Review - RCI Rock Sliders for XLT (2024)

[markal49]

So after a recent trip to Utah where I decided to tackle a pretty challenging trail, I decided it was time for actual, frame-mounted rock sliders. I went with RCI but also looked Rocky Road and those seem like they would be good as well. I honestly can't remember what the deciding factor was in getting RCI.

I installed them a couple of weeks ago. I'm reasonably handy, but don't have a lot of experience working on (or under) cars and trucks. I installed a Rival fuel tank skid plate last year and that was probably the most difficult thing I'd done before installing the RCI sliders. The sliders were very tedious to install, and the instructions have some clear errors. But I managed to get it done despite missing some hardware! More on that below.

I've now put the sliders to use (literally). Here are my reactions.

The Good:

• they look good, nice finish
• they seem well made, time will tell
• I like the tread plate (but had to order that separately)
• They took minor abuse on a moderate trail just fine (as they should!)

The Bad:

• The price, maybe. Rocky Road is comparable, but it seems like a lot of dough for what they are.
• Mine had a few chips in the finish, likely from shipping. That was annoying, but since they are going to take some abuse, I figured not worth complaining about.
• Most importantly, RCI really botched packing up hardware. MY KIT WAS MISSING TWO CRITICAL BRACKETS! Now, they always tell you to make sure all the parts are there, but, of course, I did not. I just started installing them and the missing brackets don't come into play until the near final step. Once I realized I was missing the brackets, I emailed RCI and they were kind of enough to ship out the brackets the next day. Since I'm in Colorado and RCI is in Colorado, I got them in one day. But, THEY SENT THE WRONG BRACKETS. Good grief. I emailed them again, and they sent more brackets. In the meantime, I went off to Ace Hardware to come up with my own solution. I finally got the correct brackets a couple of days later. Honestly, I left my solution on one slider and installed the bracket on the other (long story). I'm confident my solution will hold. To be honest, I don't think they even needed to design these brackets, washers will do and it's hard but not impossible to reach a wrench on both sides to tighten down the bolt in question.
• The instructions are mediocre. The most important issue is that it skips a step for one of the sliders. I'll email RCI about that and hopefully they'll fix it.

Here are pics showing one slider and the old running board on the other side.

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[RB205]

What step did the instructions skip?

Mine went together pretty well. The biggest tip I would suggest is to test thread the aluminum chips before dropping them into your frame rails. One of mine kept feeling like it was cross threading due to a likely burr on the thread. It took the full torque but I didn't really trust the threads to hold up until that point.

 

[BrrRaptor]

Mine arrived with the packing boxes totally destroyed and damage on sliders.
Called them and spoke to customer service manager and he was a totally nice guy. Had a new set made in 3 days and with my help on what the boxes need to be stronger they packed them much better and they arrived great. Install was not bad.

 

[Adamc55]

I also just installed the RCI sliders. They were an absolute pain, well I should say one of the threaded tabs on both sides was a pain. I was also missing hardware, specifically the 2 carriage bolt brackets. They shipped out new ones but they haven't come in yet. I also had chips in the finish and areas around the tread plate screws are starting to show rust. But they look good and seam heavy duty enough. I will say that I think all of the rock sliders available for the ranger are severely overpriced.

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