Boxed in XJ Rockers
	Category:	Armor
	Author:	Eric
	Date:	April 7th, 2005

Boxing in your rocker panels is the process of replacing the entire rocker panel with thick-walled rectangular tubing that can withstand the forces of rock crawling. Having those low and vulnerable rockers there is a problem for any 4wd vehicle. The traditional solution is to bolt some strong tubing to the bottom of the panel which works to protect your rockers, but that’s lost ground clearance.

Installation (8 hrs)
There are several ways to do this. Looking at what others have done, the simplest solution was yet to be found. Here's what I recommend you do. Looking at the panel, the floorboards are flush with the bottom of the panel and there is a 1” tall pinch seam that sticks down. I’m a ground clearance fiend so that seam had to go. Assuming that will be removed, that leaves an area exactly two inches tall and four inches wide, which is perfect for a standard 2x4.

Before you get started, you must remove the doors and the front fenders. You can get away with leaving the rear doors on, but it’s more difficult to weld around them.

There are two cuts to make. You can use a cutting wheel or a reciprocating saw. The first cut is on the outer edge, just below the doors.

Making the top cut
The second cut is right in front of the pinch seam. Earlier I said we would remove it. Well, we are going to use it. More on that later. You have to cut into the wheel well a little bit. Just make the cut square. That area will have to be tweaked later to get the new steel to fit properly.

Removing the stock rocker panel
After you remove the panel, this is what’s left.

The cavity exposed after the cut
Now you need to fabricate your new rockers. The length can vary depending on your application. I have trimmed my fenders so I set their length appropriately. When capping off the ends, I decided to make the ends have a 45 degree angle which looks cool and it’s a better angle to slide over a rock with. I have done this twice, first using .120 wall and second with .188 wall tube. I think they’re both very strong. If you really want the piece of mind, go with the .188 and don’t look back. That will never bend. I have seen others use .250 wall which I think is a waste. My vehicle is using .120 wall has yet to get damaged, so this decision, I leave up to you.

Eric capping the end of one slider

The capped 2x4 with .188 walls
Now it’s time to fit the new panel in it’s home. If your cuts were all straight, the top edge should line up perfectly with the remaining sheet metal on the doorsill. On the bottom, it should be touching the top of the pinch seam, right where it was cut. For me, the corner cut on each wheel well had to be clearanced so it would sit flush against all the surfaces.

The initial test fit was perfect
Using the jack to hold it in place, I first welded the doorsill to the top of the new rocker. Now that it is secured in place you can remove the jack and begin to work on the pinch seam. What I did was bend the seam up so that it’s laying flat on the bottom of the rocker. I had to basically start the bend using a hammer and then used a jack to hold it flush against the rocker to tack-weld in place. I tacked it ever 12 inches or so. I could then use the hammer to make the seam sit flush on the rocker. After it was flush I welded it all up.

The last task is modifying the front fenders so they’ll fit. When removing the stock rocker, you cut off the lower mounts for the fender. I recommend you simply bend the fender right above the slider. The fender should now reach the inner fender well, where you can drill some holes and use a sheet metal screw to securely fasten it. It will flop around in the wind if you skip this step.

Clean-up (2 hrs)
Some may not mind, but I choose to grind down the welds on the doorsill and used some body filler to make it look really nice. I put a couple cans of paint on it and to the untrained eye it looks factory equipped.

The finished product
Testing
The sliders are certainly tough. As you can see, they are easily hi-liftable. On the rocks, they can’t be beat. Since this mod folds the pinch seam up flat, you actually gain an inch of ground clearance. Now that I have done this mod, I rarely even touch the rocks that a set of traditional sliders would be grinding on. I estimate that most sliders are at least 2” thick and they hang below the pinch seam. So these have at least 3” more ground clearance than the best sliders.

I've been asked how these can be strong at all when you're welding heavy steel to sheetmetal. You have to think about how uni-body vehicles are strong. They work because the whole vehicle is structural. In this case, each slider has about 10 feet of weld beads hold them in place and that's really all it's doing. It makes that area rigid. If there's a blow to the rocker panel, the whole force is distributed across the whole side of the vehicle. If that doesn't make sense to you, beleive me when I say that I have slamed these things on rocks and they haven't budged at all. My doors still shut perfectly and there aren't any dents in the new steel.

The sliders are easily Hi-Liftable
In the future, I plan to add an outer rail to give me lateral protection to keep my body away from an obstacle. Another variation I plan on doing is to use a 2x6 instead of a 2x4. This will give you the lateral protection the outer rail would provide.

The total costs are about $100 for the steel and consumables. It’s not hard work, but there is a lot to do. I’d give yourself a whole weekend to complete this if it’s your first time.