Rocker panel protection ?s

[RankRam]

I have pics in my Readers Rigs gallery, the running boards I installed are working flawlessly. I have zero rock chips and I do go off road. The boards are made by Westin and are very solid.



The only thing I don't like is they look just like the the boards you see on Stooper Duty Frods.



www.westinautomotive.com

 

[abranz]

rocker panel

I had Dave Smith Motors line the "bottom brake" with "turbo liner" black in color two years ago and it still shines, looks good, and protects well.

 

[rbattelle]

Abranz,



What's "turbo liner"?

 

[R.M.THOMPSON]

I'm using a set of Onki 80" running boards w/lights they have the same pattern as our sill plates and bumper step areas. Although the material has a lot of rubber content. So much one would think it is all rubber. They were installed as tight to the cab/rockers as possible ,so I only lost about a 1/2" of clearance at most. They are rated at 450 lbs and have been tested. (two men at the same time) Had a close call when I backed over a 18" log trying to get to my trailer, noticed left side of truck raising up, looked down and said " aaw @#$%", pulled forward and found no damage or bends. Not trying to sell you on any brand , although you may consider this extruded aluminum type due to the high clearance feature and it's inherent strength. sorry about the spelling. Will let everyone know what a suitable lighting pick-up is ,i'm about to test the cargo lamp feed due to my beliefs that it shuts off immediately and won't chatter my aux. relay that was supplied with the boards. interior lighting has a "soft off" feature and is regulated on the ground/common side thru the controller. Mark Thompson

 

[krs]

I've got a driveway that's about 1/4 mile of gravel. I put Nitto 295/75's on my '01 that had both front and rear OEM mudflaps and Luverne cab length nerf bars already. The nittos pick up and throw rocks and chipped the paint at will despite the Lavernes and flaps. So I put the clear 3m film below the door and put a stop to the chipping. I got the stuff at JCW 6" wide



On another note: I've bought a '98 that had those OEM fiberglass flap/running board combination pieces the length of the truck. I've taken them off and found that they did carve neat lines through the paint to bare metal. I assume they were on the truck when new. Also, a previous owner had installed the stainless (looks chrome) panels below the beltline. Aside being pure hell to remove, about two thirds of the paint under those rocker panels had turned a sick milky white color (truck is dark green) that cannot be corrected without repainting. that truck is in primer below the beltline waiting for a warm enough day to respray it.



If my amatuer base/clear paint job looks bad my next step will be to do as Steve did. I've talked to an excellent Speedliner guy close by who will gaurantee against fading forever.

 

[XcumminsX]

anone know of a speedliner in illinois. I already have my bed done and i asked about this and rhino said they cant stop the fade... Id be very interested in this if they can somehow keep the color perfect. I do live in chicago tho... So much salt its sick...

 

[krs]

There are a few Speedliner dealers listed for the Chicago area in the website dealer locater. I can't say whether it's up to date but here it is:http://speedliner.com/home.html

 

[Northerner]

My 04 drives on rocks and gravel every day when we don't have snow. For my 2 cents I like the full length boards with flaps. They are tough and Rock chips are no longer a problem. check out my photos.

 

[RankRam]

Hey Northerner thats a very nice truck!



I went with boards and don't regret it one bit.

 

[Udaloy]

Originally posted by Steve St. Laurent

I have a black Permatech liner in my bed that's been in there for 4 years now and looks brand new in addition to the rockers. Also, Permatech is setup to color match better than the other companies. JMHO

Steve,



Your truck looks very good. I don't know if your truck was two-tone to begin with, but that's exactly what it looks like. I always wondered what it would look like to put the liner on the bottom of the rockers. I didn't want to take the plunge and end up with a nightmare. I was going down the highway when a white Dodge went by with black bedliner sprayed on the lowers, and it looked good. Now I have to think about using grey instead of black on my dark garnet.