[Twistie]

G'day

I've been lurking this forum for a few weeks so thought I'd introduce myself and ask a question or two.

My name is Jyri and late last year I bought a new Grand Vitara Sport '16 model. This is my first ever 4wd and have never previously been 4wding except for once on Fraser Island when we hired one to drive up to beach side for a day. I've been out a couple times with the zook on some fire trails down the far south coast near Narooma but nothing extreme. Car is stock at the moment except for tow bar and since I lack any real knowledge about 4wding I joined the NSW Suzuki 4wd club to get a little more confidence etc.

Anyway one member of the club recommended that one of my first mods is to get some side protection for the sills. I've looked high and low but nothing off the shelf is available so I went out to a place for him to have a look. Initially he reckons he couldn't help me since it's monocoque but then after further discussion suggested I bring the car in for a day so he and the fabricator can have a think about it over day, which I agreed to. That'll be a week or so away so thought I'd ask here and see if anyone thinks it's doable connecting sliders to monocoque body/chassis?

I was looking at how normal sliders work and it seems a 'U' section extends above the top of the chassis rail and is bolted through above it. Obviously can't happen on my car so can a support be fixed to the side and below the chassis rail? Or will any fixings just shear through or pull out from the rail under load? Has anyone here done a slider for a new model GV?

The mechanic also said he could do bash plates for me, made from aluminium. Is aluminium going to be worth doing? I asked previously about bash plates but the other place I asked said Ironman have to update there plates for the 2016 model.

Appreciate any advice or pointers.

Cheers,
Jyri

[BlueSuzy]

Connecting sliders to body will be fine as long as its picking up enough points so they just won't rip off like alloy side steps.

You might not even use the sliders depending on what you drive. If you're really worried about the sill, Get some made up.

Alloy will be a waste of money.

[Twistie]

Yeah the consensus seems to be that alloy side steps are a waste for anything other than helping to get in and out of the car or up to roof racks.

I'll see what the fabricator comes up with come the 7th.

[pete_79]

This might help you discuss design ideas with your fabricator. Sorry about the poor quality, it's cropped from a bigger image.



Shoot me a PM if you like and I'll give you a contact in the club to talk to about these.

[Twistie]

Thanks for the pic pete

I'll be at the March club meet, it's on the way home from work so maybe I'll get some more ideas there.

Started to sketch up a 3D model in cad. Took a few rough measurements from underneath on Sunday but it started to rain so hopefully I'll get a chance to have a closer look over the weekend.