Four Wheeler – September 2019

42 SEPTEMBER 2019 FOUR WHEELER fourwheeler.com

UNIVERSAL SLIDERS

the original IFS and stock rearend setup with

a custom multilink suspension using parts

from Rock Krawler Suspension and Barnes

4WD. The 12-inch-travel coilovers are at-

tached to a high-pinion Dana 60 front from

a Ford Super Duty and GM 14-bolt out back.

Add in a hydraulic-assist steering system from

PSC Motorsports and some gracious fender

trimming for our 40-inch Nitto Mud Grap-

plers, and you have a better picture of how our

pickup is shaping up.

While we have plenty of custom work being

done by the capable hands at Low Range 4x4 in

Wilmington, North Carolina, anytime we can

save a little time and money, we’ll do it. This

F

ROM THE START, WE KNEW THAT ONE OF THE

challenges of building an ’01 Chevy S-10

Crew Cab was that the aftermarket was

pretty slim. This is especially true when

it comes to trail-oriented items such as winch

bumpers and rock sliders. Despite this fact, we

had a hunch that we could take advantage of

one of the most heavily supported pickups in

the aftermarket—the Toyota Tacoma. In fact,

the first-generation Tacoma shares a few similar

dimensions with the S-10, making it a good

resource all around.

For those of you late to our S-10 party, don’t

worry—we’ll catch you up. Starting with an

LS model Crew Cab S-10 4x4, we’ve replaced

is how we ended up with a set of weld-on rock

sliders from Trail-Gear. We needed some sort

of rocker and door protection since this midsize

pickup is being built to tackle serious trails.

Trail-Gear offers the sliders preassembled

(welded) for a great price ($279 on Amazon

at time of print), so we saved ourselves the fab

time and clicked “Add to Cart.”

Not wanting to sacrifice strength in the

name of a good deal, we were pleased to

find that Trail-Gear builds the sliders from

1.75-inch-diameter, 0.120-wall DOM tubing.

So, just how hard was it to convert a Tacoma

slider kit to work on an S-10? Well, read on to

find out.

Crew Cab rocker protection on the cheap

By Ali Mansour [email protected] Photos: Ali Mansour

Tech

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