By James Hasler
After watching an infamous fellow named Clayton Henry trash (yet again) his pre-dented rocker panels in an old Bronco without even flinching, Andrew knew he wanted some more protection so that his "semi-hardcore" status would be upped to "hardcore...don't try this at home, kids..."
In order to accomplish this, he needed to bulletproof his TJ's rocker panels so he too could scrape his rocker panels all day long without shedding a tear. So, he bought some Off Your Rocker rocker panels. These are great as they add incredible strength to your rocker panels WITHOUT decreasing your ground clearance. They are essentially a sheet of diamond plated steel you bolt to your rocker panels.
Notice how they roll under the rockers as well...you can easily lift your Jeep up by the rocker panels now and show off your Hi-Lift jack...
Now, let me warn you, that by the frequency of Andrew's swearing, these things are a PAIN to install...especially if you want to do it right...and Andrew always does.
The first step that he did, was to rubberize the entire backside of both panels. He used Plasti Dip to do this. This makes for a nice soft surface that won't chaff the paint and allow rust to eat away at the sheet metal.
Next up, you have to figure out where to drill the holes. There are places in the body which are double walled and require some tricks to actually get bolts in there. In this case, Andrew decided to pre-drill the lower holes approximately 8" apart since the lower holes do not have a problem getting a nut behind them. Andrew chose to duct-tape the places where he was going to drill in order to eliminate scratching...hmmm...trash your rocker panels over rocks but try to eliminate scratches???
Next up, remove the fender flares for that Willy's look...
Andrew thought it would be a good idea to wash and wax behind the fender flares since they don't get much TLC otherwise...
Next, dump as much black silicone as you can on the backside of the panels and lift them into place. Andrew used his Hi-Lift but a friend works even better. From here, you can bolt the panel to the body using the lower holes. Don't forget to put some silicone into the holes as well.
Next, go ahead and drill the upper holes, but pay attention to where they are going...no need to trash your wiring harness if you don't have to...
Go ahead and put the remaining bolts in.
The last step is to trim your fenders so that they remain flush against the body. The trimming is visible in the picture below...all that's left is to bolt the fenders into place and silicone up any holes created by the trimming process.
Here are the results after Andrew painted the bolts black to match the panels...they look pretty cool and should be tough enough to handle anything you're willing to throw at them!
There are probably some tricks and pointers that I have left out, so feel free to e-mail Andrew if you have any questions...