rocker protection after that as he found it hard to hit but with the added space you could run any protection you want and not loose clearence.

Just a thought. I'll post pic's later.

Dave
aka Shogunator

I have been kicking this around for my next project. I think the Zuk sheetmetal is too thin to just weld a piece right in the middle like that. What I have seen work is a piece of anlge welded to the side like that with the other surface wrapping under the tub (hope that makes sense). A lot of the toyota guys are eliminating their rockers, mount the seats to the rollcage and then just have a few tabs every 8 inches or so to bolt whats left of the floor down.

Originally posted by dumb
Yes and no.
The 1/4 will be hard to weld in properly but it can be done though I don't think it will provide the strength you are looking for. So I would tie it into the frame. Jayzuk did something cool with his rockers but I don't have the pic at work so I'll post it later or tomorrow. Basically he cut the rockers at the point where it dips in towards the door and then under the body and welded some light guage sheet (not body metal probably 1/10th of an inch -- I haven't memorized the guages vs. thickness charts) on a 45* angle (like loads of Heeps and yotas have done). It makes the zuk look huge due to the increased clearence. He didn't use any rocker protection after that as he found it hard to hit but with the added space you could run any protection you want and not loose clearence.

Just a thought. I'll post pic's later.

Dave
aka Shogunator

This is sort of what I was thinking of doing, capping off the bottom of the rocker with sheetmetal, and putting the rocker protection there. Except I was going to just cap it off horizontally. I would love to see those pics. :D

Originally posted by Azrckcrawler
I have been kicking this around for my next project. I think the Zuk sheetmetal is too thin to just weld a piece right in the middle like that. What I have seen work is a piece of anlge welded to the side like that with the other surface wrapping under the tub (hope that makes sense). A lot of the toyota guys are eliminating their rockers, mount the seats to the rollcage and then just have a few tabs every 8 inches or so to bolt whats left of the floor down.

I was afraid of the zuk sheetmetal being too thin...Those cruisers have like 1/8" thick sheetmetal!! Lol :D I guess I'll tie into the frame, I'll feel better doing it that way anyhow.

Thanks for the input guys.
:smokin:

I used 1/4"angle 3-3/4"x 3-3/4" welded it directly to the Rocker panel then welded 2x2 square tube to that no frame tie in at all
and I have slamed them harder then I ever wanted to with no damage. and there is nothing under the truck to hang up on I no its a matter of choice but in this case welding to the stock panels
worked without any ill hine site I would do it again the same way
and if your not welder friendly prepare to pop holes in the body it is thin. but your finall result is distributed the length of the rocker,

Zuks are not that heavy!!!
All you need to do is take some 1/4 diamond plate steel.....Bend it into a 90 so that you have 4" sides.....Run that from front tire to back.....Then drill 4 1/2" wholes through it and the body....put some grade 8 1/2" bolts through it and call it good....

I have been running this set up for years now.....I beat hard on my rig and cant seem to bend them!

Go to Spidertrax/s site & cruise around a bit - you will see some modifications to the rockers like you are describing. I have been mulling over changing my setup for some time to the 45 degree angle.

That looks great but I'd tie it to the frame at this point so that beef doesnt turn into a can opener. You went nuts on that tunnel:eek: :eek: BTDT:D

What are you guys doing !!!!

1/4" !!!!! Going for the low rider lead sled concept to bash your way through the rocks ?? :flipoff2: LOL


My under belly skid is 1/8" and while it has a few dents its more than protected the underside. (even when high centered in the middle) And its easily fixed should i need to.. I added some 1.5" .120 wall tube for sliders/exo and the only hit them on a tight turn over/around a rocks but not enought id even think of adding any 1/4" plate...

If i were to do this I would think about using a lighter guage material with a little work to secure it without 1/4" PLATE but i guess if the rest of the rig is 1/4" you might need that to hold you up.... LOL

Cool concept though, ill be keeping my eye on this .... beer:

-yag:

The 1/4" angle iron I have for rocker protectionand 3/16" rear bumper are the only things that haven't been tweaked on my rig. I did a front bumper out of 1/8" rec steel tubing and it has dented, not sure what my Petroworks nerfs were made out of but I taco'd them after a year.

Originally posted by zukipuke
What are you guys doing !!!!

1/4" !!!!! Going for the low rider lead sled concept to bash your way through the rocks ?? :flipoff2: LOL


My under belly skid is 1/8" and while it has a few dents its more than protected the underside. (even when high centered in the middle) And its easily fixed should i need to.. I added some 1.5" .120 wall tube for sliders/exo and the only hit them on a tight turn over/around a rocks but not enought id even think of adding any 1/4" plate...

If i were to do this I would think about using a lighter guage material with a little work to secure it without 1/4" PLATE but i guess if the rest of the rig is 1/4" you might need that to hold you up.... LOL

Cool concept though, ill be keeping my eye on this .... beer:

-yag:

Sorry guys,
I forgot the pics today. I'm putting a note in my Palmpilot right now! I'll do it tonight.

Dave
aka Shogunator

Originally posted by RudeZuk
Zuks are not that heavy!!!
All you need to do is take some 1/4 diamond plate steel.....Bend it into a 90 so that you have 4" sides.....Run that from front tire to back.....Then drill 4 1/2" wholes through it and the body....put some grade 8 1/2" bolts through it and call it good....

I have been running this set up for years now.....I beat hard on my rig and cant seem to bend them!

True, they aren't that heavy, but I need to cut the rockers off my rig, they are rusted beyond repair, as in, there wouldn't be anything to bolt the angle to! :eek:

Originally posted by scwafish
That looks great but I'd tie it to the frame at this point so that beef doesnt turn into a can opener. You went nuts on that tunnel:eek: :eek: BTDT:D

That's not my rig, it's an FJ40. :D I believe the tranny tunnel in FJ40s is bolted in if I remember correctly.

Originally posted by dangerber


That's not my rig, it's an FJ40. :D I believe the tranny tunnel in FJ40s is bolted in if I remember correctly.

Yes they are.... like they were thinking ahead or something.....:D





The OD Zuke at Spidertrax cut out his rockers & went back with a 45 deg. piece

This link is what I did to mine. www.jp008.com/buildup.html
I haven't tested it yet so I don't know how well it will hold up. If you guys want to pull the pics off the sight and post them here then do it.


The finished and painted version looks MUCH better.:D

Originally posted by jp008
This link is what I did to mine. www.jp008.com/buildup.html
I haven't tested it yet so I don't know how well it will hold up. If you guys want to pull the pics off the sight and post them here then do it.


The finished and painted version looks MUCH better.:D


Here you go:D

2

Remember the pics of the yellow and white tubed buggy on chris's site with the right rocker bashed in . their was another samarui that hit the same rock with the same force and he never put a dent in his 1/8 x4" diamond plate rockers.

I am going to cut my rockers and put them at a 45 for better clearence and a better slider, besides i need to get rid of that right bent rocker.

Originally posted by jp008
This link is what I did to mine. www.jp008.com/buildup.html
I haven't tested it yet so I don't know how well it will hold up.

My rockers are built a lot like yours, with 1/8" thick 2x3" tube, mounted to the frame with 3/16" angle steel. I have thrashed mine.... dropped 'em down on all kinds of stuff, and they hold up well. So yours should be fine, they look beefier than mine. ;)

http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/53-347196-Feb03_07.JPG

We've cut out the rockers on our Samurais too. REALLY increases the side clearance. I do build rockers for them from 2x4x3/16 as protection though which is mounted to the frame. Welding to the body would still only be as stong as the sheet metal above the welds though..... not very.

You can see a distant pic of how we've set up our rockers at the shot of the Zuk on our stolen Zuk page. the rock sliders we build for the cutout section are painted 'stainless steel' so are easy to pick out.

http://www.rocky-road.com/stolenzuk.html

It would be nice to look through these posts from various vendors and see some real advise.................not what they are selling at the moment!

This is a tech section.......Take that stuff to the For sale Board!

:flipoff2:

Originally posted by RudeZuk
It would be nice to look through these posts from various vendors and see some real advise.................not what they are selling at the moment:flipoff2:



:D

Originally posted by zukstur
Remember the pics of the yellow and white tubed buggy on chris's site with the right rocker bashed in . their was another samarui that hit the same rock with the same force and he never put a dent in his 1/8 x4" diamond plate rockers.

I am going to cut my rockers and put them at a 45 for better clearence and a better slider, besides i need to get rid of that right bent rocker.


I used to have the Calmini diamond plate on mine. When I purchased and recieved them I thought I would never bend them. I was wrong. The one that was on the pass side is now U-shaped from a large rock.

Thanks for posting the pics Bill :D

Thanks for the compliments CSR and POR people :beer: 's to ya.

Originally posted by Rocky Road
We've cut out the rockers on our Samurais too. REALLY increases the side clearance. I do build rockers for them from 2x4x3/16 as protection though which is mounted to the frame. Welding to the body would still only be as stong as the sheet metal above the welds though..... not very.

You can see a distant pic of how we've set up our rockers at the shot of the Zuk on our stolen Zuk page. the rock sliders we build for the cutout section are painted 'stainless steel' so are easy to pick out.

http://www.rocky-road.com/stolenzuk.html

nice:rolleyes: :rolleyes: if you want a product review contact me or another moderator, don't spam our bb please.

Originally posted by RudeZuk
It would be nice to look through these posts from various vendors and see some real advise.................not what they are selling at the moment!
This is a tech section.......Take that stuff to the For sale Board!
:flipoff2:




Yo RudeZuk

We don't sell the rockers I've made for my Zuks with the cutout rockers. I was just sharing info on what we did, the tube used, and some pics in case someone wants to do this themselves.

Take your 'stuff' to the Get-A-Life Board.

ok. come on now guys.............
i don't know what the hell this poor sod did to get so royally bitched at by a certain group of you, but jeez it's getting kinda old.
i'm sure the powers that be would step in and do the right thing IF any kind of spamming/vendorizing was really being done.

I only know that I saw the Top Truck 4x4 magazine with Glenn in it a few years ago, and stumbled across stuff that he had done to his Zuk and was kind enough to post on the web.

if he has since turned into Mr. Hyde ( :D ) well, i don't know, that's not for me to say, as i don't have any knowledge of it.*
:confused:

* and didn't bring that up for use as "here are the reasons, etc. etc.":p ( Rude you are certainly living up to your name:flipoff2: :flipoff2: )


ps- I think I liked the "warm and Fuzzy SeaBass" better:flipoff2:

Sooo...anyway, back to the subject at hand...

Pics sent to me by dumb...

Another...

Last one...Thanks Dave!!:D

The pics below are what Jayzuk did after wrecking his rockers. After that he had a tough time hitting them with the increase clearence. I'm thinking about doing the same but adding some bent plate to match the 45 that is mounted to the body mounts and the frame (like avalanche's for Heeps) but at a 45* angle. We'll see how it works out.

I think it looks killer too. If you compare it to similarly equiped sami, Jayzuk's always looked bigger. my .02

dave

the only two potential drawbacks i see to this design are:

-no protection on the vertical portion of the rockers, if say, you side slip into rocks/tree whatever ?

-is there an instance where not being able to hook a rope/ winch cable (or a place a high lift jack) would be a bad thing?

:idea: hmm. i *suppose* if you did a decent ie "safe" weld/bolt on clevis pin mount kinda thing (i hate to say this, but........) ala Tomb Raider
there i said it:emb2: you could make it work somehow.

i like the idea of not having "aircraft landing struts" hanging way down, and getting caught up on tree branches 'n shit.:D :beer:

Good point. I like the high clearance look, but I also like a place to throw a hilift on if needed.

Can't always put it on a bumper, sometimes under a rocker is the only place to go.

Of course, if you never get stuck, ain't no thing!

The dumb rockers are saweeet.

Originally posted by dangerber
Sooo...anyway, back to the subject at hand...

Pics sent to me by dumb...


That's what I'm doing DGR! but I'll be addong a super neato nerf bar thingy in there! lol

Originally posted by Bill4rest



That's what I'm doing DGR! but I'll be addong a super neato nerf bar thingy in there! lol

Me too! :D

Oh I see,
You must be talking to someone without 37" tall tires and who tends to get stuck...:flipoff2:

The hilift is a good point as for a strap, that's one of the really neat things about a roll cage. I'm sure Hilift points can be designed into the finished product.

Adding sliders / nerfs after doing the 45 is always a possibility.

Dave

Originally posted by dumb
Oh I see,
You must be talking to someone without 37" tall tires and who tends to get stuck...:flipoff2:
Dave


humble is *good*, Dave.:flipoff2:

Uzi,
What is this Humble thing you speak of?

:flipoff2:
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Yeah, I get it!:D But how dare you mention Angelina Jolie in my presence! :bender:

Dave

........mmmmmmmmmm Angelina Jolie..........mmmmmmmm

humble. uh, well i have *heard* it mentioned, but never really known it to be used in the real world.:D

So I take it you are online!

When's your next wheeling trip? Do you know a guy named Emil who drives a CJ-7 on 35" MTRs?

Dave

Here is what i was talking about.....

Pic 1

Pic 2

Originally posted by dangerber
Another...

<img src="attachment.php?s=&postid=556293" border="0" alt="">


I like these, I like these a lot...but something to think about for Version 2.0...

If you are on something like a rock, stump, whatever and you slide off this obstacle it is probably going to catch the bottom of the door and probably fawk everything up.

I'd think about making the coner of the angle move out a little bit so that you won't catch the door - maybe even stick it out far enough to "protect" the bottom of the flares a little bit so they don't vet ripped off from below.

JAT

r@m

Good point. I was thinking about that the other day, and I'm definitely going to have the protection stick out from the rocker surface a bit. There have been too many times(with my 4runner) that I have had the door up against a tree, and without something to keep it away from the door...you get the picture! :D

Hey Root,
Out on the west coast we're able to go doorless :flipoff2:.

As for the flares, J's next move was to trim them to follow the line he stared on the 45* for the rockers. I say was 'cause he never got there before he sold it (hint hint wink wink Fullwidthsammy!) Extending the protection is a good Idea. I will be running extended TJ flares on mine so I'll run some tube under them to protect them from being ripped off ('cause they are damn pricey). Hmmm... that may work for the hilift idea too... :evil:

Dave

If going to mount it like this:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=562008

but add the side tubes like this:

http://www.davesport.com/suzuki/davenerf2.jpg


Have the sliders stick out has saved me a lot of sheet metal on my Trooper.

I removed my plastic and the metal from mine this weekend. I measured and re-measured and came up with 4x3 angle iron.

Any one else used this size?

I agree with the tubes, gives the wife a place to step up....

Yes, actually I have heard of people using 4"x3" but I did not know why. I was thinking I would just get 4x4 but I haven't gotten far enough to measure what will actually fit.

Originally posted by Shrock
Yes, actually I have heard of people using 4"x3" but I did not know why. I was thinking I would just get 4x4 but I haven't gotten far enough to measure what will actually fit.

4x4 1/8" will fit, that's what my Samurai currently has

why is hammering, grinding and drilling on your rig so fun? Project begun....

Thanks bill on the 4x4 info. I'm gonna go pick some up today.

Originally posted by Shrock
Thanks bill on the 4x4 info. I'm gonna go pick some up today.

Oh I forgot to say.....Your going to have to beat the body seem down underneath with a BFH to make the 4" fit and look right. If you havn't already:D

Oh yea!

I will be attacking the body seam issue this evening after installing the starter and new clutch.