Looks like a good idea @nashvegas

I was having a look a mine after unboxing and it looks like there is a decent coating of some sort on the sliders. Slightly textured. Not sure if it's paint or powdercoat. Probably just paint but I'm wondering if it alone will provide the provided galvanic insulation.

I guess a coating on the points of contact is not a big job either way as it's a relatively small surface area by the looks of it.

 

has there been any further long-term issues noticed since this thread started?

I just ordered several items from Lucky 8 that, after reading this thread, I’m thinking about canceling the order..Lol. Rock slider, diff guard, a-arm suspension guards - all steel on aluminum. Never even thought about this corrosion issue, nor is it mentioned at all in the installation videos.

I just wanted a little bit of “insurance” for the occasional off-road events…but not sure if the long-term corrosion issue is worth it.

 

I know this might be a long shot, but is there any way of running an electrical current through the chassis to prevent galvanic corrosion? Or would that be far too dangerous...

 

Hey @longtrip68 - a couple of thoughts for you. None of which will actually answer your question..

First, I have no firsthand visual confirmation of any of this happening in the 3-4 years since I posted this.

If I were you: I would not worry about diff guard, or A-Arm suspension guards. I’ve seen those parts in action (on trails, in Moab, on friend’s vehicle) -- these are replaceable parts and there is not really a chance of corrosion of the frame of the car from them. I’d go full speed ahead installing the guard pieces there as I wouldn’t worry about A-arms or diffs corroding. The concern is really parts of the car that can’t be replaced -- ie aluminum casted parts or sheet aluminum integral to the body. PS - those rear suspension arm guards are effective. I do not have them on mine, and although I’ve never been hung up / stuck on the arm there, I have several deep gouges on those arms. My mate has the guards, and they are great. (unrelated: I *have* gotten stuck on the lower front skinny suspension arm piece inboard of each front wheel)

Sliders - well, where metal contacts metal on the sills I still think there’s a good chance - over time - of coating abrasion and ultimately corrosion. Again - Over time. So someone that buys a Defender in 10 years that had sliders from new might see what I’m worried about. I do think about this alot - I have several old cars and very simple decisions the prior owners made resulted in degradation/etc that could easily have been avoided.

One change for me from my original post- I installed sliders not from Voyager, but from Tuffant. One of the reasons was Voyager really screwed the pooch on shipping to me, and refunded my payment after some noise-- but it is worth mentioning the other reason was how the Tuffants mount. It’s plastic spacers through which bolts pass, up against the aluminum frame of the car. No real risk of corrosion of dissimilar metals rubbing together trapped in a wet mucky environment. Note: I see no “fatal flaw” in the way L8 or Voyager sliders mount more traditionally, and I wouldn’t recommend against them at all -- but I think it’s a very real possibility to see aluminum problems under hte surfaces where metal has rubbed for years over time. Most won’t care or know.

Another story: I had to change the left rear adaptive shock on my Defender. The way the shock mounts, there is a green synthetic material that looks not unlike a paper gasket, between the shock upper mount and the aluminum frame of the car at that point. That is to prevent exactly the issue I was talking about in this thread over time that has happened between steel subframes and aluminum RR bodies (similar situation, movement, coating failure, muck / wetness, corrosion). Here’s a pic of that gasket btw. It’s green in the bag. This potential for corrosion is ** Exactly ** why JLR puts this there. I never investigated it but I bet this material is available to buy by the sheet and one could cut it to fit slider mounting areas. Note: You can’t just shove a rubber bit in there or something else... the isolator material can’t retain water, that will make the problem worse.


A good test would be to remove the sliders from a heavily offroaded L663 at the 5 year mark and see what is going on. At some point we’ll see that and the photos will tell the story. However, I don’t know of anyone doing this yet. This board in 2030 probably will feature that sort of thing.

 

@nashvegas Thank you for the detailed thoughts and observations; they are helpful. Yeah, at this point I have "slowed my roll" a bit and have decided that before adding rock sliders, I want to think about it further. Other than 1 or 2 local LR events around where I live (eg Rovers at Wintergreen, etc). I am not planning on any hard core off roading - so I need to think about the infrequent benefits of steel sliders vs the long-term cons.

Also, interesting note on the TuffAnt sliders. I will look at them harder, especially since I really prefer the way they look anyhow. They are just hard to come by at the moment, and suffer from import tariffs apparently.

Love this forum and all the knowledge therein

 

Are you local in the VA area? You should swing by the shop and i can help with some insight. Also, some of the benefits of using aluminum armor including the dissimilar metals. I will be at Wintergreen also!

 

And the TuffAnt sliders are made of aluminum. As is their underbody armor. Still surprisingly heavy when you lift them to bolt them in.

 

@sarek I live in very south central PA. I’ll be sure to say hello at the RAW. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.