Self fabricated slider thoughts?

Hey all! I'll be going back to work fairly soon, and that usually means more money for toys! I mean, tools... I've been wanting sliders for my tundra since I got it, but they're pretty pricey, so I've often thought about fabricating my own. I have a couple stick welders, but looking to get a used mig welder soon and a pipe bender as well. So for less than the cost of the sliders on the market today, I can fabricate my own, and have the tools for years to come.

I'm hoping to make this thought into a reality within the next 6 months, and making this post will get me more motivated to do so. I'll probably make 2 or 3 sets the first time, just to get a feel for it, get my measurements and pipe angles how I'd like, and be able to replicate several quality sets without noticeable differences.

This being said, if they turn out nice and the good people on this forum like them or show interest, I'd be willing to part with 2 or 3 sets for parts cost and shipping to some of you who offroad really hard, and can stress test them and give me a review on them. If they're deemed worthy, I believe I can make them available to whoever would like them for a reasonable cost that is much cheaper than the expensive sliders we see today that have ridiculous lead times. They will not be powder coated or painted to save cost and time. But I will oil/grease them down to prevent rust during shipping. Let me know your thoughts, any feedback is appreciated!

 

Do it!

 

Intrested

 

Just an FYI. I work turnarounds in oil refineries so when I go back to work I'll probably busy for a few months, working 91hr weeks, when I get back home I'll start getting tools and materials together and getting measurements and designs ready depending on how much time I have off. Just bear with me!

 

First, I'm glad to see you have ambition to make something on your own rather than buy it. Skills and experience gained are often worth the extra cost.

Second, you'll notice I said "extra cost." I, too, was looking at doing this very same thing, except, I already have the welder, helmet, gloves, tank of gas, fixture table, and clamps. You'll have to cut all this steel too. I already had the horizontal bandsaw. The tubing notcher is relatively cheap - a few hundred dollars will get you one of those. I was just trying to find a used tube bender that I could get for less than $1000 with a 1.75" die. New, most of the manual benders are about $1800 after you buy one die. I waited 2 years and never found that deal.

Then I thought "I like the Demello sliders that don't have bends anyway, maybe I'll recreate those." I priced the steel to do it. Because I don't buy over $100k a year in steel, my prices are a lot higher than these commercial shops. I was looking at around $550.

So if I bought that steel, then I'd have at least 40 hours in measuring, cutting, drilling, notching, fixturing, and, finally, welding. I know what my time is worth per hour. You need to determine your own.

I lucked into a set of used ones a few hours from my house and bought those for a little more than the cost of steel.

If you are looking to do this as a business, maybe you can succeed and the assets are worth the investment, but you need to realize that the companies who make sliders have CNC plasma or laser cutters, engineered jigs, and employees that allow them to make multiple sets a lot faster than a one man show can. Don't over promise your lead times.

 

You should totally do it! In regards to tools, I have a JD2 Model 3 bender, which is the tits: https://www.jd2.com/model-3-bender and then have a SWAG Offroad hydraulic conversion, which uses a harbor freight ram--if you already have a compressor I can't recommend it enough: https://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-Formed-Tubing-Bender-AirHydraulic-Ram-Mount_p_53.html You'll want a tube notcher too, I have one from JD2 but I can't find it on their site... it was like $100 and pretty basic but never had any issues.

As for welders, I would honestly go with a harbor freight Vulcan or something similar. Budget welders are very good these days, at least for your garage fabricator. I have a little Miller 211, and it's had more issues than my dad and friend's Vulcans have and it cost twice as much. On that note too, my dad just got an Amazon plasma cutter for a couple hundred bucks and has had no issue with it. If I was starting from scratch with tools, I would research a bunch, and for $1000 you should be able to get both a good MIG and a plasma cutter. The plasma you don't HAVE to have, but since you'll want to cut base plates and gussets I think it'd be worth getting (again, need a compressor though).

As with lots of things, cheap tools are getting good and good tools are getting cheap. You don't need to spend a fortune to outfit your shop with fabrication tools, unless maybe you're trying to make a living off of them (even then, as I said my Miller has had issues and yet my $700 AC/DC TIG has been 100% flawless). I think you'll have lots of fun, I went through the same process when I built my first racecar and cage. Bought a welder and bender and notcher and started going to town, and all those tools I'll probably own for the rest of my life.

 

Well I'm all about buying tools I dont have, harbor freight has a nice 12 ton pipe bender for up to 2" pipe for $120, and 3" for $170. Tube notchers are pretty cheap too. And I can get steel at a good cost, my buddy works at a steel supply place. I have an air compressor, and lots of other tools. I spent probably 3k this year on tools. Buying tools is a hobby of mine, and if I dont have it, I want it lol. One of my buddy's has a cnc plasma cutter he will let me use. So I can make all the mounting plates fairly quickly. Getting the rhythm down is gonna be the hard part, once I can get everything just right. I can cut, bend, and notch plenty of material in advance so that I just have to mock it up and weld. It will take time to get going, but I'm looking forward to it. If It works out I can start designing and fabricating other things too. I gotta start somewhere. If it becomes a full time job that would be great. I'm tired of travelling for work.

 

Thanks for the great feedback so far!

 

Do it. I made mine. Total cost including the primer, bed liner spray and paint, was under $200. This did not include welding consumables (gas and wire) and my time. And I got some of my plate steel for free. So figure $250, depending on tube used, etc. It was a lot of work. A lot of measuring, a lot of cutting (plasma cutter) and a lot of tack welding, re-checking fit and alignment, welding...and because I'm not a professional...grinding! Mine are bolt on, which made it a little harder, but worth it. I used 1/2" grade 8 hardware. 10 on each side (five bolts into the side of the frame, five into the bottom of the frame). Three's about three holes on the bottom of the frame that have OEM welded nuts inside the frame. You could use these but they appear to be 3/8" nuts (screws). I drilled these out, painted and used my 1/2" hardware so that it was all the same and stronger. I used square tubing with no bending. That also made it easier, IMO. I suck at bending tube, so I had to go this route. The plates that mount to the frame are 1/4" plate with 1/4" plate gussets on every mounting arm, at the plate and at the slider. The edges of the plate steel are roughly cleaned up. Honestly, I was so tired of grinding, I just make sure the lines on the plate steel were relatively straight and clean, and just went with it. If I had to do it again, I'd go to the steel yard and buy pre-cut squares for the mounting plates and pre-cut gussets. A little more $$ but so much easier. Would save a ton of time. A TON! But I had free steel so I went with it. I have pics posted in another rock slider thread on here, but here's a few pics.

 

I had that HF pipe kinker once and sold it. If you want nice bends, you needs a real bender like a JD2.

 

Nice work! That would be a lot of work to plasma all that tube. You might want to look into a horizontal bandsaw for the next project. Even a cheap one with a good blade will work well if you take the time to adjust it properly. I have one and I use it constantly.

 

Do it!! I can't wait to see how this turns out...

 

Details on this cheap horizontal band saw?

 

Something like this: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...MIvsmZjJLf6gIVEtbACh1VXQRPEAQYASABEgL2gPD_BwE

 

Sorry for the confusion. I used a chop saw for the tube. Plasma for all the plate steel to make the mounting plates and gussets. I basically got a free large ass piece of 1/4" plate. I put straight edges on it and cut all the jagged edges off, then cut it up into useable pieces, from which I made all the plates and gussets from. I even made a bunch of 3" flat stock from it. Not as clean as new flat bar....but it was free!!!

 

I like your homemade sliders! Been busy around the house lately so I've only been lurking. Really looking forward to getting this project kicked off

 

This looks great and is very well thought out. Nice work!

 

Thanks, it was a few months of me gathering materials....measuring...gathering...measuring....looking at how many holes there were underneath, scoping out Pinay's Demello sliders and looking at just about every bolt on slider for how they were being mounted. I used the max number of mounting holes, 10 on each side, since mine are pretty long. On the underside of the frame, there are at least two holes on each side with an OEM nut welded inside the frame. These are smaller than 1/2". Maybe 3/8". I would recommend using those with a small bolt that fits those threads, and using 1/2" bolts for the rest of the holes. It was a bitch grinding those suckers out with a drill and dremel.

 

Nice man! I'm jealous of your plasma, that's one tool that's still on my list.

 

I have the Lotos50D. Home depot sells it online and you can have it delivered or pick up in store, $339. Just need a 220 connection. I've used it on steel up to 1/2" no problem and there are videos of guys using it successfully with thicker steel, but going really slow. You'd have to max out settings and I suspect the duty cycle will kick in, so you may get 15-20 mins running it maxed out. But for 1/4", it cuts like butter at about 60-70%

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lotos-5...e-110-220V-1-2-in-Clean-Cut-LT5000D/205438858