I went without rock sliders for a long time because I knew that they would reduce my ground clearance because they hang down a bit. The inch welds can certainly take a hit, but they are not designed for this. Additionally, the plastic trim on the lower part of the doors can be ripped off. This happened a few times and I was able to reattach them with the plastic clips, but eventually enough clips broke that I could not reattach them. At this point, I installed rivet nuts in the many holes. Then I installed bolts to completely close the holes. Finally, I applied black paint where the trim used to be.