Ford’s New Feature Will Give Offroaders More Protection Than Ever

Ford is continually looking for ways to enhance the capability of its off-roaders, and a new patent discovered by CarBuzz and filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office demonstrates this. The Blue Oval has submitted designs for deployable rock sliders with cushioning pads underneath. We’ve seen deployable rock sliders before, with aftermarket outfits like Rock Slide Engineering creating rocker panels with neatly integrated deployable sliders. What makes Ford’s design slightly different is that its patent discusses cushioned sliders that would be usable in both the stowed and deployed positions, widening the scope of their practicality. Let’s take a closer look to see how it works.

Two-Fold Application

In the stowed position, the rock sliders would behave as normal, protecting the rocker panels from damage in collisions with rocks and other off-road obstacles and maximizing available ground clearance. In this position, the protective rails would protrude just below the lower edge of the chassis, remaining out of the way of the turbulent air from the front wheels and thereby increasing aerodynamic efficiency, albeit by a very small degree. But when exiting or entering the car, the sliders could automatically deploy to enable easier ingress and egress. They could also be deployed while in motion. In this state, ground clearance is reduced slightly, but there’s even less risk of damage to the rocker panels within which the sliders retract.

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To achieve this plurality of states, a worm gear would be connected to an electric motor, although other types of motors are also potentially suitable. Underneath the metal rock sliders, non-metal shock absorption pads (made of rubber, plastic, resin, or another similar material) would provide a slightly higher margin for error before the sliders themselves are damaged. These pads would be easy to replace, allowing one to refresh their vehicle and remove all evidence of hardcore off-roading at a reasonable cost.

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How has nobody thought of this yet?

Is It Viable For Production?

There’s no doubt that this innovation would add complexity and weight to whichever vehicle it finds a home on (the patent depicts a Ford Bronco, but any off-roader would benefit), and not every customer would have a use for this. So we doubt that these deployable rock sliders will be integrated into new vehicles from the point of manufacture. If this design is approved, it’s far more likely that it will be sold as an additional accessory through Ford Performance Parts. Still, we can’t see any obvious drawbacks. The patent was first filed in November 2022 and has just been published by the USPTO on May 30, 2024, so if the design is earmarked for production, it probably won’t be long before it’s rolled out to your local dealer.