DIY square / rectangular tubing sliders etc.

Time to start churning out armor. Rear bumper with (dual?) swingout(s), sliders, skids etc.

Going to start with sliders. They will def be bolt on for various reasons. I don’t wheel this truck hard. I just like building stuff and do need some protection.

So what I’m wondering is why it might be a bad idea to use square or rectangular tubing instead of round. Like I said, I’m not going balls out crawling, I just need protection from the occasional ledge / tree / boulder etc.

 

I don’t think there’s any problem as long as the side wall is thick enough. Might look butt ugly compared to round

 

I can’t see why it would be a problem either, but I do know there are differences in strength with round tubing.

Don’t need it to look super sexy. Anyway, better banged up ugly sliders than rockers...

 

Round tube and the whole “arch is the strongest shape” thing so you could probably get away with a thinner side wall compared to square. Less weight. That’s all I can think of really

 

There is no problem doing this at all. There was a guy on TTORA who made them for a while for 1st gen. There were discussions about the square tubes being stronger than the round tube versions. Round tub versions can be bent, square tubes need to be cut and welded for angles. Still... I ABSOLUTELY loved the square tube look. Really miss them and the guy who made them for me back in the day (Mercer Fabrication) doesn't make them any more or I would've bought another set (sold the 1st gen for a 2017 TRD Pro M/T). Here's how they looked on my first gen (very unique and lots of head turners checking these out)...

 

Yep . Same here the neighbors said he can mock up something. He asked do you want it for show or bouncing on a trail? I said mild trail and protection from carts and door dings. Just not sure if I want the giant boat anchors. I’m getting 21/23.1 mpg (mostly highway.. 110 miles per day

 

As a fabricator, I thank you for considering square tube. This eases up the fabrication process quite a bit.

Difference in strength would only be appreciated by the pro racers.

 

Looks pretty cool

 

Those look great imo. Something different as well. Thanks for the pics, I was wondering how I might do the kick out...

 

They were (are) great. I took them wheeling and tried the "you can drop your truck onto a rock with these" guarantee and they held up great. HiLifted the truck with them... no flex. And, they had no bigger profile than current circular tube sliders. Really love the design and wish he would've kept making these. I bought these back in 2011 I believe and he sold them to me for $370 plus about $80 for shipping. Came to my door. Looking back, I can't believe the price I paid for such awesome sliders. He was doing this work on the side so it wasn't his full time gig. This side-business didn't really take off and he ended up not making these much longer. I was one of his first customers. Hopefully these pictures will give some new fabricator some motivation to start making square sliders again!

 

If you've got the skills and resources, do it. Would love to see some square sliders pop up again!

 

Just wandering about custom fabrication in US. Anybody can explain the rules that custom fabricators should run to be legal?

 

Don’t think there are any. Owner likely assumes liability.

 

Make sure you plaster “for off road only” all over your website and products boxes.


The only issue with square stock is that best case it “drags” over obstacles, worst case a corner could hang up, depending Design angles or angle of travel across the obstacle.

I feel you should own a tube bender if you’re going to be a fabricator.

 

Worrying about round vs square tubing (at the same wall and overall dimensions and material) just isn't worth it in general.

I personally much prefer building with square tubing myself vs rounds because the ease of cutting straight joints vs having to notch and nibble ends of rounds, and I say that as a stress analyst. Just keep the load along the strong axis of the tubes. (It isnt an aileron we are trying to squeeze a few ounces out of)

Just for comparison purposes, for 2" OD round or square tubing, with .120" wall

Round 2"x0.120 wt=2.409 lb/ft and I=0.3144 in^4
Square 2"x2"x0.120 wt=2.900 lb/ft and I=0.4859 in^4 (along strong axis)

At same wall and major dimension for this example, Square is 20% heavier than round, and 55% stiffer

Referencing Summerill Tubing Data (http://www.westcoastpiet.com/construction.htm)

 

As someone who is working on designing my own, I contacted one of the vendors on here and asked if I could buy just the outside bent tubing and do the rest myself. We worked out a fair price and later this month I'm probably going to go pick them up along with a few other things. I can do a lot in my shop, but making really nice mandrel bends with 4-5 bends accurately is not something I can do. I will be using square tube for the frame connection and the 'inner' rail that runs under the rocker panel and isn't seen from the outside.

Since I'm not sure if the vendor wants to make this a regular thing, I'm not going to say who it was, but maybe contact a vendor that's near your part of the country and work something out.

 

I vote for Square tube , but turn the outer run's so they are diamond shape and let the fools that open their doors into them regret it .

 

I know a couple people that run square sliders, for the same reason they're easy to DIY. Here's @ilubtimmyhos truck

 

Demello makes one that has square tubing

I like the look of square better, if you're just looking to protect the pinch weld you don't need the round portion