stock runnig boards

[Dana OBrien]

I have a 2003 st, and I have been noticing that some of the ealier years have pretty substantial running board supports, mine has these weak thin ones.my supports have a tendency to bend if I hit them on things. I was wondering if anybody knows if the wide type supports are available to buy, and if they are easily changed out with the skinmny supports.

 

[Dreman]

What are you hitting on them with? Wouldn't they last longer if you didn't hit them on things?

 

[Todd Z]

Dana,

Even the older ones will still bend if you hit things, they bolt to the body of the truck, not the frame...

Todd Z

 

[Andy Szkutak]

the older thick ones are terrible...or maybe its buffalos winters. but after 1 year there was rusted holes in them..they made the trac look so ugly, it took a cutting torch to take them off they were rsuted though and to the frame..that was another waste of 600 bucks...ill never buy any weston running boards again

 

[Dana OBrien]

well its not like Im trying to drive over smashed cars or anything, but when I go a little off road and may run one up on a mound of dirt or a rock or something, the brackets will bend. I can bent them back, usually by standing on them, bouncing a little, or with a hammer. I just thought the older ones looked a litle sturdier.



I havent really looked to close at the way they attach to the rail, but I wonder how easy it would be to have some new brackets made from some stronger steel that attached to the frame?



Any suggestions? ( and not " dont hit stuff")

 

[Conrad AlbertoJr]

sarcasm, i love it.

 

[Todd Z]

Dana, The best bet would be to have brackets made, BUT if you make them to rigid, you may actually cause more damage to them or the truck if something dose hit them again...It will be a catch 22...

Todd Z

 

[Dana OBrien]

arghh, todd , you are the voice of reason my friend.

you are probably right. maybe I should just get some bigger tires and increase my clearance so that I hit less stuff.



It just seems tobe a shame that I have a truck, and Im afraid to take it off the beaten path. I would just take the off, but they are nice when loading the gear basket on top.

 

[Todd Z]

May want to see if there is an aftermarket set the bolts to the frame rather than the body..

Could allways switch if you had to...

I think that will be cheaper than having brackets made , Unless you know some one..

Todd Z

 

[Dreman]

They'll all bend if you hit things with them. Drive over a rock and let the full weight of the truck rest on them and there you go! They're only designed for 300-350 lbs. The truck weighs quite a bit more.

 

[Johnny O]

Living in Buffalo will do that. I'm up there a lot, be through there tomorrow actually. I had step bars on my Ranger that funtioned well as sliders (dealer never noticed the left one was kinda angled up when I traded it ) They also did a great job of getting my pants dirty in the winter so I purposely got a ST without them. The ST bars just hang way too low, I think you're better off without them, hurt your ground clearance too much. I do off-road a little.

 

[Larry Phillips]

Have you thought about getting ATS running boards to give back that lost ground clearance without loosing stepping surfaces?