I think you can have the best of both worlds.

Weld some plates with a sleeve welded to the plate. Then just drill through the sleeve and the slider tube that will slip right into the mount on the frame. Stick a few bolts through and tighten them up.

Then that will make them welded to the frame and removable.

I saw a pic of just this and can't find it right now.

Joe

If you are going to drill that many holes in the frame rail, get an electro-magnetic press from the local tool rental yard. Something like this:

It is *well* worth the tool rental, and using this will help your holes stay straight, which in turn will allow your drill bits to live a longer, happier life.

Randii

Like rob was saying, it is not that clear cut either way. The frame is just pieces of metal welded together, just like your rock rails. I like what he said in being more in the execution.

In addition to what was already said, there is a method called "cold welding" that should be used when welding on the frame. Only weld any one spot for a few seconds, then move to another spot and do the same there. This will avoid overheating the metal in that area. You dont get a nice pretty bead but who's going to look.

Whenever I get sliders for mine I'm going to have a frame shop weld on plates with sleeves that I can bolt to. Good frame shops know the proper way of welding on them to avoid comprimising the strength.

One of the misconceptions that seems to scare people away from welding on sliders is that our frames are heat-treated and will be weakened by the welding process. My understanding is that some vehicle frames (such as semi's) do undergo a heat-treating process; but passenger vehicles such as our 'Zus are just regular steel with no special processes.

What I know for sure is that my sliders have been welded on for 4 years now and I have beat the living daylights out of them dozens of times with no apparent damage to the frame. The 'tube within a tube' removable mounting is a cool idea; and one of the MWIOR gang is considering this with his sliders as well. Just make sure you extend the frame-mounted part out far enough to effectively sleeve the removable part of the slider.

I install some sliders on a buddies grand cherokee. they were super nerfs. THey had the slide on principle. Only problem with his is they are all bolt on all the way around with only two mounting points. they work for the unibody design but ours have better options like to weld.

that is a good way to go if you want to have some sliders and still be able to take them off.

Also think about where you are going with the truck, IF you plan on keeping it for the long haul then why wait. if you know that you plan on sellling it then do that now or dont do all the mods, you wont get back what you put in

wow - lots of opinions on this one!

i plan on keeping the beast till she dies, so not much chance of them coming off.

welding seems the best (and easiest) option.

i saw a post where they used football shaped plates to mount on the frame. this is good, no?

also - good point about the semi. the guy who was adamaent about telling me not to weld on the frame drives a rig for a living.

thanks for the feedback, folks! much appreciated.

Yes, large round or oval mounts would do as well. The point is to minimize verticle welding and any straight lines and/or sharp transitions that will concentrate force. With that said, my mounts break everyone of those rules and have held up great (see pic below... hidden in that rust are two 4x6 rectangular mounts welded vertically up the frame); but that is before I knew any better. If I were to make a set now, I'd follow the above advice just for piece of mind.

If I remember correctly, the frames on semi's are even stickered to say not to drill them.

so, if you cannot weld and you cannot drill, how it's supposed to install a rock slider on a semi ?