Rock sliders are crucial when you’re going to spend a lot of time on technical trails or forest service roads with cross ditches. Yes, if you’re going to off-road your vehicle, on the rocks or in the ruts, you’ll definitely want to start with this type of armor.

The term "rock slider" means exactly what you would imagine. They allow your truck to “slide” over big rocks, logs and steep break-over angles.

The rocker panels are one of the most likely areas to take damage due to the large distance between the wheels, especially on a longer wheelbase truck like the Tacoma. Balmer Fab’s rock sliders protect your rocker panels from obstacles and make a handy pivot point when you need to get around a tight corner or over an obstacle.

While factory running boards/nerf bars may look nice, they are made of thin material and will not stand up to trail abuse.

While their primary purpose is for protection, rock sliders can also be used as a step to enter or exit your vehicle or to allow easier access to your roof rack and the items you may have mounted to it.

Rock sliders can also be used as very handy jacking points when suck in a rut or on the rocks. Jacking a truck up via the sliders is an easy method of changing a flat tire too. In the very worst scenario – you can even use your rock sliders as a winching point to set your rolled over vehicle back on its wheels!

Mounting:

Balmer Fab’s Tacoma rock sliders are offered with 1/4” thick, double shear, double gusseted bolt-on mounts. Double shear mounting is absolutely critical with bolt-on rock sliders! Many companies offer single shear mounts in order to facilitate a bolt-on design with no drilling required – while this may save some installation time, it’s also very prone to deflection and gradual loosening of the mounting bolts. Balmer Fab’s double shear design requires drilling 3 holes, per side, in the vehicle’s frame.

Kickouts:

A kickout or kicker is an extended or wider portion at the end of the slider closest to the rear wheels. The purpose of a kickout is to push your vehicle away from the obstacle it is riding on so that the obstacle doesn’t hit your wheel/tire or the body.

Balmer Fab offers 3 styles of kickouts:

1. Half-Pipe – This is our simplest kickout option. With a single bend, this design offers a clean look and works great with single can and access cab vehicles.
   
   

   
   
   

2. Standard – This is our most popular style which incorporates a braced flat portion for a more sustained kickout action than is offered by the “Half-Pipe” design.
   
   

   
   *Pictured on Dodge Ram*
   
   

3. Venom – This style is dimensionally the same as the Cross-Brace design but features a more stylized “V” shaped brace.
   
   

   

Angle:

Balmer Fab’s Tacoma rock sliders are offered with an angle between 0* and 25*. An angle of 0*-10* is the best option to function as a step routinely as it will be a fairly level surface. Sometimes you have to stop in deep mud or puddles and get out of your 4x4. Sliders, set to a 0*-10*angle, can let you shimmy along your rig or provide a jumping-off point for getting to solid ground.

Protecting your rig does not have to mean giving up a lot of ground clearance. As the angle goes up, the more the slider will tuck up to the side of the vehicle and protect the upper portion of the rocker panel and the lower portion of the door. If you frequently off-road and travel down tighter trails then a higher angle slider, such as 15*-25*, might be better suited for your needs.

Commonly, a compromise is made between these two approaches and an angle of 10*-15* is selected.

Fill plates:

If you plan to use your sliders as a step, our checkered fill plates provide a larger and safer surface for your feet.

*Pictured on a Nissan Xterra*