Stubbs Welding Sliders
By: Bob_98SR5
Written: 2/24/04

Summary
Sliders are an essential part of protecting your 4runner's rocker panels from trail damage, especially from rocks. Now I have no intent to take my 4Runner in rocky areas for hardcore rock crawling (not my cup of tea, so to speak), but occassionally there have been situations where I began to worry if I'd suffer some body damage. Thus, my hunt for sliders began in early 2004.

Of course, there are several factors to consider when purchasing sliders. Here are the factors that I considered when purchasing sliders:

- Reputation of vendor and products
- Budget
- Type of tubing and design
- Welded on or bolt on
- Proximity to seller and welder

After careful consideration, I chose Stubbs Welding of Susanville, CA. Many people have purchased Stubbs sliders from the owner, Richard Stubbs. I am glad I followed their recommendations because Richard is definitely one of those business owners who take pride in their work and provide valuable advice and fast responses to my questions. So if you are in the market for sliders, definitely give Richard your full consideration. Now, onto the write up.

Step 1: Setting Up
After unwrapping the sliders, separate the scab plates from the sliders. Regarding the scab plates, the purpose of scab plates are to protect the frame from damage. If you get hit from the side or some other type of damage occurs, the slider outriggers will break off from the scab plates and NOT from the frame (if you welded onto the frame).

Here are the sliders as delivered by UPS		Here's a pic of the scab plates

Next, lay down some newspaper on your work surface (garage floor) and put your jack stands on them. Follow by putting the 1" diameter pipe into the jackstands. Testing for balance, place your Slider's outermost outriggers into the 1" pipes. Make sure that they are well balanced and supported or else they will tip over. If its a bit tippy, you might want to put some bricks or some other heavy objects on the bottom of the jack stands. After achieving balance, remove the sliders and get ready to prep them.

Step 2: Prepping the Sliders
Stand the sliders against a wall or fence. Next, soak a piece of cloth in acetone and thoroughly wipe off any residual grease and/or dirt off your sliders. Follow through by wiping down with a paper towel. Repeat as necessary. Next, tape off about 1.5 to 2.0 inches from the bottom of the outrigger with some masking tape. This is needs to be done because you do not want any paint on the end surfaces when welding.

Wipe down off all the grease and other residue with acetone before priming		Tape up sliders with masking tape (T) on all outriggers

Place the sliders back onto the pipes in the jack stands and get ready for priming and painting

Step 3: Priming and Painting the Sliders
Begin by putting a light coat of primer on both sets of sliders. A good tip is to primer the under parts of the sliders first and then move onto the upper (easily accessed) surfaces. Follow the primer manufacturer's recommended dry time and add about 10 minutes for safety's sake. Take your 1000 grit sandpaper and wet sand off any irregularities. Wipe down with a clean, wet cloth to get off any particles and wipe down with a clean cloth (or paper towel). Repeat this process again for your second (or third) coat as necessary. I applied two coats of primer.

To paint the sliders, follow the same process above. However, I did not wet sand the Hammerite as this paint's properties creates irregular surfaces when drying.

Here is one slider that is half painted		Here it is drying

Step 4: Welding the Scab Plates
I did not weld my sliders onto my 4Runner as I do not have the eqiupment or expertise. I asked Richard Stubbs for a recommendation of a local, So Cal welder and he recommended Jason Demello of Demello Off-Road to weld my sliders on. Jason did a great job as you will see.

Begin by placing your scab plates down on your metal work surface. Next, place your slider outriggers on top of each scab plate and outline the slider outriggers onto the scab plates. Finish by welding the outriggers to the scab plates.

Sorry, no pics. :-)


Step 5: Welding the Sliders Onto the Frame
Using jack stands (or with a friend's help), place the sliders onto the frame and adjust the position of the sliders until the top of the outriggers are 1/4" to 3/8" from the bottom of the pinch weld. Also, make sure the sliders are equidistant from your fender flares. Next, secure the sliders down with C-clamps and tack weld first to get the right position. Once satisfied, permanently weld each scab plate into position.

Here are the sliders being aligned		Here are the sliders being clamped down before tack welding them into place

Allow everything to cool down and then spray paint the outrigger ends and scab plates with some Hammerite to protect from rust.

Please note that the pictures above are not of my sliders or my 4Runner. These pictures belong to Skyrat (George). Thanks for letting me use your pics, George!


Step 6: Grip Tape (Optional)
If you purchased the "Standard" model, 1" 3M grip tape fits perfectly atop the diameter of the slider tubes. Tear off a piece of masking tape, attach it to one end of the grip tape and tape down that end. Next, run the grip tape to the other end of the slider and align it straight across. Cut that end and tape the end down with a piece of masking tape. Go back to the original end and peel the backing off and lay it down with little pressure. Work the backing off towards the other end, putting light pressure on the tape. Once satisfied with the position, press firmly down onto the sliders to securely fasten. Here's some pictures of the tape on the step tubes.

Here's a top view of the 3M tape		And here's a shot from the rear

I bought my 3M grip tape from the greatest store on the face of this planet, McMaster-Carr. Here's exactly what to order:

McMaster # 6243T711 (same as 6243T71)
Non-abrasive Vinyl Anti-slip tape
1" wide x 15 feet long
0.045 thick
Black
Unit price is $5.19 + applicable tax and shipping. At my local hardware store, this was $0.99 per foot. Bend me over!

And here's what my 4Runner looks like now with Stubbs Sliders:




More Pictures
Before I purchased sliders, I had no idea what Stubbs Sliders looked like up close as none of the guys I rode with had them. So for those of you who want to see what Richard's work looks like close up, here they are:

Close Up Pics

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