I recently bought a pair of Aries 4" oval nerf bars. I decided to tackle the install by myself. After about an two hours I had them installed.
Later today, I noticed the driver side bar was crooked. The front dips down about an inch. Its not terribly noticeable, but I can't stand it. I spent another couple hours today loosening and aligning the bar with no luck. I moved the bar as far up as I could and tightened it as much as I could but it won't go any higher. I officially quit. I'm going to take the truck to the local accessory shop and see if they can figure it out.
Does anybody have similar nerf bars or have this problem? The first pic is the passenger side which looks great. The second pic is the driver side. See if you can tell a difference. Maybe I'm just losing my mind.
I did try that. I even measured all of the brackets to see if any were an inch too short. I think I may try to put some washers under the bar where it attaches to the bracket and get some longer bolts. Maybe this will raise the bar a little.
This might seem like a stupid suggestion...but try parking the truck on a lighter surface and inspect it again. If you can, take pics again on the new surface. Park it somewhere where the surface carries on well behind the truck.
These pics show it sitting on a darker surface with the horizon lines from the pavement to gravel and greenery busying it up visually (if that makes sense).
I agree, the one bar looks crooked but it may look worse than it really is due to the background in these pics (I understand you're seeing the difference first hand).
Some other things to consider...try comparing the front left and right brackets. Is one bent or is one of them the wrong bracket? Are the brackets different front to rear? Did you possibly mount the rear bracket up front?
Good luck with it and let us know how you make out.
The only problem I have with my Aries side steps is that they mount a little too far forward and press on my OEM mudflaps a little. Other than that I love them.
I completely removed the front mounting brackets and measured them. They both are the exact same size. I laid the actual bar down to make sure it is even. Everything seemed ok. So I reinstalled the brackets and the bar. The driver side still looked a little crooked.
At this point, I am figuring the actual body mounts on the frame of the truck are maybe a little off. I've exhausted all options.:4-dontknow: So last week I decided to just stick some washers in between the mounting bracket and the bar itself to see if it raises it. Not 100% but it looks a lot better.