So there you are. You’ve just ordered a set of rock sliders, and you’re looking for quotes to get them welded onto your rig. You’re shopping around all the local shops, and they’re getting quotes back to you. You end up on Amazon…and you see a welder for $150. But wait…that’s what one shop wanted to charge you to weld the sliders on. Heck, another shop quoted $300! Why would you spend that when you can buy a welder and learn and then you have a welder for anything else?
This mentality, while well-meaning, leads to a huge issue that many fabrication shops face. The value of a quality fabrication shop isn’t necessarily all in the tooling, but the expertise, skill, and knowledge of HOW to use that welder that makes the value of their quote worth it. The problem is, shops are fighting in this race to the bottom just to earn any business at all. Sure, you could buy that $150 welder and do it yourself, but let’s take a quick look at what that will entail…
1) Time. Time isn’t free to a fabrication shop that has overhead, employees to pay, bills to cover, etc etc. Your own time might be free, but how much of it will you spend learning how to weld before you’re ready to do it on your own rig? How long will it take for you to prepare the sliders and your truck for the actual welding? Consider that your time DOES have value.
2) Equipment/consumables. That welder doesn’t just magically produce molten material. You need consumables! They vary depending on type of welder, but in general you need the base material whether its stick rods or welding wire. If you got a MIG welder, you then need welding gas…and that’s not free! In fact, even finding a welding gas tank to use will cost you upwards of $300, and then you have to fill it! If you went with a flux-core welder, they work - but you have to deal with the mess of slag. Electricity also isn’t free!
3) Experience. If you’re already a skilled welder, this doesn’t apply to you, but enthusiastic first-timers should be aware that welding isn’t just point-and-shoot like some think it is. There’s a certain degree of risk involved. What if you didn’t correctly fuse the frame and slider material? By the time you find out, hopefully it’s not too late if you tried to use the slider as a hi-lift jack point! A skilled welder at your fabrication shop of choice is going to have the experience necessary to weld the sliders on perfectly the first time, making sure they last.
Outside of all that, it can be said that the more inexpensive welders do not perform at all to the same standards as welders from the more popular companies. They are inexpensive for a reason, cutting corners and using cheaper components where necessary to sell a product that hooks you in with its attractive low price. You look at the reviews and they’re all great…but they’re not being reviewed by fabrication shops who are using higher end machines, they’re being reviewed by hobbyist welders who haven’t seen that the grass is really greener on the other side of the welding industry!
So, next time you get a quote for welding your rock sliders on, or any other fabrication shop, consider that you are not just paying for a service, you are paying for the expertise and skill, the overhead, consumables, and a job well done the FIRST time.
Written by Caleb Keller