Operation Rock-er and Roll

By Matt Adair
Contributing Editor
(From Issue 2, Volume 2)

Conventional wisdom among Jeep Cherokee folk states that rock rails, or some sort of rocker protection, is one of the first modifications anybody who intends to wheel their Jeep should do. Not only do they save the vulnerable rocker panel of the Cherokee, they protect the doors and side, and can aid in pivoting around obstacles.

 

Advertisement

Despite this, I had never bought any. I had never found a commercially available rock rail that I liked, and I saw them as all being too much of a compromise.  Yes they protect, but they also rob you of clearance and can get you hung up, as they are attached below the already low hanging rocker panel.

 

My omission of these popular body saving, but breakover angle robbing devices has lead to some damage. In the grand scheme of things, and as much as I go wheeling, I've not had that many problems, but it was bordering on ridiculous; like it was hard to open the doors.  Once I used a broken axle shaft to bash them back so I could close my door. Not an ideal situation, but I was still unwilling to compromise.

 

The result of having unprotected rocker panels	Rocker panel all the way cut out
Cutting out the old panel

The only solution that I had seen that appealed to me was to completely remove the existing factory rocker panel and replace it with something more durable, a set up that a couple of local Jeep guys have done before. I asked my good buddy, Jeep guru and offroad shop owner, to help me out in this process; enter John Mathews of Auburn Car Repair & Offroad. For reference, John’s Jeep is the big burley blue one in the snow run article in this issue.

 

The first task was to fabricate the rails themselves. We began with some 3x6 3/16th box steel sections, and cut them down and angled the ends to match the lines of the wheel wells with John's fancy new plasma cutter. John then welded on a pair of end caps, and ground them down to fit. 

 

The next step was to physically remove the mangled and twisted rocker panel, again accomplished with a plasma torch. This is all doable with less exotic tools, but it does take longer. We then mounted the rock rails in their new home and welded them into place along the edge of the door. This was relatively easy and nowhere as difficult as the bottom side would prove.

 

We’ve experimented with several techniques to attach the rails to the pinch seam, but found the best way to be simply to weld. You can also reinforce this by building supports that tie into the unibody rails, which eventually did as well.

 

The result looks like it came from the factory this way, yet is several orders of magnitude stronger than stock, and still offers superb protection from tree roots, rocks and even door dings.  It even stiffens up the rather weak structure of the Cherokee. Additionally, they can be made into air tanks as well. 

 

While some of this may seem advanced, the hardest part is the welding.  The result is worth it, though. Truly the best of all worlds in this important modification. Big thanks to John and Auburn Car Repair & Offroad for his help and expertise in this project.

Freek Garage

Countdown

JPF Gear