ShrockWorks Samurai Rocker Guards “Shrockbars”

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ShrockBars with Art Lilley

For the last year I have been deeply involved in building my first Samurai from the ground up. While the decision to purchase some of the components was difficult, I knew exactly what I wanted when it came time to put armor on my Samurai. SHROCKWORKS!

ShrockWorks is new to the Suzuki scene and produces some of the best and beefiest armor available for the Samurai. ShrockWorks is located in Houston, TX and is owned and operated by Jim Shrake. They produce Suzuki Samurai products such as front winch bumpers, rear bumpers with swing away tire carriers, gas tank skids, and rocker panel protection known as Shrockbars.

The next addition to the Samurai was a set of Shrockbars rock sliders. Shrockbars normally come with 1.5 inch tube on the sides for side impact protection. When I ordered mine I had ShrockWorks custom make my set with larger 1.75 tubing attached at a 20 deg. angle. This option only added $20 to the cost. The first thing I noticed when they arrived was how BEEFY these things were. Together they weigh 77lbs! Now that is some serious protection! Next I noticed the attention to detail and super clean welding. These things are purely a work of art!

So now I was ready to do the prep work for painting. I used some 320 grit sand paper to remove some of the coating that normally comes on bare metal, wiped them off with acetone to remove any oil and applied self-etching primer. This does an outstanding job of adhering to bare metal and sealing it up for better protection from the elements. You only need to let it dry for one hour before you apply the paint so this is an added bonus as well.

Next came the painting. I decided to use Hammered Black to finish off the rock sliders since I had already painted my roll cage and front and rear bumpers with this color. The hammered paint has a neat characteristic; it makes the metal appear to have bubbles and lines in it. This paint is perfect for the 4-wheel community because when it is touched up you cant even see where the scratch was due to the texture.

One of the added benefits of the Shrockbars is that the side tube serves two purposes. First and most importantly it protects from side impacts and second it serves as a step for those that have a vertically challenged passenger. I also decided to apply some anti-skid tape to mine so I wouldnt bust my backside while climbing in or out when they got wet or muddy. Finally came the mounting. It is recommended that you have someone to help you install these due to their weight but it can be done by yourself with the use of a floor jack. These sliders are meant to mount in place of the stock plastic rocker guards that the Samurai comes with from the factory. Since mine were already removed in order to paint the vehicle I didnt have to worry about it. After you remove the plastic rocker guard and the metal bracket that it mounts to you will need to use a hammer to bend the body seam under the rocker panel up till it is flush with the bottom of the body. I recommend using a rubber mallet so you dont bang up the rest of your Samurais body. Once this is complete you are ready to lift the sliders into place and mark the frame to drill the holes for mounting. You will notice that the Shrockbars are designed to bolt to the frame and that they are cutout perfectly to match the frames contour. After you mark the holes you should remove the Shrockbars and carefully drill the six mounting holes needed for each side. When the holes are complete you can use your buddy or your jack to put them back into place and bolt them up to the frame. Youre not done yet though. These sliders also mount to the body of the Samurai in two places. Just mark and drill these two holes, insert the bolts, tighten them all up and youre done! Thats it! All of this took about five hours, four hours to paint them and an hour to install them. Now when I take my samurai out on the trail I know that my rocker panels are protected by the best sliders I have found. Thanks to ShrockWorks for a well thought out and well built product! Source: