Rock sliders. Is it worth it to keep OEM rubi rails?

wnorton

Member
Good day folks,

slowly working on my build. ‘22 JLU XR. Was looking at adding rock sliders while keeping the OEM Rubi rails. To that end the ACE Engineering rails. A year ago they cost $580. Today they cost $1,000. Honestly in my opinion that’s more that they are worth. In that price range I think there are better options.

I'm not a heavy rock crawler, so the body mount options would be sufficient. I don’t think I necessarily need frame mounted rails.

So, with this said, what are your favorite rails. what did you install and would you buy the same product again?

thank you in advance.
 

NAZ Jeeper

Member
I have the Rubicon 10X rails on mine. The rails held up on the Rubicon trail just fine. I used them to pivot around rocks several times with no bending of the rails and no body damage.
 

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OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
I have the Rubicon 10X rails on mine. The rails held up on the Rubicon trail just fine. I used them to pivot around rocks several times with no bending of the rails and no body damage.
99% of rails out there don’t bend. The tub moves and cause the damage when the hit is hard enough. Most of the time for a slow pivot, you won’t do damage, as you experienced.
 
Light to medium use and at minimum you’ll have worn paint along the rail. One good hit and that POS rail will push up and dent your rocker panel. Look at Eddie’s Jet Li video where he put the LOD sliders on. I had the same problem, dented and worn paint all along the rail. They are trash.

Edit: when I say worn paint, I’m speaking about body paint on the rocker panel.
 
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I have the Rubicon 10X rails on mine. The rails held up on the Rubicon trail just fine. I used them to pivot around rocks several times with no bending of the rails and no body damage.
I bought my JKU with similar if not the exact same rails as these already on it. Definitely worked fine until they didn’t. Slipped down into a notch and landed on the rail. Bent the tube up into the mount and also bent the front panel out. Was able to get about half of it out, but it’s still pretty bent. The picture below is after pulling some out.
Not that big of a deal, but definitely convinced me to only spend time and $ on frame mounted rails moving forward.
So to answer your question, OP, these are not my favorite rails and I would not buy / recommend them.
I personally think the new EVO frame mounted ones for the JLU look pretty sick. 07F9EAD5-10F4-4150-B54E-D32854779337.jpeg
 

ScottofKSU

Caught the Bug
I initially had Rubi Rails on my 2012 JK 2-Door, but horror stories about body damage from rock pivoting caused me to explore other options... I was torn between RockHard products - they are a Nebraska company and I live in Nebraska; so I wanted to support local and found their products to be great from other purchases - and Genright. I ended up going with the Genright "boat side" sliders in steel that set me back around $1,000. They have a JLU version but it only looks like they are selling aluminum versions at the moment and they are around $1,800 and provide a level of protection that may surpass your use model.

 

NAZ Jeeper

Member
Here is another picture of the rail in action. I guess I’ve just been lucky because I‘ve always been a when in doubt gas it driver. I was going to replace these before my Rubicon trip even though these have a lot of wheeling on them. I just didn‘t have the time so I ran what I had, fortunately they worked out.

If I damage these its another upgrade opportunity!
 

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wnorton

Member
Here is another picture of the rail in action. I guess I’ve just been lucky because I‘ve always been a when in doubt gas it driver. I was going to replace these before my Rubicon trip even though these have a lot of wheeling on them. I just didn‘t have the time so I ran what I had, fortunately they worked out.

If I damage these its another upgrade opportunity!
Help an ignorant person. I can’t find these rails. Your original message indicated rubicon 10x. Google finds nothing. What am I missing?
 

NAZ Jeeper

Member
I’ll attach a picture when I get home and see if I can get a part number. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy these since there are better aftermarket options available. However you may be able to find some takeoffs around that may serve you well.

These came on the Rubicon X, Hard Rock, and the Anniversary Jeep models.
 

WJCO

Meme King
Do u think adding a rear-end rock rail cover will be a good idea? Saw it here: https://www.mopargenuineparts.com/sku/82216460aa.html and thinking if it would be useful
Welcome to Wayalife. This thread is for a Wrangler, and your link is for a Gladiator. On top of that, the product you posted is a trim cover to protect your rock rails from scratches? What's the point of having rock rails if you don't hit them on rocks? Scratches are inevitable.
 
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