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$139 Side Steps: INSTALL and REVIEW

10K views 53 replies 20 participants last post by  mattkm 
#1 ·
So I purchased some side steps for my 2011 Quadcab. Bought them on Ebay from TruckGearDirect. They call them Hunter 4x4 steps out of Texas but China was on the box upon arrival..?..? So $139 shipped in 3 business days. Alluminum and “powder coated” which I think is more of a thick black low gloss paint….but looks good. Plastic end caps to keep out dirt and custom fit brackets so no drilling was required. They come in polished too for a few bucks more. Overall I give the installation a 8/10, quality a 7/10, price-to-value a 7/10. FORGIVE THE MESSY DIRT AND GARAGE:i_rolleyes:

What the Ad picture looks like (as of 10-31-2011):


What you receive:


What you need to install:


What is inside boxes:


Directions
(They say to use 4 brackets per side, but I only found 3 areas and 3 seems enough):


Remove tape in 3 spots per side:



Insert welded bracket:


Install Brackets:




Install (2) bolts per bracket:


Tighten all bolts and then give them a good stepping on and then re-tighten.
 
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#9 ·
Looks great! What a bargain. Could you do me a favor and measure the distance from the bottom of the mud spats to the bottom of the steps? I'm going back and forth on selling my gorhino's as they hang really low on my truck and these are probably what I'd get if I sold them. I'd like to know what kind of clearance I'd gain. If you can help that'd be great, thanks.
 
#12 ·
I'm a bit late to the party but thank you for posting these. I have been eyeing these steps for some time. I was curious how it mounted to the truck. I am not so sure that I like the body only mounting.
I have these same steps on my truck, and absolutely love them. I had some go rhino 2 steps previously, and liked them, but these ones are better. Honestly, they are probably TWICE as sturdy(the other ones would flex a little when stepped on, these barely move even with two people standing on them), these are about 6x lighter(alum vs tube steel), I think they look better(on a street truck anyway), and they are less than half the price.

I actually even got them cheaper because they didn't charge me shipping for some reason. I emailed them to let them know and they said "thanks, don't worry about it". Their website was cheesy/cheap, but the customer service and product are good. When I got mine they were damaged(scratched), I called or emailed(don't remember which) and quickly got a response. They arranged for pickup(ups or fedex....don't remember) and sent me a new set. Didn't cost me a dime and took less than a week IIRC. Got the new set and have had them on the truck a while now. Don't remember how long, at least 6 months, maybe a year...?

I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again, best steps I've seen IMO. And just about all steps are body mount FYI, these are the sturdiest I've seen with 4 solid brackets.

Sorry I was going to post pics of them on my truck but seems photobucket is down.

If there was anything to complain about it's the quality of the powder coating. I was convince when I got them it would chip/scratch easily and I'd be repowder coating them shortly after. To my surprise, there's not a scratch on them after all this time. I inspected close where I always put my foot and they are not wearing through.
 
#16 ·
You can slide them anywhere you want, there is a groove in the underneath of the steps that the hardware sits in, so it is "fully" adjustable forward and back. Once you get it in position you clamp it down. I can take some pics if you want.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I installed the steps last weekend and so far have mixed feelings on them.

I don't think they stick out far enough from the body for my taste. I love the look of them hugging the rocker panels, but it is difficult to get much of my size 12 shoe on them to get in/out without hitting the rocker panel. Wearing sneakers, I have a habit of nailing my ankle into the truck which is not fun. If I pay attention I can get the tips of my toes on the boards when I jump in. This is not a problem for my mom who loved the steps. Her 5'4" self was glad for the assistance getting in when heading out for dinner.

As for the install, under the truck for a quad cab, there are 3 factory mounting spots for the OEM boards. These have the oval hole at the top with two small screw holes below. These are the spots that HooserHemi used when installing his in the original post. There are several more oval spots but they do not have the screw holes underneath. These additional spots are to be used/chosen for the 4th bracket they provide.

I decided to mount the fourth bracket in the center under the drivers side to stretch out the stress on the mounts. I installed the brackets like HooserHemi with the metal rod polking down into the screw hole for the factory locations and through a drain hole on the 4th location.

In mounting the passenger side, I realized that I had been installing them incorrectly, or the hard way. The guide wire was not to stick out through the screw hole, but rather was supposed to be bent out of the oval to align the bracket. I installed the entire passenger side this way and have photos below. Doing it this way lessened some of the language and busted knuckles that plagued the drivers side install.

Overall quality is not great. The hangers could be a bit thicker and the powder coating could have been better, but these are the trade offs for the great price (Ebay $102 +$39 shipping- cheaper than their website.)

Thanks again HooserHemi for the post and great pictures. Also thanks to snrusnak for answering some questions and providing the push for the steps.

Shot of the passenger side rear 3 locations. The two brackets in the center are next to each other to spread the weight.


Note how the wire is bent back out of the oval.


Better shot of the 4 bracket locations


Finished up
 
#19 ·
They look great on your truck! Sorry if I pushed you to a purchase that you aren't happy with, was just trying to be helpful.

I had the same thoughts on the quality of the powder coating at first but to my surprise it has held up fine. I washed my truck a few weekends ago and there's not a scratch on the boards. I even have wide offset wheels that push my tires out from the body and shoot a lot of rocks and such up at the boards and they have held up fine. I'd say give the powder coat a chance, the quality ended up surprising me.

As for the brackets, believe it or not they are probably 50% sturdier than the go rhinos I had before. That sounds strange but it's true from my experience.
 
#21 ·
Looks great and nice job with the photo ans write up

u should get some points for that
 
#22 ·
They look nice. I've been thinking about getting tube steps but am worried they might stick out too far. Your steps seem like just the right distance for function and good looks.
 
#24 ·
No worries Sean.

I am very happy with the purchase. I wish they had a bit more reach outside the truck, but i will get used to it. I am thinking about spraying it with bed liner paint later on if the powder coat bugs me.

Thanks again for all your help.
I just saw this post. Funny I never noticed it but after you mentioned it I can see why you complain about them being too close to the truck. I actually prefer this though, I think it looks better, and is still easy to step on. Maybe that's just because I came from stirrups though...?

I planned on having them powder coated if the factory coating didn't hold up. It wouldn't be very expensive to get that done.
 
#26 ·
Just saw this thread as I'm looking for side steps for my new ride... they don't look too bad, but I'm not so sure on the body mount. The ones my dealer has all mount to the frame- seems much tougher, and I'm a pretty big fella.

Checking these guys' website, though, they got some nice bull bars for $90. My only problem: for some reason, they will only ship those to the lower 48 states... us Canucks are SOL!
 
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