Stupid Q about rockers

As the title suggests, I'm expecting this question to be regarded as pretty stupid. Here goes anyway: why can't a piece of square steel tube of ample dimensions and thickness be screwed/bolted to both the pinch rail and the underside of the rocker and leave off any legs to the unibody? Please understand that I don't see any rocks bigger than about 8-10," go mostly on wooded trails in Michigan (yeah, some stumps, logs, etc., but really nothing I'm too worried about--even being unlifted), and I'm more worried about ripping apart my cat. or muffler than my rockers due to the mild nature of my 'wheeling. The Jeep Jamboree USA and RockRatz rails both are just glorified angle iron screwed to the rockers and they can support a Hi-Lift.

Alright, I'm done asking. Go ahead and give it to me.

Oh, and by the way, I DID a search about this and didn't find info. about quite the same situation.

If you do a little looking about elsewhere, you might find something you like. I recall a mod done where the rocker panels were cut out from just below the door line to almost to the pinch seam, and the missing metal replaced with two stacked lengths of square tube stock welded in place.

It may have been www.madxj.com.

Anyhow, I liked the mod because it gave extra reinforcement in the pinch seam area (a good idea...) added what amounted to "an extra frame rail" between the wheelhouses on each side, and if you have OBA a good welder can seal them and you can use them for air tanks as well.

Start at www.madxj.com and see if it's there - I think that was where I saw it. It's a little more involved than what you are thinking, but I think it's a better idea than most of the "bolt-on" goodies out there and it's what I plan on doing when I finally get a chance - and better at welding!

5-90

Actually, I've been researching this for almost a year. I've seen most of the cut-out-the-rocker methods and they're great but not what I'm looking for. I want a super-simple, sturdy (not Moab sturdy, just Ohio/Michigan/Indiana wooded trails sturdy) solution. It may not be possible to do the way I described; that's why I am asking for the opinions of everyone here.

I don't see any reason that wouldn't work. The problem would be mounting it to the underside of the rocker. Bolting it to the pinch seam is easy enough, but how are you going to get up into, or down from, the rocker?

I know what you want to do, I was going to do the same but got some 2x4 box steel for FREE :wave: so I'm replacing my rockers entirely(missing some due to MIchigan rust anyway) What you want is some angle that you would have to get from a construction company. Rougly 4x6. Most steel yards won't have it but construction companies do. It will protect it better but not cure it. Send me a PM and I'll point you in a decent direction, depending on where you live in MI. Edit: Sorry you live in ohio, no contacts there. Wanna visit Grand Rapids area I can get you connected. BTW Go Blue!!
Asat

dmillion said:

Bolting it to the pinch seam is easy enough, but how are you going to get up into, or down from, the rocker?

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I was thinking I could drill some holes large enough for a socket on the opposite side and then have my brother-in-law fill the large holes in with rosette welds. I don't know how to weld, nor am I sure if I even have the right terms/ideas about it. It just seemed like the right term/idea.
ASAT--thanks for the invitation, but even from Toledo that's a ways to go just for some steel. I appreciate the offer and the idea, though.

Timber said:

As the title suggests, I'm expecting this question to be regarded as pretty stupid. Here goes anyway: why can't a piece of square steel tube of ample dimensions and thickness be screwed/bolted to both the pinch rail and the underside of the rocker and leave off any legs to the unibody? Please understand that I don't see any rocks bigger than about 8-10," go mostly on wooded trails in Michigan (yeah, some stumps, logs, etc., but really nothing I'm too worried about--even being unlifted), and I'm more worried about ripping apart my cat. or muffler than my rockers due to the mild nature of my 'wheeling. The Jeep Jamboree USA and RockRatz rails both are just glorified angle iron screwed to the rockers and they can support a Hi-Lift.

Alright, I'm done asking. Go ahead and give it to me.

Click to expand...

Your idea works as long as you don't plan to put any lateral loads on the rocker protection.

I had the factory Mopar rockrails that bent sideways and bent the brackets as well that went to the frame rails. If you had nothing going back to the frame rails, you would likely tear them off the pinch seam as they rolled on an obstacle. The pinch seam is nothing more than a place to spot weld together the sheets of steel where they meet. Using that area by itself for a structural component like rock rails seems like an invitation to disapointment. Doing it right doesn't take that much more effort and you'll be considerably happier in the long run.

The bottom line, if you subscribe to the "form follows function" school of thought, is that if you don't need them, don't install them. If you do need them, do them correctly.