Introduction
The major aftermarket companies have largely failed to provide rock sliders and
sill protectors for the P38 Range Rover models, in
spite of the fact that they are superb off road machines and are being
used more and more in that role as used prices decline. Fortunately,
several enterprising owners have stepped in to fill the breech, and
this page summarizes their designs.
Photo
at top right: Alan Bates-designed sliders and winch bumper at work on
the trail
Commercially Available P38 Rock Sliders: New Alan Bates ("Rockrover") Design
Alan Bates, designer of the sleek new P38 winch bumper
and the rear bumper/tire carrier
described
on the Brushbars and Bumpers section, is now
in the process of gearing up production of his new design for rock sliders for
the P38 models. These new sliders (see photos
below) have frame mounting brackets which make
them
one of the
strongest designs for any Rover model -- almost
indestructible and impervious to any bending.
They
sit just below the plastic sill panel and double as side steps without
the reduction in ground clearance
caused by the stock side steps/running boards (their bottom surface is
level with the frame rails).
Alan Bates's "RockRover" sliders
in place on a Range Rover P38.
Photo showing extremely strong
construction of the sliders and their mountings
Alan's sliders are now in production and available for $750 a set. If
you are interested in getting some, please Email
him for more information. (He also produces custom winch bumpers for the
4.0/4.6 (with or without the bullbar shown in the photo at the top of
this page), and a rear bumper/tire
carrier. Altogether, this is the most comprehensive range of heavy
trail armor for the P38 Range Rover anywhere! Alan has been kind enough
to help sponsor this site based on the referrals he receives, so if you
contact him, please let him know you came from Rangerovers.net!!
Brent Wilhelmi's Rock Slider Design
Brent Wilhelmi
recently came up with a new design of rock slider for
his 2001 Range Rover (see photo at top of this page, and additional
illustrations below). Brent also designed a matching rear bodywork
protector/slider (see below). Brent offers the following details on how
he
designed and constructed them.
1. The
Sliders consist of a 1”x4”x0.25” square tubing at the bottom with a
1.25”x0.25”
tubing bent to match the lines of the rocker panels.
2. They
are mounted using a 4”x4”x0.25” angle iron welded to the frame in two
locations
along the slider. At the front and the back of the slider another piece
of
angle iron is welded to slider and is attached to the body using a peel
rivet.
3. The
angle iron on the frame is staggered for ease of mounting and strength,
meaning
that the slider sits on top of one bracket and is mounted below on the
other.
This allows the sliders to be slid into place and bolted using grade 8
hardware.
4. The
sliders themselves are coated with LineX truck bed liner to lessen the
scratches, although it will still scratch down to the bare metal at
times.
Brent's Rear Bumper Slider / Quarter
Panel Protector
I have often wondered why the makers of body protection equipment
usually ignore the rear quarter panels, which in my experience are the
most vulnerable and frequently damaged part of any off road vehicle.
When Brent Wilhelmi was putting body armor on his 2001 Range Rover, he
was one of the few to complete the job by designing some superb
wrap-around rear body protectors that fit neatly below the stock bumper
without reducing ground clearance. Brent was kind enough to share his
design details (below).
Brent Wilhelmi's ingenious rear
slider/bodywork protector on his 2001
Range Rover 4.6HSE.
Brent's sliders in action on the
trail
The
bumper is made of 1.25”x0.25” tubing bent to match the contour of the
rear
bumper and wrap around to the rear wheel well. There is an addition
“bump up”
along the rear panel to protect the area between the wheel well and the
rear
bumper. The
lower valance of the OE plastic bumper is cut off, and the tabs for the
trailer
hitch lights are removed. The rear of the bumper is mounted into the
existing
holes for the rear bumper using longer bolts. The sides have a bracket
welded
to the bumper and are bolted to the bottom of the frame.
Jack
Poehlman's P38 Rock Sliders Jack
Poehlman fabricated his own
rock sliders (see photo top of this
page) and
is making them available to
fellow
enthusiasts. He used 2" x 6" x 1/4" wall box tube welded
to a
pair of U-shaped custom mounts made of 1/4 inch steel that encompass
the frame rail, (bottom and each side) with each mount held
in
place by a 3/4" bolt that goes through existing holes in the frame. The
forward bracket
is located where the transmission cross member connects, and the
rearward one is where the rear-trailing arm
bolts to the
frame. The
box tubing sits about 1/4" under the stock sill and the outer edge is
in line with the outer edge of the tires. The bottom
of the
slider is
slightly below the bottom of the frame to help protect the
transfer case and exhaust system.
