Is receiving slightly bent rock sliders common?

The mounting plates with the holes that go on the frame. Is it normal to receive them completely flat and perfect, or are receiving slightly bent mounting plates common (and no big deal)? I have gotten conflicting reactions from people who work with metal…”F that, you bought something brand new and they’re bent, send them back!” And “That’s nothing, they will just straighten out as you tighten up all the bolts.” And “Just lay them on something flat, then hammer them straight. Then get them powder coated and installed.” And then disagreement about hammering them straight, because you’ll ding them all up.

Well which reaction is correct? IDK anything about working with metal, mainly what I want to know is - if I get them powder coated, and THEN let the bolt tightening process totally straighten the plates onto the frame, will that slight bending cause any of the powder coating to flake off (leaving a rust prone spot underneath)? And, can using the frame to straighten this thick metal hurt the frame at all lol? Also, I got my underbody oil coated for rust protection, so should I also douse the plates and hardware with Fluid Film, or is powder coated metal already rust resistant?

(just a thread out of curiosity. The customer service was good and they set me up with a body shop place close to me to have them straightened out. I’m just curious what would have been the best way to proceed if I had been ignored).

 

What brand of rock sliders are these? How thick are the mounting plates?

3/16 steel that was cut, bent and welded up properly in a jig should not just warp and bend that much (assuming the welder knew his stuff and didn’t work the same spot too long without a cooldown)

 

Does it interfere with mounting them? If so, then yes, I’d be pissed.

I understand shipping 100lbs of steel can cause damage, but that’s not your problem. Package better.

 

I just received and installed OEM rock rails. The mounts were perfect. In fact, I can't remember getting any brand of 4x4 product that was this "perfect"

 

Hefty Fabrications.

 

They only offer them as raw metal, I still need to get them powder coated. So I haven’t even tried to line them up yet since I can’t even install them yet until after powder coating them. But this is pretty annoying, I can’t even get agreement from people…I don’t know if this is no big deal, or if I should be furious. I paid a lot of money for these, it’s pretty frustrating to receive something that was so expensive…bent, the place that “Repaired” them left much to be desired, they are better, but still certainly not a perfectly straight product.

So my question remains, is this normal? Receiving slightly bent rock sliders? For those who have ordered them, did yours arrive straight as an arrow?

 

To answer your question directly, no it is not normal. Mine from RSG came in great condition.

 

Not normal. Be furious!

 

Pictures always help. Especially pictures back to the vendor who has a reputation to think of.

 

On Hefty’s site, it says you have 10 business days to enforce your warranty. I’d suggest you contact them directly to preserve your warranty.

If it’s not totally tweaked maybe they can pay a local shop to fix it.

But do contact them to protect yourself.

PS - if I read it right, damage in shipping is not covered. So again you should give them a call.

 

Ok thanks. That was my default reaction. I’ll just inconvenience myself further then and try to find someone who can actually make them completely straight this time (still bent after the first “Fix”), and then pay for the repair myself. Burnt again, story of my life.

 

No.

I wouldn't consider that normal.

These things are strong enough to support the weight of your vehicle. Bending them should take an incredible amount of force. I would not accept them.

+1.

@Chozen , can you post a picture, maybe with the camera aimed at the mounting plates so we can see how bad it is.

 

No worries man, it happens. When it does happen you need to contact the seller with pics. to get the best response. Off road shops can usually fix this kind of thing, but you have to pay out of pocket for that. Don’t let it get you down man, it is just a learning experience.

 

I highly recommend against powder coating sliders. It just makes it harder to touch up when you ding them up. And, rust has a way of developing at a chip and working its way under the powdercoat and spreading. A good primer and rattle can paint job seems like the best way to go, from what I've observed.

Just my $.02.

 

It’s easier to see with little 5 seconds vids where I slowly move past it, but it won’t let me upload a vid. Here are pics of two of the corners which I easily noticed…I don’t have much of a keen eye, a dude at work looked at them and said they’re all slightly off.

 

Do you know what type of contraption/method they would use to make them all straight? I was gonna bring it to someone for the installation anyway, so maybe I could just find an off road shop that can do all three…get them straight as an arrow, prime and paint them like Thatbassguy suggests, then slap them on! Just curious how exactly they would straighten them. Hefty was saying to just lay them on a flat surface and hammer them flat. But then people at work said you could really ding them up badly that way. And that using a big vice could cause teeth marks. IDK.