Looking for the best side step for your truck, Jeep or SUV? I test running boards for a living, and here's my ultimate ranking with hands-on reviews.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. RealTruck - AMP Research PowerStep Plug-N-Play
Highlight: Anodized military-grade finish and powered running boards.
Helpful review: The powered running boards can make a difference in getting family members or aging family members in and out of the vehicle. With the powered lift ability, the running boards will retract against the body when the truck or SUV shuts the doors. This will remove some of the noise of driving a truck. The raised running boards will remove noise and look great, especially for the more modern, sleek body style.
My Navigator has powered steps from the factory; at first, I did not like them. However, I learned to work with the steps rather than against them, and now I don't want to own an SUV or truck without them. Powered steps, for the few folks that may not know, do not lift people into the truck like a handicap assist; they pull up to the truck's body to disappear. I have had folks tell me the powered running boards will keep the mud and junk out of the running boards by moving out of the way; all I have ever seen is powered steps drop a bunch of mud when the driver door is opened.
From my time driving trucks through mud, I know one thing for sure: mud will be there if it is a place on a truck. Unless it is inside the cab, and the passengers never get out of the truck and get back in, it is the only place mud will not be after driving down a back road.
Installation of a retrofit set of AMP PowerSteps requires more patience than other tools. Do not get in a hurry, and if needed, plan to install one side this weekend and the other side next week. If I were new to working on cars and trucks, this would take a few more hours. More time would be needed to figure out what the instructions are saying. The installation time for us was about eight hours. That was five hours on the first side, then about three hours on the other. The first side took longer because we were figuring it out, figuring out the motor mounting, and making that work.
Besides having extra patience, one thing to plan for this installment is to have a patient plus one to help you. Also, plan to put this on, then remove it a few times until you figure it out. We split the time into two-hour episodes. After two hours, we needed to take a beer break and sit upright instead of lying flat on our backs under the truck.
These are designed to open when the interior light comes on. The kit has a rocker switch to lower and raise the steps manually. I guess it would be great if I drove this old truck into a deep mud hole, but I did not want to lower the step into the mud. Having a step like this lower into mud, dirt, or rocks when the truck is sunk and not in a happy place will probably break them. As I said, my Navigator has these installed by the factory. I am not too excited to put the Navigator in the deep mud; my old truck changed my mindset, and sometimes, I forget that I have to pay to fix stuff and do dumb things. When it comes to wiring the steps, if I had less experience and time to do this part, I would have been better off having a dealer do the work.
A FEW WORDS FROM RICHARD CRAIG:
Thread-lock everything. Do not thread lock the motor mount screws, just the mounting bolts that hook the running boards to the truck. Spray something on the bolts and nuts to protect them from road salt and water, making them rust solid. Use YouTube before starting to see where everyone else ran into malfunctions. After watching YouTube videos, please read the instructions and follow them one step at a time. Do not let Gary's ego move ahead, thinking he knows better. There are many places in the instructions that AMP needs to hire a competent writer to make better installation instructions.
Before tightening anything, lower the steps and walk around on the running boards. Bounce up and down, get all the wiggle movements out, and look for the rub marks from the steps against the truck. Pay close attention to the pinch welds. Ensure space between the end caps and the pinch welds; try to get ¾ of an inch. Remember, the truck will move a lot, and the running boards will move as well. If the end caps rub or touch on the pinch weld areas, everything will go wrong; things will hang up, possibly burning up the motors and blowing fuses.
Get it from Amazon now: $1,799.99 & FREE Returns
2. OEDRO - Two-Stair All-Steel Bolt-On Side Steps
Highlight: Quick and simple installation.
Helpful review: This set of running boards uses factory holes, so installation is easy and clean. They look better than the original steps and function massively better. I have a friend who is into the overlanding craze and spends lots of time in Moab trying to test his luck against gravity. When the Overlanding bug hits him, this set of sideboards will let him use the steps to get into the vehicle, climb onto the center step, and reach things from his roof rack—genius!
These steps are the heaviest I have helped install. Each step weighs in at 75 pounds. That is how solid this sideboard is built. How the tubing is made will allow it to survive hits and do rock sliding. The running boards are not designed to be rock sliders, but that is where they sit on the side of the Jeep, so they better be made to be solid and ready to repel off-roading encounters. The steps are six inches wide, giving a good and solid footing to mount into the vehicle. With this much width, if this vehicle goes off-road in serious areas, ensure it is lifted off the steps, dragging on road ruts and rocks.
PACKAGING:
OEDRO packed this like they were sending heavy metal things through the mail, showing their commitment to quality and customer service. The steps were wrapped in Styrofoam and tightly with heavy plastic to keep everything where it belonged. The hardware is put in a sealed bag, not just a Ziplock-style bag but a heat-sealed bag; you need a knife to open it. The hardware will not spill all over the place or fall out of the box if damaged severely during shipping. The only way that hardware will fall out is if there is a 4-inch chop in the box side and lots of shaking involved.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Clear pictures. Easy to understand and complete step-by-step instructions. I think they had a few guys who had put these on Jeeps in the past to make the instruction sheets. Not some folks who don't know what a Jeep is, who write the instructions from a quickly written list of stuff from an engineer on how to bolt them on the Jeep.
INSTALLATION:
The engineering and production teams that built these sideboards deserve applause. Every bolt hole lined up like it was factory-made and engineered simultaneously as the Jeep. The nuts they send to install are fine and will do the job, but we chose to use the dreaded Nylock Nuts and put up with the attitudes they are born with. We decided to replace these pieces of hardware to help fight off the vibrations that we know will be the bane of this accessory. We also used larger fender bolts along the pinch weld areas to provide more backing plate-style support so the steps don't pull out of the mounts someday.
APPEARANCE:
The shape of the steps matches the contour of the body. What I mean is that these steps are not just straight pipes and steps; they actually mold to the side of the Jeep. They look like factory options, not added on later, and better. The other non-advertised thing I see with this step setup is the protection from rocks the paint job will enjoy. The tires will not throw up gravel and have it ding or scratch the sides of the vehicle with six inches of lateral protection.
FUNCTION:
The steps are made to sit lower than the rocker panels; they would not be steps if they did not. This step gives a non-slip six-inch-wide area that my giant boots fit on, and the running boards hold all of me, and that is saying something. The company rates the running board to support 550 pounds—that's me and another person at the same time, now that is impressive.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
I have never seen a better choice for a Jeep upgrade than this set of running boards. The function is fantastic. Installation is easy; the instructions could not be better. The quality of fit and finish is top-notch. To say the least, I recommend this kit to anyone considering installing steps on a Jeep.
DAVID HOOK'S TWO CENTS:
The manufacturer needs to include better carriage bolts. Some of the reviews talked about the carriage bolts not fitting and the square being too small, and others did not mention it. Unluckily, we had a set of carriage bolts that were too small. The manufacturer probably engineered the holes for standard, and the manufacturer included metric heads, so they are a bit loose. Check the fit of the carriage bolts BEFORE starting the installation. If your kit has too small heads, get the right ones and put the side steps on.
Get it from Amazon now: $399.99 & FREE Returns
3. Tyger Auto - Rider 3.5" Nerf Bars
Highlight: Five-year warranty.
Helpful review: Have you ever wondered where the "install guide video" folks take a truck to get it that clean for the video? The installation video from the manufacturer makes this installation look more fun than work. The truth is the only tricky part is getting the mud cleaned off and not filling my eyes and ears full of mud from the pressure washer under the truck. Luckily, these were going on a friend's Dodge, so after I hooked up the washer and demonstrated how to make it work, I handed him the wand and let his eyes and ears get filled with mud, which is OK with me. About a half hour after the wash job, the water had stopped dripping from the frame, and we got to work.
During the drip-dry portion of the day's events, we unpacked the boxes and laid out all the parts and pieces. I double-check the hardware every time I do anything like this. After a slightly unpleasant surprise with some carriage bolts on another project, I make sure all of that also fits as it should. All of the parts were there and the right size, so it was time to read the instructions and watch some YouTube videos to make sure we avoided all the hang-ups that may come along with this installation.
This kit comes with instructions and packaging for the passenger and driver side. They separate the parts into different colored baggies for each side. The installation instructions can make your head swim if you are not careful. When helping out my buddy, I lay out the parts for a total headcount, then put all the passenger-side stuff back in the box. All of the driver-side stuff in the truck bed was laid out according to the instructions on how they were mounted. I figured it out with some work and negotiating with the sidestep gods. I am pretty sure the installation guide was made by someone in a hurry who knew how to install the steps without instructions, used his cell phone as the camera, and went with a 'hip shot" approach to pictures.
Once the instructions were clear or clear enough, we began the installation. As we figured out, the first bracket required a bit of colorful language. Once that was done and we better understood what needed to happen, the remainder of the brackets went on like butter. If possible, watch other folks install this sidestep on YouTube or somewhere else and see how they decoded it. You will save about half an hour on the first bracket.
My buddy loved how the steps looked on his Dodge when they were done. They look small as if he used a leftover pipe that was not big enough. But what do I know? I have a giant Ford F350 long-bed four-door truck with a Ranch Hand deer smasher on the front; nothing about my world is sleek. He liked them, and that is all that mattered. They hold up to my excess weight when using them to get in the truck, and it seems like they belong there for aesthetics.
The pipe's finish has a bedliner-like texture, and the step part is heavy-duty plastic. On the day we put them on, the plastic step worked great. I don't know how that will work in the winter when it's covered in snow, but in about two months, we will find out.
Get it from Amazon now: $199.00 & FREE Returns
4. YitaMotor - OEM Style 6" Running Boards
Highlight: 450 lbs per side support.
Helpful review: These running boards are six inches wide and made of a rectangular stainless-steel tube. The foot pads are made of high-impact plastic with an aggressive finish, so they are not slippery when wet.
The mounts use factory mounting holes from the manufacturer. The ad only shows them available for Chevy trucks—newer Chevy trucks, to be more precise. They have come in all the lengths of cabs for years, so that is good. I had a GMC truck once upon a time, and I put some four-door steps on it as a regular cab, so I had side steps to get in the back of the bed to get the stuff that was always out of reach. That was a great idea to me, but I was ridiculed by many of my buddies for the wrong idea. A few years later, truck makers started building in a step in the bed, right where the side boards went on my original idea. Great minds think alike; others crawled over the tailgate to get a jug of windshield washer fluid as I stepped on my runners and did not have to work for it.
The brackets that bolt to the truck and hold the steps are well-made. The brackets will only work for a truck this year without modifying the truck. I may have some friends who want to make truck mods just to see if these will fit, but it will take more thinking about that project and using math to calculate the price of these versus the wallet thickness.
The running boards are very attractive and give any new-body Chevy truck a polished look. They may even work on SUVs in that same category, but I did not check. The ends are capped with the same strong plastics that make the footsteps and have some nice styling to keep with the nice touches.
A FEW WORDS FROM JOHN RIGGER:
I asked some off-roading and overlanding folks if they had any practical experience with this set of running boards. Lo and behold, John had the exact pair on his truck. John tells me the running board fits perfectly and has stayed tight and in good shape for almost three years. The rust-proof coatings they use and the stainless-steel build materials have definitely not been wasted. When John and his neighbor put the running boards on his truck, they claimed it only took them three hours, and some of that time was spent in the mandatory beer-drinking mode. The instructions were clear, and the pictures were well taken, quickly showing what had to happen and when to do it.
The mounting bracket lined up precisely with the factory mounting holes, so what more could a Chevy owner want? John lives in the four corners area and does not pound his truck like he has money to spare, but he also does not treat it like it's made for shows and cruising for chicks; this is a regular-use truck. The fit and finish look the same in the pictures he sent me, probably after some time with a hose washing off the red clay dust. Still, they look like the pictures in the ad, so there are no complaints about durability. They look great on the truck and make it look like a higher-priced machine than it really is; it's incredible how one of two add-ons can improve the presentation of a machine.
Get it from Amazon now: $199.00 & FREE Returns
5. COMNOVA - 6" Step Bars
Highlight: 500 lbs. of support.
Helpful review: This is the only sidestep we have looked at for this review with the ability to move the step forward and backward after the mounts are installed. This will make the final adjustment and fitting to the body perfect. All the running boards I have looked at fit and look like they belong there, but this maker has allowed the steps to fit precisely to the body. The Comniva comes in jet black and looks mean and capable when it sits on the truck. The footsteps are made of hard plastic and have a great-looking design that no longer enhances the appeal.
These are the only running boards made from carbon steel. I found these as a requirement for trucks that will flip rocks from the dirt roads on their way into town for groceries, sheetrock, and more beer—maybe some whiskey if I am doing it right.
The running boards are six inches wide and hang on four mounts per side, not three like all the rest. This gives them the ability to support up to five hundred pounds. These may be one of the few running boards that can handle banging into trail obstacles or hard and heavy things falling onto them. I have seen some of these running boards, usually the chrome tubes, that look tough but are bent and dented with a harsh word.
A WORD FROM MY DODGE TRUCK BUDDY, DONALD MAYNARD:
When putting some running boards on my buddy's truck, he tells me to let everyone who drives a Dodge truck and wants to install some of these remember that Ram applies an undercoating to prevent damage and rusting from using a car like it was made for, not spending time in the driveway and looking shiny in the parking lot. When installing running boards, he was having a very tough time, thinking the bolts were wrong or something else, and he was about to give it all up. The installation was a snap after he scrapped or ground off the undercoating. Just remember to reapply some undercoating to the area. The undercoating can be bought in a rattle can from the auto parts store and sprayed back on.
After all the work, I went over to check on the project. He and I both stood on the running boards and did the standard redneck check of jumping and bouncing around to see if we could exceed the 500 lbs. rating. I am happy to report that we did not break anything; we did not even move the running board at all. Between the two of us, we wholeheartedly approve of and recommend anyone looking to get a set of these should get them right away, get them on the truck, and enjoy the benefits.
Get it from Amazon now: $179.00 & FREE Returns