EVO rock sliders- welding question and what to coat them with?

zimm

zimm

Caught the Bug
My fab shop quoted me $400 to weld on EVO rock sliders. Granted they do some magical work with a mig welder, 4 hrs of labor @ $100/hr seems pretty high. They also want $60 shipping and I have to pay sales tax to get the sliders from them. Total will be $1047 installed.

Or I can get them from Northridge for $530 with free shipping.

I'm tempted to weld them myself- I took a class and feel pretty good about running basic beads. I only have a Miller 110v mig with gas. I'll probably have to crank it all the way up for the thickness of steel. Or have a local welding shop (not off-road oriented) do the weld for probably a lot cheaper.

Finally- what should I coat them with?
 
I had my buddy who owns a shop weld mine on for me. His rate is $80 an hour and had it done in 2 hours. Longest side was the gas tank just because he was worried about sparks.

As far as how to coat them just use some rustolium paint and primer on them. It's easy to paint and then when you scratch them on rocks easy to touch up
 
That price is too high IMO, it should not take four hours. Your welder is capable, just not as fast as a 220V due to the duty cycle. I welded mine on with a Lincoln 140 and it did just fine.

As others have said, just paint them. I used Rustoleum Texterd black paint and they turned out great.
 
Thanks fellas. I think it's worth a shot to weld myself. If I can't get it to work right, I can always give up and head to a local welder. That shop is also an hour away which is inconvenient.

I'm thinking to prime and paint the main tubes off the jeep- then weld them on, then paint the legs that are welded to the frame last?
 
Weld them yourself. You'll be proud of it in the long run too. As long as you get penetration into the metal, you'll be fine. Use jackstands to hold them up and go to town. You can tuck a wool blanket in around spots like the fuel tank if you're worried too.
 
zimm said:
Thanks fellas. I think it's worth a shot to weld myself. If I can't get it to work right, I can always give up and head to a local welder. That shop is also an hour away which is inconvenient.

I'm thinking to prime and paint the main tubes off the jeep- then weld them on, then paint the legs that are welded to the frame last?
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You could paint them first, but with the length of the beads you're running, my guess is that it will still cook your new paint pretty far away. Up to you, but you may have to re-paint some spots.
 
zimm said:
Thanks fellas. I think it's worth a shot to weld myself. If I can't get it to work right, I can always give up and head to a local welder. That shop is also an hour away which is inconvenient.

I'm thinking to prime and paint the main tubes off the jeep- then weld them on, then paint the legs that are welded to the frame last?
Click to expand...

Paint the whole slider and all the legs except for the feet. Weld them on, let it cool, then paint the feet.
 
zimm said:
I'm thinking to prime and paint the main tubes off the jeep- then weld them on, then paint the legs that are welded to the frame last?
Click to expand...

Yes, paint them off the jeep, mask off the "feet" and touch up after install. Good luck, and to along with what WJCO said, you will be more proud of them after installing them yourself.
 
Find a different shop to weld them. That's crazy high. I got mine done by a local weld shop for like $100.
 
I took mine to a muffler shop that also happens to build cages for drag cars. 85 bucks out the door to weld them on. I used Rustoleum self etching primer and Rustoleum satin black spray paint to coat them. I used one of those trigger sprayers that just attach to the end of the can. Worked great and super easy to touch up too. 400 bucks is nuts!

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I had my set burned on for free from a good friend and it took him maybe an hour if that between moving the jeep around a little and getting a new bottle of gas.

If you do them youself, just take your time and get them lined up properly, which takes the longest.
 
I had a friend weld mine on. As far as painting, I used VHT Roll Bar and Chassis satin paint...no complaints with it thus far.
 
I would be hesitant using 110v for welder on rock sliders. Even cranked all the way up, it just does not penetrate as great. It will still work, just not confident the slider would survive a huge shock load. What brand welder to you own? On the other note, self etching primer and VHT epoxy based paint will hold up very good.
 
I actually just painted mine. Self etch primer and rustolium bedliner (rattle can). I think a rollbar paint (vht) or just a normal rustolium paint would have been a better choice, but I'm happy with how they've turned out. Still need to get them welded on though.
 
If you've got a welder.. just make your own.. :thumb: These cost me just over $200 including a pipe notcher attachment for my drill made with 1-3/4" .120 wall and a few hours of fun.. ok and beer :beer:..painted with self etching primer then rust oleum truck bed spraypaint.. I painted everything but the "feet" and stuffed a wet towel into the spaces to protect the gas tank, ground off the paint on the frame rails.. welded them up then primer and truck bed liner again..
Went with a "similar" design and tipped them out for a perfect step too.. wife loves that part
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I got a quote from a shop her in NJ for 250 ... Didn't think that was too bad but the rent aren't many places around me I would bring it so ...
 
mcgyvr said:
If you've got a welder.. just make your own.. :thumb: These cost me just over $200 including a pipe notcher attachment for my drill made with 1-3/4" .120 wall and a few hours of fun.. ok and beer :beer:..painted with self etching primer then rust oleum truck bed spraypaint.. I painted everything but the "feet" and stuffed a wet towel into the spaces to protect the gas tank, ground off the paint on the frame rails.. welded them up then primer and truck bed liner again..
Went with a "similar" design and tipped them out for a perfect step too.. wife loves that part
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Click to expand...

Turned out pretty good. I am going to build my own. Just got done with my bumper and stinger.
 
I had a portable welder come to me and install. Only cost $80/hr. One thing I did to help with install was drill & tap frame for a 1/2" bolt at both ends of the sliders.
This held them snugly in place and didn't have to worry about clamps coming loose. I just used two of the holes in the flanges that get plug welded.

Ditto on the self etching primer and rustoleum.
 
When I had mine burned up, I ground down the spots on the frame prior to leaving the house to expedite things. We held everything up to the frame with a bunch of welding vice grips. After a quick tack here and there we checked and double/triple check clearances before finishing the fillet and plug welds on the feet.

There's several different methods of installing. The feet on my sliders were also bare before I had them burned...then painted the feet and exposed frame after welding was finished.
 
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