Cut Out Rockers

[Kraqa]

My Cut Rockers

made front 2x6x3/16" HSS

http://bb.bc4x4.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=323880
http://bb.bc4x4.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=323882[/list]

[Kraqa]

damn thought i might try that. ok heres the link,

they are welded in and then i used sikaflex silicon, its desinged to seal and then be painted on over the welld to clean it up.

http://bb.bc4x4.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=323882#post323882

[Troy]

I got the idea now. Thanks for the pics.

[Alaska ZJ]

Here is my version. To tell the truth I like Kraqa'a better but mine has a few good pictures of that the inside of the rocker looks like.

Rocker Replacement (http://www.akextreme4x4.com/tech/rocker/rockerpanelreplacement.htm)

And cuz Kraqa is a canadian and can't link shit......

http://www.akextreme4x4.com/images/tech/rocker/rockers1.jpg

[cherokeekid]

here is a set we did on a local rig, we cut the box steel around the a and b pillar. It would be alot stronger if we had cut the a/b pillars instead:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid109/p4154ada0b78a963f7f953e8301d9a4cd/f92f6055.jpg

[chopshop]

here's mine

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/415/Dsc01578.jpg

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/196/Dsc01579.jpg

4x4x1/8", 2x2 to the frame. I welded sleeves to the 4x4 to slide into the unibody where it comes out by the wheelwells, and also welded the pillars to the tops of the 4x4. door sill was peeled back, and then tacked back down.

I really like the tube on the white one up above. first pic I've seen of it like that.

[Kraqa]

Here is my version. To tell the truth I like Kraqa'a better but mine has a few good pictures of that the inside of the rocker looks like.

Rocker Replacement (http://www.akextreme4x4.com/tech/rocker/rockerpanelreplacement.htm)

And cuz Kraqa is a canadian and can't link shit......

http://www.akextreme4x4.com/images/tech/rocker/rockers1.jpg

ya your government put a picture linking block accross the border.

he said fuck it to all the canuks

[Alaska ZJ]

You Canadians look like us.........But your different. :mrgreen:

[Kraqa]

were slower.......eh?


its all the same shit difrent pile.

i had a american tell me that in canada we buy our milk in bags. we actually got into a argument about this. she would not beleive that we buy our milk in cartons just like you guys. but then again she also told me that every stop sign said "Arret" as well as stop. so the whole conversation was pointless.

[chopshop]

micmac is naQ' assi! The red octagon gives it away.

[Alaska ZJ]

micmac is naQ' assi! The red octagon gives it away.

Those are the first and last words spoke in French on this board....Nothing against the Canucks this is directed straight to the bumm sniffing French.

;)

[JeepinHank]

I've got a couple of questions for you guys...

Kraqa - you used 2x6, CherokeeKid, ChopShop & AK used 4x4... any reason for selecting one over the other? It seems the 2x would give more of a clearance gain.

We're doing this to my buddy's XJ in the next couple of weekends, and I was planning on going with 2x4x.25 since I have some lying around from when I built my rear bumper. I know the .25 thickness is overkill, but its already paid for, and I have no use for it right now. I have some 1.5 x 1.5 (3/16ths thickness) angle that I was going to use to fill in the gap (similar to what AK did).

The only other thing I'm not really clear on is welding to the a & b pillars... ChopShop said he peeled back the door sills, welded, and then tacked the sills back into place. Did everyone else weld to the a & b pillars as well, or did ya'll just weld up the pinch weld and along the body?

I know it'll probably be self explanatory once we get in there, but I'd rather know as much as I can before we start. 8) And yeah - I do a lot of work on my buddy's XJ. Its pretty much his beater, so I get a chance to try out all of these hair brained ideas without f'in up my DD. :lol:

(edit: a & b pillars vs b & c)

[Alaska ZJ]

2x4 is perfect for a XJ. You will also have no pillars to fuck with. Done the XJ a few times as well and 2x4 is perfect for them.

They have a WAY smaller rockerpanel. You will not need that angle iron at all.

Cut and weld....easy as that.

[JeepinHank]

2x4 is perfect for a XJ. You will also have no pillars to fuck with. Done the XJ a few times as well and 2x4 is perfect for them.

They have a WAY smaller rockerpanel. You will not need that angle iron at all.

Cut and weld....easy as that.

Kewl - I know it ain't ZJ tech, but I may post up a couple of shots of the project when we get around to doing it... It won't be long - we've got a trip coming up in five weeks - and its got to be done before then. 8) Along with my locker, finishing the front bumper, re-installing winch, and all the usual little stuff. :shock:

I love this stuff!!! :D

[cherokeekid]

2x4 is perfect for a XJ. You will also have no pillars to fuck with. Done the XJ a few times as well and 2x4 is perfect for them.

They have a WAY smaller rockerpanel. You will not need that angle iron at all.

Cut and weld....easy as that.

zactly XJ is really simple. we used 4x4 on the ZJ mostly for asthetics and it almost fit perfectly size wise to replace the existing sheetmetal

here is a shot of the XJ:

http://www.pnwjeep.com/IM001491.JPG

[JeepinHank]

Thanks - The hardcore ZJ board comes through with great XJ info! Who woulda thunk it?

[chopshop]

whatca smokin' cherokeekid?

[cherokeekid]

LOL, it was like 20-30 deg out when I did them.

[Kraqa]

WOW thats hot.....oh wait........thats not. still love the bar on the side. alot of work just for a step. but it does look good.

[cherokeekid]

I actually only use them as a step because they are in the way.

i wanted something to pivot off off stuff and if you try to high lift off just the box tube the jack will pivot into the door.

(ohh and it is http://rebelrockrunners.org/andrew/mbp/blingmeter.jpg )

[chopshop]

i was thinking it would be tree protection for the doors. lotsa trees 'round here.

[NorthernZJ]

Here are a couple photos from my website of my rocker guard cut out. I'm in the process of rebuilding the ZJ.

http://www.rockcontrol.com/ZJ/t128-2868_IMG.jpg
http://www.rockcontrol.com/ZJ/t129-2973_IMG.jpg

There are more photos at my website. www.rockcontrol.com The tabs were all water jet cut and I really like having the 2x2 outside rail for high lift jacking and keeping stuff like rocks and trees away from the jeep.

[Raacerx]

you putting a piece of plate over that or do you looking forward to catching them on everything?

aint waterjet fun? Im learning all the programs for CNC machines.

[NorthernZJ]

I've run this setup for quite a while and they don't get caught on anything people always ask me that and I've never had a problem with it. They also work great for high lift jacks with the outer rail. You can also see some of my new long arm setup under there!

Ty

[JeepinHank]

Did the XJ this weekend. GOD is that shit thin!!!!

I welded for about an hour before I realized it was probably a bad idea to be doing this much welding in shorts. :roll: (I'm used to just a tack hear and there) I put on some jeans, but man I've got a hell of an arc burn! :oops:

Started out at around 10:30 in the morning and finished up around midnight. Granted we stopped for lunch and dinner, and took an occasional break to clear our heads, smoke a stogie, let stuff cool down a bit, and make the mandatory run to the hardware store. The rear fourths of both rockers were nothing but rust, and out of laziness I just built up the area with weld beads instead of fitting in a filler piece. That took up probably half of my welding time, 3/4ths if you add in all of the burn-through-chasing I had to do. Afterwards, we ground everything smooth and hit it with a couple of coats of primer and paint. We ended up making the rockers 60.5" long on each side just because that was all of the left over 2x4 I had, and this was a project done on the cheap - just my leftovers from my rear bumper.

If we can come up with someone with a tube bender we'll probably try to build some tube steps similar to what Cherokee did. (That looks awesome btw)

No pics, I'm too ashamed of the shitty welding that I did. Maybe I'm just being hard on myself, but the beads looked like crap. They hold, and I don't forsee it ever coming off, but I swear those were some fugly beads. Everything looked good after some grinding and a little paint.

My noob advice for anyone wanting to do this:

1 - don't use anything more than a wire wheel or a flap disk when prepping the unibody. You don't need anything more than that, and anything more will just make it that much easier to burn through.

2 - prep EVERYTHING. The better you clean it up, the easier it'll go on. And *cough* Mark *cough* wash your junk before you start something like this - dirt in the eyes just gets you pissed off.

3 - Use the smallest wire you can get for your welder. I used .030, and I think I would have been able to do a better job (with less burn through) with a thinner wire.

4 - have plenty of cutting disks / blades available. (unless you've got plasma or something cool like that - it sucks to be at a standstill cause you're out of blades)

5 - start with the passenger (ugly) side, the drivers side is the side you'll always see - do it last cause the second one will look a lot better than the front.

That's about all I can think of for right now - I'll try to post some pics of the finished product if I get a chance to take some next weekend.

Hank

[robselina]

just an alternative way of going about this....I didn't feel like hacking up my rockers so I just made some protection to fit:

http://www.nmt.edu/~rselina/zj4.JPG

lost 0.25" of ground clearance at the bottom of the rocker (if you include the pinch seam, the no loss)

not as hardcore, but freakin' easy to make if you've got access to a break (most machine shops have them, my local one is $2 a bend)

anyway, same basic intention as chopping out the rocker: get a real slider and don't loose the clearance

[NorthernZJ]

looks good robselina. I really like that idea for a clean ZJ like yours. Cutting up stuff is only fun if it is already ugly!

[MaineZJ]

using something like 4x4 tubing, would 1/8" be strong enough or should I look for thicker?
thinking I only want to do this once...

[Alaska ZJ]

using something like 4x4 tubing, would 1/8" be strong enough or should I look for thicker?
thinking I only want to do this once...

I used 1/8 and it was fine. you would have to be a real asshat to mess it up.

I figure if I ever Wore through by scraping I would just slap a bit of angle iron over that corner.....