I just got finished making sliders and front and rear bumpers for my 4runner, but I think I have built them too close to the body. I haven't tested them yet with any hard hits, but I am pretty sure they will contact sheetmetal when they get used. Is there like a rule of thumb on how far the tube should be kept from the sheetmetal or can anyone give me their personal preferance. I'm thinking of keeping it at least an inch in the future (exo planned), right now parts of it are as little as 1/8th away:eek: Also, it seems like I'll have my tube all lined up perfectly and tacked where I want it, then when I take it off and weld it up proper the tube has 'shifted' or drawn itself to one side from heat, and doesn't line up the same way once it is bolted back on. What can I do to figure this into the equation or prevent it? I want my exo to be as symmetric as possible, and if it's vibrating at all when I'm driving I'll go nuts, so I want to keep it away. Thanks in advance.:)

Some pics...
well make sure you have real good tacks that will help hold it better.
Your sliders man what do they look like? mine do come in contact with the metal but no damage because they use the whole surface of the sheet metal...

the sliders don't really come in contact with the body, but if they did i wouldn't really care. My rear bumper, which I haven't completely finished yet vibrates really bad when I'm taking off, and it's pretty annoying, but I really am concerned with having the exo too close. Just wondering what different people have noticed with there exos, like how much it has flexed, any opinions. I'll try to get some pictures taken tomorrow of the fabwork. Let me just say beforehand that a great deal of the work was done by a buddy, so I can't take all the credit. He owns the Huth hydraulic 7,000 lb. bender too:eek:

here's the front:

and the rear:

wish my digicam was better quality:

:p

and the sliders:

these pics aren't the best, but give you an idea.... Here's the last one: