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JPFreek - Index

JPFreek - magazine - Index

Gear Review
SUMMER 2008
48
More metal for your Jeep:
Rokmen Corner Guards for TJs
By Mark Stephens, Contributing Editor
With these 3/16” thick steel guards, you’ll be adding about 40
pounds to the back end. For 40 whoppers, I need to know what
I’m getting in exchange: What would be the benefits of heavy
corner guards?
Naturally, protection from tried-n-true rock rash is at the top of
the mental list. But come to think of it, and in all my years of
driving off-highway, I’ve never mangled the rear corners. Once, I
did back into a tree but that actually cost me a tail lamp, not
sheet metal. Nevertheless, I suppose you can get into a situation
where you, perhaps, turn too soon and plant the corner into a
boulder or tree. Maybe slide into either of those on a cambered
section of trail. I concede; good reason.
For reducing sheet metal fatigue for those who have a roof rack
that attaches to the Jeep body, nothing will beat steel corner
guards. The Jeep’s tub is thin, and with a roof rack your potential
load is approximately 30” higher than the rack mounting point;
leverage of the load eventually wears away at the rack’s
mounting holes and the sheet metal may tear. With a set of
corner guards, though, you’ll be a step ahead of the fatigue.
Otherwise, rear corner guards really spruce up the look of your
TJ. Ah, there . . . finally admitted it.
Impression of the quality and craftsmanship
For Jeep body protection, you won’t have much to complain
about with the cold rolled steel, 3/16” thickness, laser cut and
CNC formed plates. To avoid heavy metallurgist vocabulary, I’ll
sum up as best I can. When a metal is cold worked, microscopic
defects get introduced throughout the work piece. And as those
tiny defects accumulate,
it becomes increasingly
difficult for “slip” (the
movement of defects) to
occur. The result is a
hardening of the metal.
For our consumer level
purposes, we can just say cold rolled steel is stronger and has a
cleaner, smoother finished surface than hot rolled steel. That’s
the bottom line. As such, it’s brilliant material for Jeep armor.
Additionally, the laser cut edges allow the guards to mount
under the flares for a clean finished appearance. The tail lamp,
hinge, and fuel filler slots are all laser cut as well, which hints that
the guards have been designed and crafted by bona fide
professionals. There’s simply nothing to criticize regarding the
craftsmanship.
Installation
Most corner guards on the market will come with one of two
ways of fastening to the Jeep tub: rivets or through-bolts.
Rokmen provides stainless steel hex bolts – I’m sure you know
the benefits of stainless steel, right? The downside to this kind
of fastening is the amount of time you’ll spend drilling. Yet,
Rokmen strategically placed each bolt hole:
To be easy to attach the nut from the inside and
To use as few bolts as possible, yet as many as necessary
The whole process turns out to be faster than you realize. It is
necessary to remove everything off the rear of the Jeep that’s
attached to the body: tail lamps, tail gate, license plate holder,
fuel filler, and flares. The guards then attach to the sheet metal,
and these items go back in place on top – the finished look is
stellar.
Also, the guards in this review arrived unfinished (raw steel), so
I had them powder coated for a mere $36 locally. Prior to that, I
had to use a grinder with a wire wheel to ease the crisp laser cut
edges so the powder coating would adhere.
Rating: 5 out of 5
The guards by Rokmen are a market leader for this type of protection
and are priced fairly considering the materials and manufacturing
process.
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