What's a "ShrockBar?"

ShrockBars are made by ShrockWorks and are what are known as "rock sliders" which in effect replace the stock step rails - which are notoriously weak and flimsy. While mostly geared towards the off-roading crowd, they make a worthy replacement even if you don't, offering additional side-impact protection for your truck. They retain the ability to step up onto them to access the roof and are designed to protect your truck's rocker panels from damage, off-road or on. As a bonus, they will send a clear message to careless folks in the parking lot, should they open their car door too wide... "THUNK."

One design consideration that sets the ShrockBars apart from the competition is the "ladder design." Whereas most competitors offer only a single 2"x2" square bar in their design, the ShrockBars build upon this, offering an additional outboard tube for greater rocker panel protection. Made from 2"x2"x3/16" square stock and 1.75"x.134 DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel) tubing (better than that used in most roll cages). Using a high-lift is easier on the round tubing because it can be jacked up from any angle - somewhat more difficult with square tubing alone. Contrary to popular belief, jacking up on the round tubing won't slip/slide anymore than square tubing would.

The bars each weigh about 49 pounds, 98 pounds together, 107 pounds shipped. That's an awful lot of steel... They feel solid and beefy when installed. The complete package includes the two bars, 12 hardened bolts and lock washers and are available in a black or grey powdercoat finish as well as raw steel - which you can paint yourself (and save $50). Many folks prefer to use POR-15 or Herculiner to powdercoating. If you wheel, you'll be trashing the finish anyway, requiring touch-ups or repaints.

Packaging

The bars are completely mummified within bubble and shrink wrap, and the flanges are further protected from damage by cardboard wrapping. It's obvious that a lot of care was taken in packaging these up for shipping, and they arrived with nary a scratch on them (soon to be rectified!). It'll take some time to unravel these things.

Bars removed from box	Almost there, first glimpse	Care in the packaging

Installation

Installation really couldn't be much simpler and probably one of the easiest mods you'll make on your truck - requiring nothing more than a few simple hand tools and about a half hour's time. While having a friend to help would be good, you can just as easily do it yourself by balancing the bars on your legs and using them to lift the bars into place while you put in the bolts.

If you have stock step rails, remove those first and set aside all eight bolts (four from each side) as replacements are shipped with the bars. Next, remove the vibration dampeners from each side of the frame rail, as they are superflous (basically "dead weight" as it were). They're attached with two, longer bolts than the step rails use - you'll want to keep two of these to be used in the "bonus holes" on the rear flanges of the ShrockBars. The stock bolts have a 14mm head, whereas the new bolts have a larger, 17mm head. The bars are each marked as to which side they belong on, but can be easily determined by placing the flange with the three bolt holes towards the rear on each respective side.

When installing the new bolts, it is not a bad idea to coat the threads with a good grease, to prevent corrosion and to make future removal much easier. If you've removed your stock step rails in the past, hopefully you've replaced the bolts, or you'll have a little thread cleaning to do in the bolt holes - an air gun and a shot of WD-40 should be all that's needed. In the picture below, you'll notice the threads on the stock bolt are a little worn from debris in the threads. For an extra touch, I utilized 3/8" stainless washers (between the flange and lock washer on the bolts) and lock washers for a cleaner look and rust prevention - optional. They will be getting shredded on the trail anyway, but I'm anal like that. First put in all the bolts loosely and let the bar find its level, then tighten up fully once all are in place.

The supplied bolts are hardened grade 8.8 bolts and come with lock washers. They have more thread than the stock bolts, which are a touch on the short side to begin with. While they do not go through the frame, if you're that worried about strength, you could drill through the frame and use longer bolts, or weld the flanges to the frame for the ultimate.

Supplied bag of bolts/washers	Comparison of new/stock bolts
The tools you'll need	Discard vibration dampeners
Bars marked for location	Bolted in w/hardened bolts

Finished Look and Details

Once the bars are installed, take a moment to step back and admire the beauty of these things and the care that was taken in designing them. They really are top notch, and it's almost a shame to go out and trash 'em on a trail. Protecting your rig never looked so good.

The attention to detail is what sets these bars apart from the rest, and is readily seen upon closer inspection. For example, the bar ends line up with the normal body lines. The end caps are smooth and clean, as are all of the welds. The curves of the outer DOM tubing matches the body curves as well.

End of bar in front	End of bar in rear
Detail of front bar end	Detail of rear bar end
View looking forward	View looking rearward

When viewed from the side, the clearance of the bars is obvious - they do not extend past the bottom of the frame, thereby taking nothing from your ground clearance. When seen from a distance and compared to the stock step rails, they do not make the truck look lower either, preserving even the look.

The design of the bars places them up high and tightly following the rocker panels. Notching the pinch seam may or may not be required - in my case they bolted right up without having to touch the seam at all. However, depending on the alignment of the body to the frame - one side might have different tolerances than the other. I ended up with anywhere from 1/8" to 3/8" of clearance between the support tubes and seam. Initial testing seems to indicate no contact between the two and in talking with ShrockWorks, should be okay. Taking bumps at high speed should be the only time you would experience contact or possibly during extreme flexing off-road. If contact is made, the pinch seam will most likely bend aside, which in effect fixes the problem... Should you choose to notch the seam, a Dremel tool with cutoff wheel or a 4" grinder or even an air nibbler should do the trick equally well. Just be sure to seal the notch and paint any bare metal to prevent leaks and rust.

Clearance of bars	A look underneath

One common complaint with the stock step rails is that when entering or exiting the truck, one often brushes a leg against them. A nuisance when out and about in better clothes, but even more so when they're covered in mud. The ShrockBars sit further in, though still stick out a little bit - not nearly as much as the stockers. This is mostly a matter of preference, but in this case it is good as the ShrockBars can be utilized as a step to gain access to the roof. Many sliders are too far inboard to be used as a step, relegating you to using the tires to step up onto - doable but a pain, especially with your hands full.

Protrusion from sides	Angle shot from side

Field Testing

Update (7/7/04): The ShrockBars have been used off-road in mud, rocks, sandy beaches and forests. As far as the rocks, they performed as they should have and kept some nasty rocks from the rocker panels on the passenger side. A few small gouges and a small dent resulted but the bars held their shape and protected the truck. They've just paid for themselves. Still looking good, too. They've also performed very well as step rails; great for accessing the roof rack, ski/snow and fishing accessories up top.

Conclusion

The ShrockBars are a fantastic design in both strength and looks and will fit equally well on an off-road rig, a show truck or your daily driver. The care in design and building is evident. You definitely won't be disappointed.

It should also be mentioned that Jim Shrake at ShrockWorks is a great guy to talk to and straightforward. Simply a pleasure to do business with and places customer service very highly. We at Xterra Firma appreciate his dedication and taking the time to make such fine products for our trucks.

The only "downside" is that there is no traction material applied to the top surface of the bars. Readily solved with some good marine grade traction tape found in your local marine supplier, however. If you use a bed liner on your bars then you're golden.