Custom made bolt on rock sliders (no frame drilling)

Had these built & installed April 2019. My primary goal was to have a bolt on design that didn't require drilling into the frame. I combined design features I liked from stubbs hd-sko & 4crawlers sliders. I got the mounting idea from sliders I saw on the internet that were offerred by an Australian company. The mounting plates clamp/sandwich the frame & are held together with 1/2 grade 8 bolts w/ crush sleeves. 4 bolts & crush sleeves per mount. They have held up well for the last year & haven't shifted with daily use. I haven't intentionally tried to abuse them but have lifted my 4runner using the sliders as a jack point several times. So far so good. You can see in the pics that the mounts are about 1" below the frame but other structures like the crossmember hang much lower. I don't know if this exact mounting method would work without a body lift due to the lack of space between the body & frame but I did use a very similar method on my wifes stock 5th gen (no body lift) using U bolts.

For anyone curious, buying pre made sliders would have been significantly cheaper. I went custom because there were specific design features I wanted. I found the info of a local mobile welder through the forum when I was trying to figure out how to get eimkeith's PCK brackets welded. Corey, owner/welder of Steeling Time Welding, is a good dude & great to work with. Was very happy with his work so I had him build a similar set for my wife's 5th gen.

A few details about the sliders: powder coated semi gloss black
1.75 DOM inner & outer tube (.120)
1.5" DOM connecting tube (.120)
1.5" square tube mounting legs (.188)
1/4" gussets
1/8" diamond tread plate
1/4" mounting plates: 4"x7.75" (front & middle mounts) & 3.5"x7.75" (rear mounts)
Crush sleeves for bolts: 1/4" wall, 1/2" ID
Inner tube is positioned directly under the pinchweld
Sliders angle up 5 degrees
Total slider length 68"
Total slider width from mounting plate to outer tube: 15" & 16" at kick out
Slider width from inner to outer tube: 9" & 10"
Hardware: 1/2 grade 8 bolts & nyloc nuts

I included the internet picture (last pic) of where I got the mounting idea from.

Interesting! I know there is a lot of folks that would like to go the bolt-on slider route. I would have liked too but didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the frame.

Yours look great.


good work.

Nice! Any pics of the U bolt setup on the 5th gen?

That undercarriage is extremely clean

T4R2014 said:

Nice! Any pics of the U bolt setup on the 5th gen?

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Thank you. Here's one pic I had on my phone. The U bolts are 1/2 grade 8. I bought them from White Knuckle Off Road & followed their mounting system. They were very nice to deal with. The 5th gen has 3 mounting points per slider. The front 2 mounts are positioned in front & behind the transmission crossmember and should be about 12" apart. The rear mount is right in front of the rear LCA mount.

Have you done any testing to determine strength?

Guesstimate on how much they weigh finished? Look great.

I take it the new transmission is doing fine.

Super cool design and nice execution!

Real neice work, looks awesome.

Ryance39 said:

Interesting! I know there is a lot of folks that would like to go the bolt-on slider route. I would have liked too but didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the frame.

Yours look great.


good work.

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Thank you. For a relatively simple no drilling bolt on mounting system, I kinda feel like an idiot for how many hours I spent staring at my frame over several weekends until the ideas started clicking in my head. I think what took up most of that time was trying to figure out how to make it work with the limited space between the gas tank & frame rail but extremely happy with the outcome.

Forgot to say this in my first post but my stock gas tank skid easily bolted back in place without any modification.

LittleCaesar said:

Guesstimate on how much they weigh finished? Look great.

I take it the new transmission is doing fine.

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About 70lbs each. The 1/8" tread plate added a good bit to the overall weight.

New transmission has been doing great so far. Just did my 1st drain/fill last weekend.

jross20 said:

Have you done any testing to determine strength?

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Not anything more than daily use as a step, several times as a jack point & a few bumps/drags across muddy/gravel embankments.

Very nice. Any chance those 5th gen ones also fit a 2019 Tacoma?

Why did you decide not to use the existing mounting points on the frame? Just curious. You did a nice job for sure. I built my sliders to mount to the existing mounting points. I think the passenger side has around 16 mounting points.

speedrr411 said:

Why did you decide not to use the existing mounting points on the frame? Just curious. You did a nice job for sure. I built my sliders to mount to the existing mounting points. I think the passenger side has around 16 mounting points.

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Won't that exhaust pipe hit the rocks before your sliders?

Sorry, just being a PITA :bigok:

JZiggy said:

Won't that exhaust pipe hit the rocks before your sliders?

Sorry, just being a PITA :bigok:

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I know! The exhaust appears to be very inefficient too.

speedrr411 said:

Why did you decide not to use the existing mounting points on the frame? Just curious. You did a nice job for sure. I built my sliders to mount to the existing mounting points. I think the passenger side has around 16 mounting points.

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I actually considered both but didn't come across any info that convinced me one was better than the other so I narrowed it down to which had positives that stood out to me. I liked that the U bolts secure the mounts completely around the frame & since there is less surface area of the mount contacting the frame there would be less potential for moisture/rust accumulation. In reality I have no idea which is actually better.

JRZEE2000TR4LTD said:

Very nice. Any chance those 5th gen ones also fit a 2019 Tacoma?

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If I remember correctly when I looked at my friends 2018 Tacoma, the mounts would have to be in different positions because of the crossmember location.

JZiggy said:

Super cool design and nice execution!

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spartacus said:

Real neice work, looks awesome.

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Thanks! I liked 4crawler's reasoning of why they intentionally positioned the inner tube directly under the pinch weld to run in parallel the entire length, wheel well to wheel well. His reason why from his website:

"The inner bar has another function, too. Under extreme loading, the bars will flex upwards until the inner bar contacts the body pinch weld, at which point the load is transferred to this very strong part of the body. By spreading the load over the entire length of the pinch weld, there is little chance of damage occurring."

RandyBobandy said:

That undercarriage is extremely clean

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It has its moments. I take my pressure washer & foam cannon to it whenever I wash my car. Makes working underneath it less of a burden.