Where To Find Real Nerf Bars

[KS_Cummins]

Ok guys the pics are in my readers rig's gallery. The fit is excellent and the install was easy. 100% Bolt on no modification required. These suckers are heavy duty. I'd say each board weighs over 100 lbs.

 

[Red Ramrod]

Thanks guys. But don't get me thinking about the exhaust idea again. I thought about that after I built the first bar but decided it would be a bad idea - despite the cool factor. I am hoping to finish them up this weekend so I can have them powdercoated next week. I will update my gallery with pictures then.

 

[Spooled-up]

Oh man!!

Think of how cool it would look with a chrome turn down at the end of the step/bar/pipe back by the wheel!Oo.

 

[RedJeepClub]

KS_Cummins, Did you need to drill to mount these?

Even for smaller self tapping screws?



I did a search here for "Drilling AND Frame" and read

all the posts, and the Dodge TSB. The conclusion is

you can drill small holes in the middle part of the

frame, BUT I would rather not. Most people said Never

drill drill the frame.



So I am kinda stuck trying to figure out how to make

mounts that are strong enough to hold the weight of

the truck. I see there are a few different steps on

the market that mount to the body mounts, and/or the

bottom of the body where the 3 pieces come together.

 

[RedJeepClub]

So I am at a loss on how to make a strong enough mount to hold the weight of the truck on some "Rock sliders" How stong is the cab at the bottom where the 3 sheet metal panels come together. I know on my Jeep the Rocker Panel protectors I bought are just mounted to the Sheet metal at the base of the body. I have bent the body of my Jeep when I really got wedged in and put all the weight of the Jeep on these Rocker Panels.



On the Truck Frame I have found a couple of Holes in the frame that I could use to mount a plate, and I am leaning towards just making myself a set of rock sliders that are just small and not really a step and can't hold the weight of the truck like real rock sliderz.



Still thinking about this.

 

[KS_Cummins]

The tough county steps mount directly to the frame using existing holes, nothing to drill. They do not mount to the body at all. They are 100% bolt on. If I have time this weekend I'll get some pics of the mounting. I might try jacking the truck up by one this weekend also with a tape measure between the cab and board to see if there is any movement. Need to get my TST Powermax CR installed first though.

 

[bighammer]

Originally posted by KS_Cummins

Ok guys the pics are in my readers rig's gallery. The fit is excellent and the install was easy. 100% Bolt on no modification required. These suckers are heavy duty. I'd say each board weighs over 100 lbs.

I'm sold on em. I will be ordering a set before too long. Any body else with me?





NICE pictures.

 

[RDietze]

Originally posted by bighammer

I'm sold on em. I will be ordering a set before too long. Any body else with me?





NICE pictures.

bighammer,



i've been trying to get a hold of you for 2 weeks -- your tdrPM box is full = no delivery. on 3/18 you sent me a pm on group purchase of town and country boards. i'm 100% in and ready to buy the t&c boards - i would have ordered 10 days ago but i got your pm.



email me at

-- email address removed --



thank you

 

[SRadke]

Originally posted by RedJeepClub

So I am at a loss on how to make a strong enough mount to hold the weight of the truck on some "Rock sliders"... .



On the Truck Frame I have found a couple of Holes in the frame that I could use to mount a plate, and I am leaning towards just making myself a set of rock sliders that are just small and not really a step and can't hold the weight of the truck like real rock sliderz.



Still thinking about this.

I'm a little late to jump in here but I may be able to help. I made a set of boards for my truck that are very similar to the Tuff Country boards in appearance. Details about my boards here



I made them mostly as a step and rock protection as I don't do the serious off roading but they are mounted back to the frame and will provide significant protection from bushes, small animals, etc. Also I wouldn't hesitate to jack the truck up by them. If serious protection was what I had in mind I could have easily used heavier and/or larger material.



Let me know If I can answer any specific questions or take more pictures reguarding my mounting system or anything else.



-Scott

 

[RedJeepClub]

Originally posted by SRadke

I'm a little late to jump in here but I may be able to help. I made a set of boards for my truck that are very similar to the Tuff Country boards in appearance. Details about my boards here





Let me know If I can answer any specific questions or take more pictures reguarding my mounting system or anything else.



-Scott

Scott, I saw these (using search) and I was very impressed. They look great. I would like to see some close up pictures about the mounting system you used. I'm working on a strong design I'm just having trouble with fasteners, I need to find a strong wing nut type thing for easy installation into the frame when you can't get into the frame to hold a nut or bolt, or to recover it once its dropped into the frame.



Thanks,

Ian

 

[SRadke]

The mounting was the most difficult part and I spent a lot of time on it. I used all of the existing holes that I could and on the passenger side I just clamped around the frame rail with a couple pieces of plate for my front two brackets. That may not work for people with autos due to transmission cooler lines? I don't know where they route them.



As for a "wing nut thing" I only have a partial answer. I used one on the rear mount of my driver side board. There is an oval hole in the frame just in front of the front leaf spring mount. When they made this hole they just cut 3/4 of the way around and folded the piece in. I cut the head off a 5/8 bolt and welded on a piece of alloy plate that measured about 1"x2"x1/4". I welded the bolt on toward one end so I could get it through the hole tab first then straighten it out and tighten it up with my bracket put up in place. The piece of the frame that was folded in acted as a stop to keep the bolt from spinning in the hole. Yes, I did drop the bolt in the frame once but it was easily retrieved with a magnet.



I did not feel this would be strong enough for me so I also removed the front bed bolt in that corner (just forward and above there about 16") and placed a plate under it with a 1. 5" square tube that comes down to my bracket out closer to the body. This firmed it right up.



I'll be the first to admit that I would have made them stronger had I been planning on bouncing off trees and rocks but they are plenty strong to step on and will definitely give an import car a run for their money. If I had been making them just for my truck I would have done more but I kept it down to a simple strong mount that I bolted onto a stock truck in 30 minutes when I got them back from the powder coater. I'll get some pictures for you ASAP but it may be this weekend.



-Scott

 

[PRush]

Ian, Scott's mounting system sounds like the answer to mounting true nerf bars. Scott's work is awesome but I don't want the diamond plate, just the bars. Like I said I can't fabricate a good peanut butter sandwich. Scott I will line up for the bars. Build it and they will come.

 

[SRadke]

Originally posted by PRush

Scott I will line up for the bars. Build it and they will come.

After I added up the material cost, the hours I spent, and the powder coat cost I can totally see why Tuff country charges what they do. I biggest problem with my mass producing these things is all the options. I know they'll work on an 03, quad cab, 4x4, long bed, manual trans if you want wheels to wheel but what about everyone else? It's just not feasable for me.



-Scott

 

[Red Ramrod]

First off - nice job on your boards Scott.

Originally posted by RedJeepClub

Scott, I saw these (using search) and I was very impressed. They look great. I would like to see some close up pictures about the mounting system you used. I'm working on a strong design I'm just having trouble with fasteners, I need to find a strong wing nut type thing for easy installation into the frame when you can't get into the frame to hold a nut or bolt, or to recover it once its dropped into the frame.



Thanks,

Ian

Ian,



I was also struggling some with that. Where I put my front mounts has just in front of the center cab support area of the frame. Their was a slot on the frame a few inches ahead of this. I did drill one 1/2" hole in the frame about 5" in front of the slot and used these two holes to mount to. The tricky part is the mount that goes inside the frame. I cut a piece of 1/4" plate 6" long and a little narrower than the slot. I then drilled 2 1/2" holes in this bracket about 1/2" from the ends and 5" apart. I then welded two 1/2" x 1. 25" bolts in these holes. Then I attached needle nose vice grips to one end and was able to fish this bracket up into the frame and through the hole I drilled in the frame. Then I left the needle nose on the bolt so it did not drop in the frame as I slid on the outer bracket and started the nuts. It was actually a fairly simple process. You could do simaliar mounts in a few other spots on the frame as well. For my application - that plus my rear mount that was already there from the camper tiedowns gave my bar enough support. Let me know if you have questions or want more info on this. Sorry about the long confusing description. Scott may have another good way to mount also.

 

[Red Ramrod]

Originally posted by Red Ramrod

Scott may have another good way to mount also. [/B]

Sorry - now that I read page 3 I see he does have a great mount.

 

[SRadke]

It's beginning to sound like there is a diffrent (and honestly somewhat complicated) way to mount each corner of these things. I understand what Red Ramrod did and I considered something very similar but went a diffrent way (which is probably not quite as strong) to avoid having to drill.



Please don't misunderstand my unwillingness to drill. I have enough background in engineering and education in metallurgy to know what it will take to compramise these frames (and a 1/2" hole in the side is not going to do it) but I really wanted to stay with a "bolt on" product just for simplicity's sake.

Originally posted by Red Ramrod

... . my rear mount that was already there from the camper tiedowns...

Did you install these camper brackets yourself? My boss has a set that utilize the same hole on the driverside that I described a couple posts back but he had them installed and has no idea how they did it. I'm curious what kind of fastener the professionals are using for this?



-Scott

 

[SRadke]

Okay fella. I loaded a new gallery with just pictures of my brackets. Please peruse it and ask questions if you have any. This is a photo of the factory camper bracket I was reffering to:



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The rear hole they used is the same one that I used in my bracket:



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I'll refrain from putting amy more pictures here to ease the guys on dialup.



-Scott

 

[Red Ramrod]

Scott,



Your mounting system looks awesome. Great job. My rear camper brackets were slightly different because I bought the adjustable kind anticipating future step bars. Here is a picture of them. I am using the two lower holes for the rear supports of my step bars.

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Ian,



Here is a picture of a bolt with a stop I made for something else. The ones I previously described were a little larger with two bolts welded to the bracket.

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[SRadke]

So Red, do you remove your step bars when you put the camper on or have you not made/installed them yet?

Back to my old question, how did the camper bracket's mouting hardware work? They have obviously found a way to attach to these blind holes in the frame.



-Scott

 

[Red Ramrod]

Scott,



I did not install the camper tie-down system. I had it installed at Torklift in Kent, WA. Normally I install all my own equipment but they do not charge much for install. Supposedly if you buy a kit from them they have a bolt fishing tool that comes in the kit. I think it is a wire with threads on one end to thread the bolt to. You then find the closest access hole in the frame and send the wire through the mounting hole. Use the wire to pull the bolt up and then remove the fish tool.



My bars are built and currently being powder coated red. I am going to have line-x sprayed where we step. The camper tie-downs will clear underneath the step bars. I took a rough snap shot with scrap metal of the relationship of the bar to the camper tie-down.



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Here is the bars test fit.

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