Westcott Designs = Trash!!!!!!

Some of the reply's in here are absolutely hilarious. I wonder what would happen if some of you accidently wandered off of the pavement and had to use a set of sliders or skid plates for what they are intended for??

 

So you ignored the 1 year powder coat warranty at the time of purchase?

 

Come again? The local company I spoke to felt that the sliders weren't properly prepped hence the rust already appearing. Folks, if I drove this thing every day I'd probably feel a lil different. It's kept clean, it's serviced, etc. Guess my expectations of customer service are on a different level,..... Got it 1 yr warranty....

 

I own the ladder and the roof rack from wescott, been over 3 yrs and I live in hot Texas, the ladder has a couple of spots but what's the big deal, all of these things will do this eventually. Touch it up and drink a cold one.

 

I do own several of their products and one of them being the DOM sliders with tig weld and top plates. 3 years later and you are complaining about rust spots living in NY. Is Westcott suppose to offer a lifetime warranty on their products???

Have you ever been to their shop and seen all the different stages of quality control each product goes through? Jeff is a very stand-up kind of business owner and always tries to make things right when a customer is not happy with his products. There is always two sides to every story and knowing Jeff and how he operates I put my trust in him 100%.

Maybe try a different company where they mass produce all their items and maybe you will get better service down the road. For me and thousands of other 4runners and Toyota owners we will stick with WD anyday of the year!

 

I live in NY as well. Rust is inevitable here, unless you under coat religiously. If you don't intend to use it for what it is made for. Just post it for sale. Get an aluminum slider and call it a day.

 

Do you live where there is salt put on the roads, or on gravel?

 

Unrelated to OP's post but your truck looks sweet with the rack delete and the roof black. I generally don't like aftermarket wheels, but those really tie the room together, too. I give you two snaps up in a circle!!!!

 

As someone who spent the better part of a week trying to properly prep a pair of tube steel sliders, one thing becomes pretty clear. It’s just as much work as fabricating the sliders.

Aftermarket companies making sliders have to decide if they’re making armor, or cosmetic accessories. For actual armor, it just doesn’t make much sense investing in the equipment and processes needed to ensure OE levels of corrosion resistance. You can only really do this at huge mass-production scale, otherwise the costs of proper prep would be prohibitive.

There are some companies that only sell them in raw steel, to avoid the disappointment, But most throw on some powder coat probably from customer demand. I would imagine they don’t sell very well unfinished.

But here’s the thing, I don’t think it’s possible to do perfect prep and powder coat. You can do pretty good on most things that don’t have to suffer gravel impacts (my warn bumper is still rust free), but pretty good isn’t enough for sliders if you live in the salt belt. If you get one tiny hole in the powder coat from road gravel on one spot where the adhesion is not perfect, it’s game over. Within a year or two, rust starts to separate the paint from the steel, allowing more water in, more rust, and on it will go underneath the powder coat.

My powder coated Caliraised sliders looked way worse at two years of age (rust unrelated to “sliding”). Local touchups by scraping bubbled coating with touch ups didn’t do much. By the third year they looked horrible. But once I started stripping them down, I realized they were actually 10 times worse than they looked. That’s because the gnarly, deep rust lives under the powder coat that hasn’t flaked off. Those are the areas where salty moisture is held to the metal and never dries out. I’m embarrassed to say how much time I spent stripping, removing rust till it was bright and shiny steel, then prepping it for new paint. It was enough time to know that it wasn’t worth the effort. Would have made more sense to buy unfinished sliders, prep those for paint, and paint them with a good primer and rustoleum spray paint. Thinner paint is much easier to maintain/touch up. It falls off easier when it rusts from gravel chips, which means the rust wont travel behind the paint.

The only thing that will actually reduce slider’s vulnerability to rust is to prevent gravel/road grit/rock salt impact. That means the front tires need large mud flaps. Much larger and longer than the factory ones.

 

I agree. Maybe even a z formation is in order.

 

I appreciate that you got the reference!

 

Powder coats are never really very good and the prep is ridiculously important. I'm revisiting looking for skids, and am leaning RSG do to what looks like good quality. But IDK. Victory 4x4 has a removable top plate which is awesome when they eventually rust or get damaged from use.

Just looked at Westcott and remembered this thread. Really doesn't look like bad rust yet, but concerning enough to spend extra on something better. Looks like its a very thin powder coat.

 

I'm going to quote myself like a weirdo.

BUT, I feel like the way most of us use our 4Runners, aluminum sliders are the answer. No rust, all the aesthetics, ding prevention, steps, and can take a hit if you do slide into something. I don't really see the reason to strap on 80+ pounds of potentially maintenance intensive metal when there is a better alternative for lighter duty use. Sure, can't use a farm jack, but farm jacks are dumb with again, better (safer) alternatives.

I also find it funny when I see a 4Runner with sliders but no armor anywhere else. It's like somebody thought sliders were cool without really understanding what they are used for.

 

....

I’ve used my sliders on trees, but don’t have any aftermarket armor yet. At this point sliders seemed better use of my money, than armor.

 

Check the ratio in this thread. Not many people agree with you.

 

With the miles you’ve got and years. That’s pretty much unacceptable. The car barely has one oil change on it. If that. That said, miles are sort of irrelevant if the car is outside, and years and weather is what plays a role in that case. Either way, terrible. I was gonna buy from them but their price and wait was a no-go for me.

 

I have Cali raised as well. I know exactly what you’re talking about as I stripped them down and was shocked how much rust was under the powder coating. Hit them with theee coats of rust oleum industrial enamel.

 

I’ll be the one to break it to the OP. That little rust is just what is visible. Guarantee there is more rust underneath the powder coating. How do I know? Just took mine off and stripped them down to metal and there was way more than what was visible. It sucks. I get it. But like you I live in the rust belt. I put three coats of industrial enamel. I’m hoping to get 3 years before I have to do it again. It’s not just their brand. I have Cali raised

 

Sliders prevent door dings, rocks flying off tires on gravel roads, and serve as a good step.

just got Westcott sliders a few months ago. I can see being a little tweaked as they are likely the most expensive on the market. Expectations are high…

 

I don't see the need to judge why anyone has sliders or not. They serve the purpose the person bought them for, even if it's not why someone else uses them.

 

I didn't mean to sound like I was hating. What I meant was that some people just don't need steel sliders, but marketing, etc. convinces people that "steel is real" and everything else is subpar.

Kind of along the same lines as the uni ball vs ball joint debate. Sometimes, given someone's uses, a uniball just isn't a good fit even if it is considered "better".

 

farm jacks are dumb until they save your bacon in the middle of nowhere and they are a last resort! Don’t like using them but in a pinch, they can deliver.
And if you do need one, these bolted on sliders are worth their weight in gold.
But to your point, I agree with you. Know how you are gonna use your rig before outfitting it w expensive aftermarket products.