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 03-02-2012, 09:34 PM
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#1
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
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MOPAR Enhanced Rock Rail Install
From the day I got my JK, though I really have no issues with
the stock Rubi sliders, I knew I would eventually
replace them with something wider based solely on my previous experiences
on the trail.
I knew I wanted the following criteria:
- something
wider and at least as strong (if not stronger),
- factory-"looking",
- something that
wouldn't give up any additional ground clearance compared to the stock
sliders.
I was not tied to a particular mounting location ... body or frame - it
didn't matter to me as I've run both kinds on a variety of rigs with
success. I did know that I DID NOT want something that mounted to body AND
frame because I was concerned about body vs. frame flex issues and possible
creaking developing.
There are a lot of good options out there; and certainly stronger. But,
none of the aftermarket really excited me (though, I do like PureJeep's).
With a large credit at the dealership and the Enhanced Rails meeting my
basic criteria, I decided to give them a shot ... and they were essentially
free with the credit.
A couple of pics to start ...
opening the box - these things were a lot heavier than I thought they'd be:
a little better shot from the top:
In the pic above you can see the stock rail curves with the body,
but the actual rail extension is straight. At the narrowest point, I'll
gain an additional 2" of protection 'out' from the body compared to
the stock Rubicon sliders.
I'll shoot for doing the install tomorrow. It doesn't look complicated -
the Enhanced sliders bolt up to the same 9 stock attachment points per
slider as the regular Rubicon Rails. But, I may go ahead and grind down the
rear of the slider to make way for 37s.
It's also worth noting, the rail-extension actually angles up and
away from the bottom of the slider. That was a nice surprise that I was
not expecting. So, the bottom of the rail extension actually sits about
1" higher than the bottom of the stock Rubicon Rail.
More pics to come... and certainly a couple of
'test' runs prior to the "11 days of
Moab" trip coming in May. 
T
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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03-03-2012, 12:31 PM
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#5
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
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I finally got around to working on these this morning after
getting up with the kids (well, the 3 that woke up early anyways  )
and then going back to bed.
The sliders do actually come with directions (for some reason I was
thinking I wouldn't find any in the box - lol)
and all new hardware (though, I'm going to use the old hardware).
The directions call for 10 and 13mm sockets and socket wrench. The problem
is, you can't get to a couple of the 10mm bolts
with a socket because of their proximity to the body mounts so you'll need
a 10mm spanner. You may also need to use a deep-socket on the 10mm if you
use a socket wrench. I used ...
Removal of the old sliders is EASY ... one of the easiest things I've ever
done on any rig I've ever owned. Below you can see how the stock sliders
(and the Enhanced Rails) attach to the pinch seam and body. There are a
total of 6 mounting points (3 per slider) that look exactly like this:
cont ....
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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03-03-2012, 12:43 PM
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#6
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
|
As I mentioned the sliders were easy to take off. I started
with taking off all of the 10mm pinch seam nuts, followed by the 13mm body
bolts. You can literally take all the nuts/bolts off and just let the
slider hang on the mounting pinch seam bolts until you're ready to take it
off
Old slider off!!
The Enhanced Slider goes on just like the old. I noticed before putting the
new slider on that there are a couple of other differences from the stock
sliders. In addition to the obvious addition of the rail, the Enhanced
sliders also:
- have
reinforced body mounts, and
- a slightly
wider bottom plate
In the pic below, the old slider is in the top of the pic, the enhanced
slider on the bottom. In the enhanced slider, you can see the additional
reinforcement that's been welded in. If you look right in the crease/bend
of the reinforcement piece, you can see where an 'angled triangulation'
(totally my wording/description) has been added to help resist bending.
You can also see the slightly wider bottom plate.
cont...
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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03-03-2012, 12:54 PM
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#7
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
|
New slider on!!! Well, at least set in place...
It looks close, but I think I'm going to be doing some grinding to fit even
the 35s ...
The length actually surprised me a bit. It appeared the sliders were a
little longer. My 35s rub 'ever-so-slightly' on the stock rails - not
enough to even hear it/notice it. But, the enhanced sliders appeared to
stick further into the rear wheelwell than the
stock ones. So, I took it off and measured it ...
... and the Enhanced sliders are almost a 1/4" longer than the stock
sliders.
So, indeed, out comes the grinder:
But later today AFTER lunch ...
T
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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03-03-2012, 01:06 PM
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#8
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by BigMikeVP 
cant
wait to see them on the truck, what did they cost you? that looks like a
future upgrade to me
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The dealer sells them for something like $720 retail. Quadratec sells them for $640. I had a fairly large
credit at the dealership from some stuff they had bought from me and I have
a really good relationship with them, so my 'out-of-pocket' isn't very
representative of actual.
As an aside, when I get them installed later today, I'm going to throw a
hi-lift on one and see if I can measure any slider flex, etc.
T
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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03-03-2012, 08:41 PM
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#9
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
|
After
lunch, I fired up the grinder and trimmed the pinch seam in front of each rear
wheel and gave it two coats of shaker-can silver ...
BEFORE CUT:
AFTER CUT:
Then I took about 1/2" off the rear of each slider. I may need to go
more with 37s. But, with 35-36s, it appears 1/2" will work. This
created a good photo op to show the actual thickness of the main 'tube' of
the slider:
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This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full
image. The original image is sized %1%2.
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After cutting and filing the rough edges, I hit the driver's side with some
shaker-can black, but didn't like the way it turned out. I used automotive
touch-up paint on the left side which turned out much better. Painting the
driver's side below ...
Here is how the completed driver's side turned out at the rear wheel ... I
have plenty of clearance now and more room to cut later if needed. I had to
remove the plastic retainer 'push'-plug when
trimming down the sliders. Because of that, the end cap (on the driver's
side) doesn't sit as flush as I'd like. I'm probably going to hit it with
liquid nail in a couple of spots to get rid of the gap between the end plug
and end of the slider and hold it in. The left side turned out great (2nd
time is a charm, I guess). Not so great driver's side below...
cont...
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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03-03-2012, 08:51 PM
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#10
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Comac90
Jeeper
WF Supporting Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Beer Town USA, 4yrs running
Posts: 607
Garage
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So, finally, the finished product ...
I did do a hi-lift test on them at the widest part of the slider (near
either wheel). I put the hi-lift under the tube-extension only (as opposed
to the main body of the slider) and jacked up the rear tire. The slider didflex some. I expected it would, though, since
I was jacking the vehicle up on a point on the slider with nearly the most
leverage possible. If I had to hit it with a hi-lift on the trail, I would
do two things: 1. try to lift as close to the middle of the slider as
possible and 2. not lift from just the
rail-extension, but put the lip of the hi-lift all the way under the main
slider rail.
Overall, I really like them and think I made a good choice. I think they
will do fine on the trail. I'm looking forward to testing that theory,
though, at Uwharrie a couple of times in the next
couple of months and then in Moab in May.
T
__________________
2012 JKU Rubicon - Delivered 8/19/2011
Auto - 4.10s - AEV: 3.5" SC lift, Milspec
front bumper, rear bumper, tire carrier w/ hi-lift mount, front skid plate,
high-steer - Warn XD9000i w/ Viking Winchline -
35" BFG MTs - Hellas - Katzkin Leather - RAM
iPad mount - Cobra 75/Firestik
- Poison Spyder Fairlead - Mopar
Enhanced Rock Rails - aFe y-pipe - Rock Hard Oil
Pan/Engine Skid - 10lb PowerTank
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