Running Board Retrofit

[Matt42]

When I bought my 1996 CC 4x4, I figured I wouldn't need running boards. That was nine years ago, and shucks, that old truck seems higher off the ground every day.



So now I want to install running boards. I really, really, really dislike the cheap ones that use sheet metal screws into the rocker panel pinch weld, and also to the back of the front fender lip. They cause rust even here. I also don't like the step bars that are flattened out a little at the door. I slip on them. (I can't understand it. The truck is higher off the ground and my knees and ankles don't seem to work as well. Something strange is going on! :-laf )



What I want to do is install the current MoPar running boards that fit the 2004-style Quad Cab Ram. They bolt up above the rocker panel pinch weld using four brackets, and do not fasten to the fender at all.



Can the newer running boards be adapted to my 1996?



I can do quite a bit of fabrication if needed, but I just never got the hang of welding aluminum.



Thanks. Matt

 

[nickleinonen]

i am not 100% sure which type of running board you are talking about? i have some black aluminum mopar ones on mine, and while the board is aluminum, all the brackets are steel, and they all are bolted to the running boards [the 2or3 under the board ones bolt to sliding tee bolts in the board] so you won't need to weld any aluminum. you just might need to custom fab all the mounting brackets to fit the mopar boards, but that's about it.

 

[vssman]

I've got almost 10 years up here in snowy New England with salt covered roads on my Dee-Zee boards that are bolted to the pinch weld and fender with no rust at all. I painted the drilled holes and used clear silicone sealant around each hole & bolt.



Anyway if the new ones are straight (not tapered along the length), then fabricating brackets should be straight forward. I'd make brackets out of angle stock and bolt them to the boards with stainless carriage bolts. Thinking out loud - you'd probably need one bracket come from the top edge of the frame and another under the bottom of the frame to make a triangle bracket supporting the board.

 

[Matt42]

i am not 100% sure which type of running board you are talking about? i have some black aluminum mopar ones on mine, and while the board is aluminum, all the brackets are steel, and they all are bolted to the running boards [the 2or3 under the board ones bolt to sliding tee bolts in the board] so you won't need to weld any aluminum. you just might need to custom fab all the mounting brackets to fit the mopar boards, but that's about it.

Those sound something like the boards we have on the office 04. 5. They are aluminum boards, aluminum colored, with elongate plastic plugs in each end with the ram's head. I may give them a chance, if I can make the brackets fit or make new ones.

I've got almost 10 years up here in snowy New England with salt covered roads on my Dee-Zee boards that are bolted to the pinch weld and fender with no rust at all. I painted the drilled holes and used clear silicone sealant around each hole & bolt.



Anyway if the new ones are straight (not tapered along the length), then fabricating brackets should be straight forward. I'd make brackets out of angle stock and bolt them to the boards with stainless carriage bolts. Thinking out loud - you'd probably need one bracket come from the top edge of the frame and another under the bottom of the frame to make a triangle bracket supporting the board.

It sounds like the work you did was designed to prevent rust, and it obviously worked. That's the sort of thing I'd do, but the standard of "boughten" workmanship doesn't approach it. Lousey workmanship here will cause rust that's ugly, but takes a very long time to become fatal. (Mostly, the paint bakes off causing surface rust. ) I may rethink the screw into the pinch weld type. I have no difficulty welding up custom brackets. The alumium comment was a feeble attempt at humor.