Boatside Rockers

[Stick]

What thickness plate did you use ?

 

[HTeK]

Re: Update

I got the passenger side UHMW polyethylene skin in place today.

Im sure this has been covered, but what the hell... where does one acquire large peices of this stuff? and how pricey is it? Looking forward to see how this stuff holds up!

Absolutely sick rig....

-jm

 

[big cherokee]

how did you build the rockers thats how i want mine done. any plans on them you get get me and what are they made out of.

 

[CheapXJ]

I've been beatin on my tube rockers that are just welded to the sill plate for YEARS and they have yet to deform.

hell, I even got t-boned by an eclipse (back when it was still stock height) goin about 40 and it did NOTHING to the Jeep except scratch the paint off them.

some parts of that unibody are alot stronger than people give it credit.

 

[Kaczman]

What thickness plate did you use ?

The original sill plates and vertical floorboard area were re-enforced with 3/16" plate, and the new rocker is 3/16" by 5".

where does one acquire large peices of this stuff?

Look in the yellow pages under "Plastics". I think I paid around $40 for enough material for both sides.

any plans on them you get get me and what are they made out of

Cut out the old rockers, weld in the new steel, paint, tap holes for the UHMW, bolt up UHMW. I rarely make any plans for any mods I do. I just cut the old beat up pieces out, and try to replace them with something more durable, efficient and trail worthy.


-Jon

 

[AZXJ]

Jon,

is it me or is everyone behind the times.. Plastic is the wave of the future..

Love the rig man.. Excellent work, I have been following your buildup for quite a while..

Take it easy
DaveO
Cherokee Concepts

 

[Kaczman]

Thanks for the compliments.

I was a bit sceptical at first, but I'm now sold on the UHMW skins. With steel skids, I always felt "hung up"-- even with the Jeep in motion. With the plastic, I can't even feel if the rockers are on the rocks. I still need to re-evaluate them in the future to see how they'll handle long term abuse. Time will tell, but plastic is cheap and easy to replace.

-Jon

 

[Jes]

Well, after the Fordyce/Rubicon run I'm sold on the stuff. About time I replace my bashed in rocker skids anyway.

 

[ashmanjeepxj]

UHMW is cool stuff.

I just saw on ebay A UHMW Winch Fairlead,
Looks realy easy to make, probily could use wood tools like a router on the edges of the plastic?

Diff cover skids, belly skids, rock rails, on buggies making full pannel skins and door skins with this stuff would be sick cool!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...em=7918364385&category=33653#ebayphotohosting

 

[JeepFreak21]

Well, after the Fordyce/Rubicon run I'm sold on the stuff. About time I replace my bashed in rocker skids anyway.

You gonna put new aluminum/metal down first and skin it with the plastic?
Billy

 

[Jes]

You gonna put new aluminum/metal down first and skin it with the plastic?
Billy

Something like that.

 

[Weasel]

Yep HDPE is cool stuff and ther are other forms that are just as cool. I;m goint to use it for a Belly(should be awesome for snow wheeling) and gas tank skid. I do like the rockers but just had mine done in a more standard fashion. Maybe after I rip the top of mine and it progress more to a buggy I'll redo the rockers.

 

[JeepFreak21]

I was wondering if it'd be possible to coat or wrap the driveshaft in this UHMW stuff. I tried to find it in some sort of spray, but couldn't come up with anything.
Billy

 

[JCSXJ]

I was wondering if it'd be possible to coat or wrap the driveshaft in this UHMW stuff. I tried to find it in some sort of spray, but couldn't come up with anything.
Billy

That would be cool but, I think you would actually have to put your shaft in it while it's still a liquid and let it cool to your shaft. Maybe make a mold, put the drive shaft in it, pour in the UHMW and let it cool and harden.....

 

[Stick]

Yep, I worked in the shop at Lear Corp, and it comes in a bucket with a hardner like resin that you mix in to it.

You pour it into a cast and wait 8 hrs. PRESTO...hellishly hard plastic that is pretty freakin slick.

 

[Weasel]

That would be cool but, I think you would actually have to put your shaft in it while it's still a liquid and let it cool to your shaft. Maybe make a mold, put the drive shaft in it, pour in the UHMW and let it cool and harden.....

Why bother. Go to McMaster-Carr.com You can get tubes of HDPE. A 2.5" ID and 3" OD piece is 11 bucks a foot.

Another cool application would be a diff strips to cover your diff. Not to replace it but something to take the blows better and help it slide over the rocks.

 

[lankchevy]

sorry to drag up an old thread, but i have some questions, after cutting out the rocker itself, did u have do u anything to the acculay floor pans to get the boatsides to fit right? and if u could do it over what width metal would u use?

kolby

 

[ArcticXJ]

That would be cool but, I think you would actually have to put your shaft in it while it's still a liquid and let it cool to your shaft. Maybe make a mold, put the drive shaft in it, pour in the UHMW and let it cool and harden.....

Good luck getting that shaft to balance, though. Cant exactly weld washers to the plastic. Maybe feet upon feet of zip ties in strategic areas?? :viking:

 

[Kaczman]

sorry to drag up an old thread, but i have some questions, after cutting out the rocker itself, did u have do u anything to the acculay floor pans to get the boatsides to fit right? and if u could do it over what width metal would u use?

kolby

I think I had needed to reshape the floor to get it flat in a couple spots, mostly because the floor was pretty bent up from the rocks. I'd probably use 1/4" stock, but I needed to get it done and I could only find 3/16" at the time.

BTW- they are still holding up well and I've had some pretty hard hits on them by now.

-Jon