Due to the fact that I have now dented the lower rocker panel of two separate Cherokee's I knew it was time to take action.Ê I needed rocker panel protection and I needed it yesterday.Ê As you can see from the photo my once straight rocker now has a fairly good size dent.Ê I was climbing over a log and I slipped-crushing the pannel uÊ Since I never put rocker-panel protection on my 1984 Cherokee it suffered some severe dents and scraps.Ê I wanted to protect my prized 1989 from suffering the same fate, but I was one week too late.

Immediate action was called for so I made a call to Glenn Wakefield's Summit Off-Road at 1-888-801-7271 after following the development of his new Rockrails product.Ê The strength of 1/4 inch "Hitch Steel" which is basically impossible to bend, was really the selling point in my mind from the beginning.Ê The fact that it also utilizes the body seam for added strength had me wanting to buy stock!Ê Simply ingenious!  The Picture shows an example of hitch steel, which is exactly what it is.Ê Take a look at your trailer hitch tongue an try and think of a way to bend it. I needed the toughest, and most compact rocker protection on the market and Summit Off-Road delivers.

The Rockrails arrived on my doorstep via UPS in enough bubble wrap to last me until the year 2005.Ê Weighing in at 60 pounds, I could tell these things were beefy right from the start.Ê After taking about 10 minutes to unwrap the Rockrails-it was like Christmas morning-I carefully checked to be sure all the hardware and instructions were included.Ê The one thing I find disappointing with some mail order products is not receiving all the goods-not the case with Summit Off-Road!Ê Every nut, bolt, washer and instruction package was accounted for much to my delight.

Ê STEP 1: I read through the two and half pages of very well written instructions in order to understand the general idea of how these works of art were going to be commissioned into hardcore duty.Ê The design of these pieces is extremely original and well thought-out.Ê My hats off to Glenn for super research and development.

SUPPLIES: The tools you'll want to have available are a power drill with 1/4" and 5/16" drill bits, 7/16" and 9/16" wrenches, two small C-clamps or vice grips, center punch or large nail for marking drill points and a good buddy or two to help you hold the Rockrails while you drill and wrench.Ê One person can install these but it will take you longer and its a lot more fun to modify your Jeep with friends.

The Complete Rockrail kit includes: Two Rockrails, 8 self-threading bolts, 10 hex bolts 1/4" x 2.5", two sections of banding tape (zip tied to its respective Rock Rail).Ê The banding tape is a 3/4" steel tape which is used to identically line up the five holes to be drilled on the XJ body seem.Ê There is a specific right and left hand piece so be sure and not mix them up.

STEP 2: The second order of the day was realizing that the two rock rails are different and correspond to the driver and passenger side specifically.Ê One end of both rockrails is noticeably longer than the other end.Ê The longer end points toward the rear of the XJ on both the passenger and drivers side.Ê Once I figured this out I laid each Rock Rail in front of its corresponding side.Ê If you want, use some towels or cardboard under the Rockrails to prevent pre-mature scrapes from driveway demons.

STEP 3: Here's where your friends come in.Ê It's a good idea to test fit the Rockrails before you drill by simply holding the rail up against the Cherokee.Ê The mounting bar with the five holes drilled in it, mounts to the outside of the body seam underneath the XJ.Ê The Rockrail should fit nice and snug against the underside of the body.Ê Front to back, the Rockrail should be centered with just a little bit of "play" to either end before touching the front or rear fender flare.Ê After test fitting it should be quite apparent how these big guns mount up to your beloved XJ. After the Rockrail is centered use a pencil to mark the front and rear of body seam bar as it rest against the XJ body seam.Ê Front to rear centering is all that matters at this point, not up to down yet.Ê Now your friends can rest as they lower the massive Rockrail back down to the floor.

STEP 4: Now you'll want to take the band tape that was zip-tied to the Rockrail and clamp it to the body seam of the XJ making sure to line it up with your front to rear centering pencil marks.Ê The band tape needs to be at exactly the same elevation all the way down the body seam.Ê Clamp the band tape roughly 3/32" from hitting the top of the body seam.Ê This was the hardest part because you are working with such a small amount of metal.Ê 3/32" is hard to measure since the lower door beam gets in the way so just "eye" the line up of the band tape and make sure it is close to 3/32" from the top of the body seam the entire length of the band tape.ÊÊÊ With the band tape clamped or "viced" to the body seam use your center-punch to mark all five holes of the band tape. I left the band tape on the body seam as I drilled the 5, 1/4" holes but you can just remove the band tape before drilling if you'd like.

STEP 5: Insert the five 1/4" hex bolts through the backside of the body seam. With all five threads pointing towards the outside of the XJ, hold the Rockrail up into place. Align the bolts through the five mounting holes on the body seam bar of the Rockrail.Ê Once you get the bolts through, instal the lock washer and nut on all five bolts but don't tighten them down yet.Ê Having the nuts on the five hex nuts will prevent the Rockrail from falling on you while you drill the frame rail pads.Ê With the Rockrail mounted up loosely to the body seam, drill the four 5/16" frame rail holes through the the rectangular frame mounting pads.Ê

STEP 6: It's best to drill the holes with the Rockrail mounted to insure the holes line up with the Rockrail. I made the mistake of pulling the rockrail off before drilling.Ê You'll notice it is difficult to get a straight shot at drilling these holes due to the over hanging Cherokee Uni-body.Ê Two of the holes I drilled into the frame were just a hair off center which required a lot of pry bar work to line up the holes.Ê The self-threading bolts (two per mounting pad) secure the rectangular frame mounting pads in place, but tighten the five smaller hex bolts along the body seam first.Ê Afterwards you can go back and tighten up the four frame rail bolts.Ê Pay attention not to strip out the self-threading bolts-as I did on one bolt.Ê A good snug pull is all you need.Ê "Not a big manly heave-ho," said Glenn.

I stripped out one bolt and broke the head off another due to the fact that my frame rail holes weren't quite centered with each other so it took a lot of work to screw in the self-threading bolts.Ê I didn't want to put any more holes in the frame so I took the mounting of these Rockrails one step further and had my friend Chris Green link-arc weld the frame pads of the Rockrails to the XJ Frame.Ê I had two questionable bolts holding the pads on, so I wanted to be confident about the connection with the Rockrail mounting pads to the XJ frame.Ê

The second Rockrail bolted in perfectly since I had experience with the first one.Ê The self-threading bolt will work perfectly and securely when installed correctly.Ê If you do have the Rockrail pads welded, make sure to have a professional do it because the XJ frame is not very thick and an inexperienced welder could weld a little too hot and actually cut through the XJ frame-not recommended.Ê As a news flash the Cherokee frame isn't very thick in certain places.Ê Please use caution when welding.

SOME INSIGHT ON ROCK RAILS FROM SUMMIT OFF-ROAD OWNER GLENN WAKEFIELD:

"I wanted to explain a couple of principles of my Rails. First, the mounting. You may question why there are only two holes in each mounting plate. That is because the main mounting point is the body seam. I've heard all these stories from guys talking about their subframe cracking and didn't want to put any more holes in it than absolutely necessary. The frame rails only work as a counter-leverage point in the case of rocker impact. Also, the rockers don't go all the way to the wheel well. They stop just short of the moldings. This is because if I had to go over the moldings, I'd have to lower the rockers a good 5/8". Being a rockcrawler guy, I want the rocker tucked as high as possible. You'll notice my rocker hug the body a lot more closely than any other rocker out there for this reason."

CONCLUSION: I am very impressed with these Rock Rails.Ê I took a trip up to Montana, which you'll read about soon, to field test Summit Off-Roads Rock Rails.Ê I was confident that with 9 mounting points per Rockrail structural integrity was at an extreme level.Ê The photo shows exactly how the Rock Rail protects the rocker panel of the XJ. Without these installed its obvious I would have sustained extreme damage.Ê Look at the size of that rock!Ê I had quite a lot my Cherokee's GVW weight pressing against the rock and the Rock Rail truly acted as a buffer zone.Ê One dent was all it took for me to realize I could not be without this protection.Ê Rockrails sell for $185 plus shipping which is a great deal on an excellent product.Ê Install a set before you end up like me with a huge dent under the door which could have totally been prevented.

Visit Summit Off-Road's at: Summit Off-Road

Owner:
Glenn Wakefield
gwbuild@allwest.net
Summit Off-Road
Park City, UT 84068
888-801-7271

By - Randy J. Harris