schulte
ACCELLERANT!!!
Just finished a set of running boards/steps for my truck. I've been looking for a while (the short girls always complain about having to jump up) for some decent running boards, but I've never been able to find anything to my liking... So I designed these myself.
I can post more details (and measurements) if anyone's interested in building their own.
In short, there's a 1.75" square tube 0.125" wall that runs parallel to the frame spaced 3/4" down from the bottom of the rocker panels. This tube has 4 welded mounts on each side that extend to the frame, in line with the body mounting ears on the frame. The ends of these tubes are bolted (through welded angle iron) through the center of the frame and cross-bolted to the body mounts. Metal-to-metal contact is buffered with 3/4" high density PVC blocks to eliminate any rubbing when the frame/the steps flex and to eliminate any noise/rattling.
These parallel rails each have 5 tubes that extend down; the running board supports are welded perpendicular to these (parallel to the ground). The ends of these tubes are welded closed with 3/8x16 nuts welded inside the endcaps.
The step itself is a material called "Grip Strut", which is a rigid 14ga expanded sheet metal rail 7" wide and 2" tall. Holes are cut in the back side of the rail so it slides onto the 5 supports; they're held in place by 3/8-16 stainless button head cap screws and fender washers.
I originally planned on having the mounting frame sandblasted, galvanized, and powerdercoated but that turned out to be a lot more expensive than I thought. Right now, the finish is 3 coats Rust-o-Leum primer and 3 coats high performance enamel. The steps themselves are painted with industrial epoxy (to prevent chipping).
I haven't really made up my mind as to what I'm going to do for the kick plate; I'm thinking maybe a continuous sheet of 304 stainless, because everything else on my truck is completely blacked out.
The Grip Strut material:
View from the front:
Rear:
Facing:
Sorry for the poor pix, just had my phone with me...
I can post more details (and measurements) if anyone's interested in building their own.
In short, there's a 1.75" square tube 0.125" wall that runs parallel to the frame spaced 3/4" down from the bottom of the rocker panels. This tube has 4 welded mounts on each side that extend to the frame, in line with the body mounting ears on the frame. The ends of these tubes are bolted (through welded angle iron) through the center of the frame and cross-bolted to the body mounts. Metal-to-metal contact is buffered with 3/4" high density PVC blocks to eliminate any rubbing when the frame/the steps flex and to eliminate any noise/rattling.
These parallel rails each have 5 tubes that extend down; the running board supports are welded perpendicular to these (parallel to the ground). The ends of these tubes are welded closed with 3/8x16 nuts welded inside the endcaps.
The step itself is a material called "Grip Strut", which is a rigid 14ga expanded sheet metal rail 7" wide and 2" tall. Holes are cut in the back side of the rail so it slides onto the 5 supports; they're held in place by 3/8-16 stainless button head cap screws and fender washers.
I originally planned on having the mounting frame sandblasted, galvanized, and powerdercoated but that turned out to be a lot more expensive than I thought. Right now, the finish is 3 coats Rust-o-Leum primer and 3 coats high performance enamel. The steps themselves are painted with industrial epoxy (to prevent chipping).
I haven't really made up my mind as to what I'm going to do for the kick plate; I'm thinking maybe a continuous sheet of 304 stainless, because everything else on my truck is completely blacked out.
The Grip Strut material:
View from the front:
Rear:
Facing:
Sorry for the poor pix, just had my phone with me...
