Snow and rock sliders

We have a 2023 off road with predator steps. They collect a lot of snow, ice and slush in our northern winters. Plus I really do not like them in general, both the looks and the functionality/sturdiness seem lacking to me. I’m thinking about getting rock sliders, but concerned about them collecting snow and ice like the steps. Anyone have sliders in the north?

 

Yes my sliders gather snow and ice. A quick kick knocks it all off.

 

The Predator/N-Fab are the worst for snow and slush because of the hangie-downie steps. A flat slider with a tread is better, but even my Greenlane sliders get slush packed up under them. At least it's not on the top surface though.

 

I have top plates and wish I didn't. When it's zero degrees, you are not just kicking the slop off. Major pain in the ass to keep the sliders clean/ice free in winter. I wheel with a guy who actually cut his top plates off 'cause the sliders were rusting and the clusterf*ck to keep 'em ice free. They look nice with top plates, but if I did it again I'd not have them.

 

Coat the metal-on-metal contact areas with cosmoline at time of installation.
Avoid the top plates like others said.

Other than that, the sliders don't need special attention. At the end of each wheeling season before winter, I rattlecan touch up all the rock scars on the sliders and on the frame with rust converter and rust paint.

 

Get no top plate as others have said, then add a strip of 1" or 2" 3M stair tread grip that you can find at a big box store. They gather minimal snow and ice but still offer a step with grip - just make sure you put the strip slightly towards the inside of the tube so you aren't sanding the back of your leg if you get out without using them.

 

Same here. I don't have top plates, it's easy to kick off. Just watch your pant leg getting in and out.

 

That makes me feel much better about being too cheap to spring for the top plates, haha.

 

If I didn't have kids and a wife that use my sliders for steps, I wouldn't have got top plates. I would have also went with the ones that were angled up. I love the way sliders look without them.

 

I recently bought some used sliders with top plate. They're a couple years old and were used in my area and had a bit of rust on the underside of the top plate near where it's welded to the tubes. That's probably where salty slush accumulates and re-freezes. Wire brush and sandpaper cleaned it up pretty well. I followed with a few coats of POR 15 and will finish with Rustoleum. Before I install, I'll coat the affected areas with Woolwax. I'm not worried about the top side, which I can brush off at the end of the day. I figure the Woolwax should slow down degradation of the vulnerable parts.