Sliders/Steps (again)

[gofish]

Sorry to ask as I know it's been covered before. I am wanting to put a set of sliders on & thought that wider ones (step for the wife & kids) would be the go. I previously had a D2 with ARB steps which I liked as they had the tread plate (?) on top. I have looked into the options (Brads,APT,Gordons) but am still a little unsure the best root. I would prefer no cutting if pos. The tread plate is not a must but am guessing wider ones would be a better option for me (?). Any opinions on what you have & if you are happy with your decision appreciated.

Cheers.

[Tombie]

Wider ones make it harder to get out...

[Plane Fixer]

I have gone with Brad's (Metfit) sliders in the narrow version due a petite wife who found it a step too far to get into the Disco otherwise. They are exactly right as they do not get in my way when I step out (6'2") but she can use them to get in and out.
I have driven several work vehicles with wide steps and unless careful end up getting mud on the back of my trousers leg.

[LandyAndy]

Wider ones prevent shopping trolley injuries.
Yes mud on the strides is a issue if you dont stand on the tread plate.
Gordon now has treadplates available on his as an option.
Andrew

[Lukeis]

Even on the narrow ones my leg hit initially, I've since retrained myself to get out of the car differently.

In my opinion:

Narrow ones look far better and work well off road but offer never zero protection from other people's doors in a car park.

Wider ones look terrible but do the job they were intended for. I'm sure you could get used to using them as a step on the way out to avoid the dirty jeans just as I have with the narrow ones

[RHS58]

Sorry to ask as I know it's been covered before. I am wanting to put a set of sliders on & thought that wider ones (step for the wife & kids) would be the go. I previously had a D2 with ARB steps which I liked as they had the tread plate (?) on top. I have looked into the options (Brads,APT,Gordons) but am still a little unsure the best root. I would prefer no cutting if pos. The tread plate is not a must but am guessing wider ones would be a better option for me (?). Any opinions on what you have & if you are happy with your decision appreciated.

Cheers.

In my case, wife was the best root.
APT sliders with tread plates was the best route.
Wife happy with both.

[Narangga]

I put Bearmach sliders (with tree bars) on the D2 as I didn't want something sticking out as wide as the ARB steps. In hindsight I should have got the ARB steps due to the available width for people (particulalry older folk) to plant their foot on when getting into and out of a quite high vehicle.

One of the reasons we bought the D3 is because it has Access Height and I have added LLAMS to enable it to lower an additional 20mm. This means that the front passenger seat of the D3 is actually the same height off the ground as out 2006 Tarago's front passenger seat. The Targo is being used by a friend at the moment and so I can measure the floor level of the respective vehicles but it is similar.

We no longer live in Arnhem Land and so at this stage we do not have either steps or sliders on the D3 as we have Access Height and LLAMS that cater for need of easier access. The protection that steps/sliders give has not been put to the test yet (unfortunately :().

Ultimately you will need to determine what works best for you; but knowing how younger (children) and older people are, then the wider the better is the answer to your ingress and egress.

[l00kin4]

I recently put GOE (Gordon) deluxe (wide with step infills) on mine. (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-4/242637-new-deluxe-goe-sliders.html)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=119147&stc=1&d=1485730941

Offerings from APT (Ben) and Metfit (Brad) both looked good to me too. I also didn't really want to do any cutting so that ruled out Metfit - although by all reports it is not difficult, and you do have more of the sill protected.

I like the look of the APT sliders too, especially with the skid plate underneath like Scott's (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-4/212837-question-rocksliders-6.html), but in the end I opted for the lighter weight of the GOE option.

My kids and 5'1" wife find them a good step to get in and haven't had any complaints about getting out. One thing I do still need to do though is to put a few drainage holes in the infills.

David

[Tombie]

Wider ones prevent shopping trolley injuries.

Yes mud on the strides is a issue if you dont stand on the tread plate.

Gordon now has treadplates available on his as an option.

Andrew



No they don't, not even close to stopping a trolley hitting the vehicle.

And they certainly don't stop back doors either!!

Wider ones (wider than a shoe) make it difficult for entry and egress with the door ajar; common in car parks..
The shorter the leg the worse it is..

And a side note - also puts more strain on seat edge.. due to how you need to twist to get over wider sliders.

The Std width APT with tread plates is more than enough to stand and climb if necessary, wider increases problems and adds leverage if grounded offroad potentially leading to more damage.

A D3/4 is a different seating position to a D2 so needs different consideration in step design. As the D2 is higher but closer to edge; D3/4 is lower but further inboard.

Keep in mind: Anyone buying sliders to prevent supermarket damage is kidding themselves [emoji6]

[gofish]

No they don't, not even close to stopping a trolley hitting the vehicle.

And they certainly don't stop back doors either!!

Wider ones (wider than a shoe) make it difficult for entry and egress with the door ajar; common in car parks..
The shorter the leg the worse it is..

And a side note - also puts more strain on seat edge.. due to how you need to twist to get over wider sliders.

The Std width APT with tread plates is more than enough to stand and climb if necessary, wider increases problems and adds leverage if grounded offroad potentially leading to more damage.

A D3/4 is a different seating position to a D2 so needs different consideration in step design. As the D2 is higher but closer to edge; D3/4 is lower but further inboard.

Keep in mind: Anyone buying sliders to prevent supermarket damage is kidding themselves [emoji6]

Intersting & valid points. Thanks very much for all the feedback folks. Maybe narrower ones are the go afterall (?). Any group buys for these ever come up ?

[Tombie]

The narrow / standard ones aren't too narrow by any margin.. more than enough for your foot to comfortably step on.

[Lukeis]

What's the logic with the checker plate on the bottom? Surely that would collect mud/dirt as well as water? Seems counter intuitive.

[l00kin4]

What's the logic with the checker plate on the bottom? Surely that would collect mud/dirt as well as water? Seems counter intuitive.


It's a bit hard to tell in photos but much closer to the top than the bottom - less than 2mm from the top level of the bars. Checker plate gives more grip as a step and also makes them much stronger. I like personally like the look better too but yes, there is a little pooling on top - that's why I'm going to drill some drain holes in them...
David

[LRD414]

What's the logic with the checker plate on the bottom? Surely that would collect mud/dirt as well as water? Seems counter intuitive.

I have a bottom plate but it's not checker, just plain plate.
It works as a skid plate to better slide over protruding obstacles that can hang up between the tube and door.
Perhaps more common is sticks and branches that get into the gap between tube and door, also stopped by the plate.
The plate also prevents stones flung up by the outer edges of the front wheels that miss the mud flaps from hitting the rear wheel arch flares.
These stones would also be stopped by a top-side tread plate.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/01/56.jpg

Dirt & mud does collect but is quite easy to hose away. I would guess no more difficult than hosing up underneath a tread plate.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/01/57.jpg

Another consideration is strength. The plate acts like a stiffening diaphragm.
This will better distribute heavy impacts through the slider.
This would also be true for a plate welded in closer to the top like David has.

And regarding the original question about offset, here's the standard horizontal offset for APT.
I think others are similar.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/01/58.jpg

Regards,
Scott

[Tombie]

Dirt and mud doesn't get stuck in there though as the plate is open on the sill side so a simple hose out.

Does a magnificent job of keeping the lower section from flicking mud up, can't get hung up on the out riggers etc

[Lukeis]

FYI - I have no plates on my sliders and on a recent trip two branches must have come through the gap as I now have damaged the rubber on the bottom of the door (one on each side). I can definitely agree that the plate would have prevented this

[Russrobe]

Damnit, forgot to order the tread plates on mine, hopefully not too late. Was there much of a price difference between the two Scott?

[LRD414]

Russ do you mean the checker tread plate that David got or the bottom skid plate I have?

Scott

[Russrobe]

Oops, the bottom skid plate i mean.

[LRD414]

The bottom skid plate is easy to add so just contact Ben asap. Mine was no extra cost as it was the first and I traded sill plates. But I doubt it's too much extra anyway.

Scott

[rhinosm]

By the description on his website the bottom plate is included. I hope as I've just ordered a set on that presumption.

[Russrobe]

Hopefully it is part of the new design, I sent of an e-mail to check.

[Russrobe]

Yep bottom plate is included.

[rhinosm]

Yep bottom plate is included.



Good to hear. Thanks

[Russrobe]

If you ordered within the last 3 days though you might want to check your paypal has gone through. I cancelled it and direct deposited funds.. think paypal was having issues.