GOAT Fabrication Rock Sliders installed on Ranger Raptor

[Lion77]

Also wanted to point out the big a** cab isolator bushings. The rubber bushings that secure YOU riding INSIDE the cab to the actual frame. If the sliders are connected to the cab then you also have some impact absorption going on via the cab isolator bushings. Less likely for something to snap.

Rubbing bushings save major vehicle damage all the time from hard impacts, especially in suspension parts. It's not just cost as the reason bushings are used instead of ball joints like in steering system (that obviously must be precise and rigid). Too much movement is an issue, but captured bushings can be tuned for limited movement.

Given that cab mounted sliders are isolated from the chassis via the cab mounting bushings, that's another plus (in additional to some flex from the backets). The whole thing acts like a big damper to help keep things from bending / denting / shearing (broken bolts).

Adam from GOAT said they originally tested frame mounted sliders and found it was twisting the frame and causing puckering because the leverage of the sliders on the frame. People forget these are not the old C-channel frames that acted like big springs (designed to allow some flex, strength was achieved via mass / material, not so much structural architecture).

Hydro-formed fully boxed frames are designed with very limited flex and specific load transfer pathways, they are lighter and more rigid, they are not designed for twisting loads that frame sliders place on them. The frames are also narrower than the C-channel which the main rails were set a lot wider apart and closer to the wheels with the rear struts mounted in-board, not outboard.

So not only has the frame designs changed in terms of architecture, so is the location of the frame rails with respect to the wheels / sides of the vehicle! THINK ABOUT IT, people need to stop using simplistic thinking of "frame = stronger". Look at ALL the elements of the frame design. The modern cab's impact panels are structural just like the frame but designed specifically for side loads! And the leverage of the brackets is FAR less than far in at the frame. Simply not comparable and it's why factory sliders on all the trucks / jeeps are cab mounted now.

Sure, frame mounted sliders can work, the RCI's use a LOT of frame support, so those might be fine to use, but why put all that torque on the frame in a way it was never designed for? I would also argue that frame damage is far more serious to vehicle drivability than body damage if one or the other were to fail.

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[Lion77]

Note on the video showing the GOAT fab sliders on a bronco and people complaining about the amount of flex, I found this on the Bronco forums:

GOAT Fab Rock Sliders Installed Review | Page 2 | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco & Bronco Raptor Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community

This is the video I am referencing: GOAT Slider Rock Test on Bronco (pre-production 3/16" brackets)

 

[Lion77]

GOAT Fab Rock Sliders Installed Review | Page 3 | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco & Bronco Raptor Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community

This video was with the updated 1/4" fully gusseted brackets (what has been shipping for well over a year now). For the 4-door bronco, which has a cab length close to the Rangers, they weight 45lbs each according to GOAT, so I'd imagine the same slider for Ranger Raptor is pretty close, in the 45~5lbs range per slider.

Stock side steps are cast aluminum with steel brackets, and I recall that they weight around 30lbs range, so not a huge weight gain over the stock side steps, but a LOT more clearance and protection. With the tighter fit and 20 degree angle, you gain 4" of clearance on the sides (obviously that won't help breakover on flat hills, but it will help breakover on off-camber or when crawling of rocks on one side, which is probably the most common hang-up of the stock config with side steps).

I just got the Method 705 wheels, so the GOAT 20-degree angled sliders are my next mod to add some wheelin' capability as the side steps are really big factory "flaw" as far as stock 4x4 capability goes and that's pretty consistent consensus, throw on some sliders and the stock RR will match all the other similar factory 4x4 setups.

Eventually I may do an SVC high clearance bumper, but my goal is not to build Ford's version of the ZR2 Bison on 35's (at least at this point in time), my goal is to keep the truck rally / baja focused with some critical clearance enhancements to make the most of the stock tires / ride height.

By focusing on peeling back the "low hanging fruit" on the body, I'm not upsetting handling dynamics, braking and acceleration with lots of added rotating mass, higher CG's, alignment issues etc., but gain some meaningful 4x4 capability and body protection for intermediate trails.

Not saying 35's with a lift is bad, because you can certainly turn the RR into a more 4x4 focused setup, but you are giving up some stuff like acceleration, fuel economy (which is already so-so), handling dynamics etc. Just depends on your focus, but that's my 2 cents.

I want good all-around 4x4 capability without that being the sole focus at the expense of everything else, especially it's higher speed nature.

 

[ALlex858]

Ive had a local custom shop install my rocky road "rocky crusher" rock sliders. Im going to just post pics and stay silent and allow comments to come in.

 

[Lion77]

Below are the reasons why cab mounted sliders on the Ford T6 platform, Jeeps and Colorado's are the best way to go. People aren't considering all the dynamics involved and the actual design, they are just blindly transplanting an outdated standard to a modern system....

Problems With Frame Sliders on T6 Platform

1. Chassis rails are further inboard than older C-channel designs, creating a very long lever arm that twists the chassis rails due to the length of the slider mounts needed to reach the chassis. C-channel frames were wider because they acted as part of the suspension and the struts were mounted in-board, not outboard, necessitating wider frame rails than on modern truck frames. Different designs with different properties. C-channel frames are also prone to sagging, especially with age, which is why you see a lot of older trucks bucking at the middle between the cab and bed!

2. Fully boxed Hydroformed chassis are designed for maximum rigidity and minimal weight, this is a very different design than old school C-channel frames which were designed to flex and lacked torsion rigidity of a fully boxed hydroformed frame! Mounting sliders to a C-channel frame made a lot of sense since it was designed with some inherent elasticity, the C-channel rails were heavy duty AND the cabs of those older vehicles did not have structural impact areas like modern cabs do.

3. Using the factory mounting locations on the T6 platform allows the load transfer path to be through the cab-isolator bushings to the chassis. This allows for some shock absorbing function, which is exactly what the rubber bushings are designed to do. So not only do you have less leverage on cab mounted sliders due to the short mounting brackets, but you also get some peak force relief by transferring impact energy to rubber isolators that are.....you guessed it....designed to absorb shock loads.

And yet the ideologically driven zealots will go on chanting endlessly forever, "Only true believers mount their sliders to their frames, if you refuse, you are heretics! Death to your Raptors!"

 

[Lion77]

Found this to back up everything on the engineering side:

Oops, side steps bumped into my rocker panels I think. Rock slider recommend | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco & Bronco Raptor Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community

That pic of the Bronco on top of those massive rocks uses a different brand, Next Venture Motorsports, but they also are cab mounted just like the GOAT sliders.

I mean seriously, how many Bronco's need to do extreme rock crawling with cab mounted sliders without issues before the "fame mount or bust zealots" will finally realize that with the newer vehicles, cab mounted sliders are by design. Ugh, you can lead a horse to water...but you can't make it drink!

 

[pablo94sc]

I want to add to this, just to hopefully end the debate about using body mounted sliders; my PS running board supported having both wheels off the ground, while I rocked the truck back and forth to slide off the boulder that hung me up. No damage to the body, and even the running board sorta survived, which honestly surprised me.

Hopefully this dispels any concerns about running body mounted sliders for the "casual" off roader.

 

[RRaptorscallion0331]

I would love to get some boat sides like I had on my old JK. If I recall I put rivnuts (not rivits) into the rocker panel and they bolted to the body.. hard to remember that far back. But you can see them real good around 2:45

 

[Lion77]

Seems to me the top option for cab mounted is GOAT, but there are some other good options like Rocky Mountain as well. If anyone is still adamant about frame mounting, RCI's look to be the best overall solution from frame mount.

Ultimately, I think any of those three are good in terms of protection, but RCI has a big caveot. The whole point isn't that frame mounted are necessarily garbage, but on the Ranger T6 platform, they are noy the optimal solution because the chassis is much narrower than older C-channel frames used on 80's, 90's and early 2k trucks, thus necessitating very remote mounting which creates a lot of leverage that twists the chassis frame rails.

Because of that and the fact that modern fully boxed hydro-phormed frames do not have the elastic nature of the older C-channel which could flex and were large masses of thick steel, they aren't the best mounding locations unless you have significant mounting reinforcements to keep the frame from twisting, but then you're adding a lot of bulk / weight for mounting, to what end? They also hang lower as well since the mounting needs to be significantly more robust (much thicker brackets that sit lower down) to handle the leverage from the distance between the side and the chassis.

That makes the cab mounted, both from a design standpoint and a weight standpoint, more optimal in its various permutations. On top of that most people with Ranger's, whether it's an XLT, Lariat or Raptor, aren't looking for the most extreme rock crawling either, rather we are looking more for increased clearance with the ability to handle the types of hard hits most would see on trails which is where you might see such impacts. The range really isn't the type of vehicle you climb 2~3 foot tall stair steps because of its length, approach and breakover limitations. That's more extreme rock crawling is what you do with Jeeps / Bronco's, not pickups.

My goal is to increase side clearance and add solid protection to increase trail capability without going the route of bigger heavier tires, lifts etc. Replacing the side steps with sliders is in my opinion easy low hanging fruit with no real negative side effects unlike tires and lifts, so I can enhance the trail capability without taking away from it's rally truck nature. A stock Raptor can easily do level 1-5 trails, a few skilled drivers on this forum managed Level 7 trails on stock Raptors, but that's probably about it's limits without tires / lifts and not something I'm interested in.

I like high speed driving with jumps, touring, utility and level 1-5 trails that are more scenic and relaxing that I can enjoy as opposed to something I need to conquer. My thrills of "conquering terrain" come at high speeds and in the air!

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