Bought a new Jeep Wrangler recently and will probably do some mild 4 wheeling with it (not rock climbing, flipping it over again and again) and I want to get something to protect the rocker panels from impact damage.  Would nerf bars be sufficient or should I look specifically for some sort of rocker panel guard?

A the most popula and effective thing to do is install a set of rock sliders.

Basically heavy duty nerf bars

This might help:



Basically two ways to do it - bolt reinforcements directly to the sill (which it appears TZL has done - hell he may have fabbed a whole new tub tho)  and the tube type above.  ARB makes good stuff, but there's better choices for the money. Just offering as an example of utility of sliders vs crunch - thought that was a good photo.

One thing I like is integral jacking points in the slider - but given your use you may not need it. Plenty of Jeep guys can comment on specific brands.

Excellent and super-high quality sliders. Great company to do business with.

http://www.rockhard4x4parts.com/tj-sliders.html]

Generally, you don't want the 'nerf bar' style that bolts to the frame.  There are exceptions, but in general, they just aren't strong enough to take any blow that your body wouldn't take anyway, and because of the long 'arm' coming out from the frame, they tend to bend up and do more damage to the Jeep than if you had nothing.  (If you think about it, you'll hit that style on things that you would otherwise have 'missed', and when they bend, they bend up another 2-3" higher than they would have, hitting you that much harder...)

The Exceptions are good, but you have to do research, they're generally much stronger.

The other style bolts directly to the tub, and basically beefs up the tub itself.  You only lose the thickness of the rocker in clearance.  This is the style that Jeep used to use on the TJ Rubicons (though those rockers weren't very thick).  Because Jeep decided not to make the sides 'flat' on the new JK's, these are few and far between, but they're still the best way to go.

What year Jeep ? You need rock sliders not nerf bars. I have Jeeperman on mine but that company went belly up.

The above is what you want and will work fine for you...

Thanks for the info guys.  I'm going to look into some options.  I don't plan on going ballistic with off-roading, so I might not even go with the rock sliders, but it's good information to know in case I do.  I only knew about nerf bars until I asked this question.  

You still didn't tell us what year ?

First post I stated it was new...so it's a 2009 JK