LUVTruck.com

I finally got a picture of the rocker panel guards I built for my 4x4 (now that it is for sale) I figure I should at least post a shot of it in here too.



They were once a set of running boards in a former life, but they had sat around the farm doing nothing for too long. With a lot of cutting with the sawzall, coaxing with a hydralic press, and a little punishment on the anvil with the BFH I managed to bend them to follow the profile from under the door down to the bottom lip of the rocker panel. The running board material was tough to work, but should take a lot of abuse. If I were to buy everything I think I would go for looks and opt for stainless diamond plate, but these are probably a bit tougher. The aluminium looks good polished up, but it doesn't have quite that stainless 'check your hair' mirror finish.

Heres another shot of the door sill where they lip over some:



So, opinions?

Not to Shabby! Looks like alot of work!

I think it looks damn good. It doesn't really stand out as much on the white truck, but if the truck was black or something, thats where it would really look good! Excellent addition for any 4x4

that looks good! Makes me want a 4x4 Luv...

My wife would have my boys in a jar if I bought a 4th truck though

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Resident lurker

They are a little more subtle than I was hoping against the white paint, but they shine nice when the sun hits them.

As for the work, I think it took a half day of fabrication and then a little longer the next day polishing them up and attaching them to the truck. If I had a sheet metal brake I could bent them up on it would probably only take maybe an hour a side and there would have been less adjustments to make fitting them up.

I don't think I've slapped anything up against them yet, but given their resistance to the big hammer it would take a lot of force to make more than a scuff mark on them. I was also at one point going to put together a stainless kit to go over the length of the body covering the panel from that last exposed slight bend on down. I think that would make the diamond plate pop a bit more. Maybe on the next 4x4 I get built up I'll pick up the stainless tape and do it.

If I ever end up with access to more metal working/bending tools I might be persuaded to knock out a few of these. Without the right tools though, the cost would be steep, even at a penny per hammer swing. I'd be interested to know what you all might expect a pair to cost though.