I'm planning to replace the box rockers with rectangular tubing (a mod popular with the Jeep XJ crowd). If you've done this to your Disco I'd like to see photos of how you reinforced it, tied it to the frame, etc.. Thanks,
Rocker replacement (2" x 6")
- Thread starter Greg_M
- Start date
Keep in mind that D1's side is not straight (both in vertical and horizontal planes), so a straight rocker will look a little odd.
(Though, considering the roof rack, you may not care about it much).
SafariGard was the first manufacturer of a "rock rail" for a D1 - essentially, the square tubing of the rocker was welded to flat plates extending to the bottoms of the door openings and serving as hard mounts. It was a flawed design because it relied on pretty soft door sills to take the brunt of impacts - I know a few people who had to get out through the windows after landing hard on original SG rockers.
My Classic's rock sliders are made similarly to SafariGard, but using outriggers to bolt on to frame brackets for the radius and trailing arms.
(Though, considering the roof rack, you may not care about it much).
SafariGard was the first manufacturer of a "rock rail" for a D1 - essentially, the square tubing of the rocker was welded to flat plates extending to the bottoms of the door openings and serving as hard mounts. It was a flawed design because it relied on pretty soft door sills to take the brunt of impacts - I know a few people who had to get out through the windows after landing hard on original SG rockers.
My Classic's rock sliders are made similarly to SafariGard, but using outriggers to bolt on to frame brackets for the radius and trailing arms.
It really doesn't work that way - on the Classic, it is a hard mount to both door sills and frame. You could probably trade one for another, and add a "rubber sandwich" on either frame or door sill side - it is easier on the frame side but defeats the purpose of taking the stress off the door sills to some extent.
Again, thanks. I understand what your saying and that's why I'm strugglng. I can't help but feel it will want to twist in use. I have thought about tieing the two sides together across the bottom or to a skid plate etc. but all this gets complicated, heavy, and low real quick. I might have to make a start and let the details work themselves out.
Yes! Exactly. How will you reinforce it? Gussets to the floor? seat base? A and B pillars? roll cage. Thanks. I'm not worried about the curve or rocker. I think I can bend the tubing with a few weld beads.
Chuck, since it still places the impact load on the body, it doesn't strike me as a good solution. It'll work, of course.
Matt did the welding. It ties to the frame in 4 places. It is not going anywhere. I can take pics tomorrow. This is raised up about 6 inches
Thanks Chuck. I can see strength isn't a problem there. I'm still running rubber body mounts, and drive it on roads, so can't weld it solid like that but might be able to add similar supports and additional body mount rubbers (or ?). Thanks for those photos. Cheers,
You know, a sheet of aluminum or something fastened to the bottom of those supports might keep some of the snow and mud from packing in around the sills and body mounts. I'm in the midst of rust repair so something like that has great appeal (I'm not great at welding left handed, upside down, through a mirror).
i think safarigards with a U instead of the flat plate and some tabs that go underneath would do it, but my rockcrawling days are over
I copied a set of SG. They are halfway mitered with weld filler making up the 1/2 to 1 degree gaps. pretty easy to duplicate at home. need the plans?
I copied a set of SG. They are halfway mitered with weld filler making up the 1/2 to 1 degree gaps. pretty easy to duplicate at home. need the plans?
That's a very clean job. Looks great. Thanks for the offer of plans but I bought some tubing so I'll just blunder along.