My son who is 11 went to get into my truck 2009 ram, equipped with the NFABs with built in lower step bars, anyways they were installed using the factory mounting holes, the hole step broke off and now I have 6 ripped holes in my underbody of my truck........ I am blaming nfab&dodge, who the there right mind would put mounts in sheet metal that thin, now I am SOL unless I have some body work to those holes and still wouldnt trust mounting anything there.
Just to clarify it was the threaded inserts that ripped out, all 6, the size was roughly 1/2" before, now with all that sheet metal ripped im atleast 3/4"
as GT stated, i also weigh more than i should, 270 lbs to be exact, i have had the steps on the truck now since last fall and they have withstood all my weight i also use these to stand on to help reach the roof so thats my full weight... dont think the steps are junk, maybe installed incorrectly? either way sorry for the problems though!
The odd thing is this is the passenger side, only my boys 11 and 10 and my wife use that side, so they come no wheres near the weight limit, im a big boy and the driver side is fine. Like I said also they were installed using the factory pop rivets, which to me is crazy. They were both installed by me using loctite etc and torqued. IMO these steps should of had a kick bar that went back to the frame or something for added strength. Will get pics later today of the damage, it makes me sick
Really, the blame actually imo goes more to nfab then it does to Dodge, I have never scene dodges OEM bars and how exactly they mount up, but who ever designed these nfabs had to look at the pinch weld area and how thin the metal is and say to themselves, that this isnt the ideal way to mount these securely. The shop that I had install these, a very large aftermarket install acc shop(largest in area) told me at the time of install that they have had a couple guys come back that the steps had ripped off. At that time I was like screw it lets install them, must of been abusing them etc and I have always taking great care on drivers side not to put much weight on them etc(use grab handle). This is the passenger side, and the heaviest person that has used that side is my wife, and she weighs 130lbs
OMG, my heart sank when I saw your thread. I already ordered my RBP nerf bars (just fancy n-fabs) and I really need to step to hold up. Is there anybody that can post photos of their install? Maybe compare 337s with another member?
OMG, my heart sank when I saw your thread. I already ordered my RBP nerf bars (just fancy n-fabs) and I really need to step to hold up. Is there anybody that can post photos of their install? Maybe compare 337s with another member?
They are great looking bars and mine is one of few that I have heard about this happening to, I would roll with it if I was you and the reason why is because every bar that I have scene kind of uses the same mounting technique, so imo you are rolling the dice no matter what style you use. I know I read on here someplace that Dodge has a heavy duty mounting system for there OEM bars that you can get for the factory bars, so even Dodge is probably having issues to a degree
I am also curious, NFAB offers two different mounting systems, the no drill and the drill one. My shop used the no drill because my truck already had the factory mounting spots, pop rivet threads. I am wondering if one mounting system is better than the other and the few like me that had issues is the no drill install?
I have written a email and sent it to NFAB, I am curious what they will say, I am also thinking about going by dealer and let them look at it and see what they say, more than likey they are going to say im SOL, it was a aftermarket product that done the damage.
They mount to part of my frame (not sheet metal), I have had no issues at all. Just the normal rust spots due to the salt/rocks up here in northern ontario winters.
I apologize man, my bars do not mount into the frame. They mount on my body, but I did have to drill a 1" hole, install clips, than install bolts.
I hoped on her today up and down, she doesn't budge. They have been on for almost 8 months I say.
Here are a few pictures anyways, again sorry for saying they mount to the frame, they do mount onto the body where the metals still pretty damn thick.
TY Bordin for pics. I know NFAB offered 2 different install options the drill as you did and the no drill as I used. The no drill was simply installing in existing factory bolt hole locations, which after studying it and thinking about it imo is not as strong as the clip method. In the no drill all the weight is on those pop rivets only vs the clips is @ 2" of metal supporting the weight. No response from NFAB yet, the only part that makes me sick is the ripped metal, I guess I could hammer it back down and have body shop weld it, until something along those lines happen im not trusting installing anymore bars
LMAO ok how exctly are you going to install washers on the inside of the sheet metal??? That is the only way washers would of helped, spreading the load out over a larger area, installing them on the outside of the sheet metal does nothing on downward force applied.
Any word back from N-Fab about this? I was originally considering so Go Rhino Dominator II step bars for my truck, but Go Rhino only rates weight capacity at 230 lbs. and the similar N-Fab product is rated at 465 lbs!
i have gorhino dominator 2 sidesteps.
to me they look better than nfab. and their mounting system is much better if you ask me.
theres a metal triangular piece that goes in through your existing hole to give more strenght. i cant find a picture of it. but basically this way all 3 of your bolts on the mount are connected so the only way it will rip off is if it pulls off like a big chunk of your body surounding those preexisting holes.
Not sure where you want to place them blame here as 95% of your aftermarket steps mount the exact same way the N-Fabs do including the factory steps. I would blame dodge before I blamed N-Fab as the factory mounting location provided by Dodge is where they mount to, however as rare as an occasion as this is makes me almost wonder if something was installed wrong, or maybe an issue with that side when the truck was manufactured.
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