Rocker Replacement 2x6 what wall thickness

[OutkastBoss]

Yea we did 1" flat bar there on that part and 2" angle to the "frame" and the 2x6 slides in place and gets welded in .. (ala jeep kings walkthrough)

i thought it was going well we have the rockers cut out and all the peices cut and fit (besides the frame tie ins and the outer rail that i ordered)

And he welded in all of one side (besides tie ins and outer rail)
but apparently the overhead seam that needs welded ended up with a few gaps (holes?) He then got frustrated and quit while trying to fill those holes.

So now im looking at a local cage builder or a C.L. guy that advertises fab. cages etc. to get this finished before i start rusting

 

[muduck18]

I did a bit more cutting than some of ya'll

but I wanted something sleek, tight, and pretty.. and I think 1/8th wall is basically fine unless you go rocks. then 3/16, but 1/4 should be reserved for the greatest of OVERkillers. (imho)

 

[Lowrange2]

I'm so confused.

:dunno:

 

[DeftwillP]

Yeah, it's hard to tell what happened there in the final pics.

My rocker bottoms are flat like that too from outside to frame rail. But I used 2x6 laying flat, not 4x4. And I cut along the same 90 bend at the sill as well.

 

[muduck18]

I'm so confused.

:dunno:

its not 2x6, but it's a different way to do the same thing. I hate the way it looks when the rocker sticks out past the door.

Yeah, it's hard to tell what happened there in the final pics.

My rocker bottoms are flat like that too from outside to frame rail. But I used 2x6 laying flat, not 4x4. And I cut along the same 90 bend at the sill as well.

yeah the pictures are not so great, I'm no photographer. (or welder as can be seen by the shoddy welding) but
It was basically a strengthening rust replacement..

The 4x4 tucks up into the chassis 'outter rail' type thing that runs under the door sill and makes me feel like its a tad stronger. Again, just showing how I did it.

 

[Rich69]

I plan to go with 3/16" 2x6. Has anyone had a problem doubling 3/16" 2x6 rockers as air tanks? My compressor is a Viair. The pressure switch is preset to shut off at 145 psi. I assume 3/16s will hold that air without deforming?

Where's the best place for the connections? did anyone install a blow down valve for condensation?

 

[sunburned]

www.ericsxj.com

 

[DeftwillP]

I plan to go with 3/16" 2x6. Has anyone had a problem doubling 3/16" 2x6 rockers as air tanks? My compressor is a Viair. The pressure switch is preset to shut off at 145 psi. I assume 3/16s will hold that air without deforming?

Where's the best place for the connections? did anyone install a blow down valve for condensation?

Which heighth are you goin; just below the doors or flush with the door sill? I used 2x6 3/16th just below the door an had to notch out for the seat mounting bolts. No air tanks.

 

[Rich69]

Just below the doors. Will I need to put any spacers above it to support the pillars?

 

[xpedition xj-eh!]

I'm enjoying this thread because I'm tackling my rockers right now. I cut high and put in 2x3 3/16ths square tube because that way I wouldn't have to cut my doors. I then welded a tube sider below with small 2x6 chunks at either end. I had never welded before this, but here is where I'm at so far (not quite finished):

The bottom will eventually get tied to the unit-body rails and I might be screwing on some aluminium sheet metal under-neath in some way or another to keep the crap from hitting the bottom edge of the doors. The white paint is brushed on epoxy enamel paint (appliance paint) that will get final black coat.

 

[Rich69]

I like the 2x3 Looks like it support the pillars nicely. Would like to see pics of this project finished. Id like to see how the doors look closed and open...

 

[rockclimber]

I went with 1/4" and after the Rubicon I am glad I did. I landed hard on them a few times with no dents.

 

[Rich69]

I'm enjoying this thread because I'm tackling my rockers right now. I cut high and put in 2x3 3/16ths square tube because that way I wouldn't have to cut my doors. I then welded a tube sider below with small 2x6 chunks at either end. I had never welded before this, but here is where I'm at so far (not quite finished):

The bottom will eventually get tied to the unit-body rails and I might be screwing on some aluminium sheet metal under-neath in some way or another to keep the crap from hitting the bottom edge of the doors. The white paint is brushed on epoxy enamel paint (appliance paint) that will get final black coat.

Do you think if you left the door sills and had not cut them out could you have fit the 2x3 up under neigh the door sills? If not could a smaller dimension of box tube fit under the sills?

 

[xpedition xj-eh!]

I like the 2x3 Looks like it support the pillars nicely. Would like to see pics of this project finished. Id like to see how the doors look closed and open...

Yeah I'll post pics up when I'm done (here or in a build thread). It will probably take me another week or two.

The 2x3 does fit neatly under the pillars and the 2 inch height is perfect such that the doors sit a few millimetres higher and clear the sliders below it just perfectly.

I've propped each door on to make sure things fit and whatnot, but I haven't seen it all bolted back together yet.... so I'm curious to see how it looks also. If I don't like it, I'll keep chopping away until I'm happy with it. From the factory, the gap between the doors and the pillars is not constant from front to back. The front of the front door sits nice and close to the A pillar and then progressively sticks out further and further as you go back. The gap is at it's largest at the front of the rear door after which it starts to get closer again as you go back. Hope that makes sense. The end result is that even though my sliders look like they are sticking out far, they aren't and they follow the contour of the doors (or more accurately, they perfectly follow the contour of the front door, and roughly follow the contour of the rear door).

It'll make more sense when I post a pic with the doors on.

 

[xpedition xj-eh!]

Do you think if you left the door sills and had not cut them out could you have fit the 2x3 up under neigh the door sills? If not could a smaller dimension of box tube fit under the sills?

You could leave the sills in and it should fit. I didn't try to fit it without cutting the sills but I'm *guessing* it would have. The 2x3 doesn't sit flush against the inside vertical floor wall, there is a little protrusion that it bumps up against and then a 1/2 inch gap. You can see what I'm talking about here:

So if you don't cut the sill, then the question is.. does the 2x3 still fit or does that little protrusion (starting from top right corner in the pic) stop the 2x3 from sitting flush under the pillars? That I can't tell you for sure but it would either be a very tight fit or you'd have to shave 1 or 2mm's along the entire top inner corner of the 2x3. Make sense? hard to explain.

 

[xpedition xj-eh!]

I like the 2x3 Looks like it support the pillars nicely. Would like to see pics of this project finished. Id like to see how the doors look closed and open...

It's not done but I thought I'd post a few pics of what it looks like so far with the doors in place (not bolted on). The door clears the slider perfectly and uniformly front to back. So far I'm quite pleased how well the 2x3 fits under the pillars.

I have a pile of photos here: http://i4s.ca/photo/index.php?/category/7
I'm attempting to document my build here: http://i4s.ca/xj-eh

I painted them with white epoxy enamel "appliance paint" for now. They'll get painted black later.

 

[DeftwillP]

You did a good job tucking it in at the sill level but it kind of defeats the purpose to then attach sliders under it, right? I mean yes, your sliders are at the same level as mine since I did my box rockers right where the door ends but it just seems like a lot of extra work.

 

[xpedition xj-eh!]

You did a good job tucking it in at the sill level but it kind of defeats the purpose to then attach sliders under it, right? I mean yes, your sliders are at the same level as mine since I did my box rockers right where the door ends but it just seems like a lot of extra work.

No, there is no defeated purpose. I had a pile of rust that I wanted to take out. The rockers were rusted and the sheet metal under the sills were rusty. I don't think it hurts to have solid 2x3 welded under the pilars either. I'm no hardcore rock crawler so I don't see an advantage to having an extra inch of clearance in the rocker area when the unibody rails are so much lower.

My goals were: get rid of all rust, avoid cutting the doors, and of course beef things up and add some rigidity to everything. I also think my sliders look good. I'm happy with the way this is working out.

 

[Rich69]

Great Job thanks for the pictures...

 

[muduck18]

fyi.

chick's don't always dig mud.


this rocker replacement needs some changes.

bring the bottom lip out past the bottom of the doors.