First: to summarize the tools I used:
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I installed Mopar's wheel-to-wheel side steps on my 2020 RAM Crew Cab, 5'7" bed. I picked them up Thursday at my local dealer after ordering them Monday afternoon.
When going through the truck purchase a week ago, I promised my wife I'd immediately install steps. We are both into our 6th decade; at 5'2" it was uncomfortable for her to climb into the truck. After looking at *a bunch* of web sites & options, I decided on these.
For those who are interested: these are the polished stainless steel boards. They are also available in chrome, the price difference was negligible (I want to say maybe $25 or so but I'm not sure). My mind was set on SS anyway so it didn't really matter to me. The part number is 82215300AB. The list price is $567. I was given a 15% discount (my initial parts purchase at this dealer & without asking - a nice touch
) bringing the price down to $481.95 before tax.
I didn't take a picture of the packaging - sorry - but the woman at the parts counter had told me when I ordered them she would open the package & make sure they looked OK before she called to say they were in, & it was evident she had done just that. The steps weren't individually wrapped but they had large foam separators installed on each board to prevent contact with each other & they worked well. Taped & glued inside the large cardboard box was a plastic bag containing the 12 nuts, instructions, & packaging slip ("Thank you for purchasing this quality product. It was packaged by......"). Everything was in order.
One thing to mention: I was extremely frustrated with the Mopar Accessory web site. I spent a lot of time there trying to determine what they offered for side steps. I did know the truck had studs installed inside the rockers for bolting up steps. There are a bunch of different Mopar offerings. For everyone I clicked on, I also clicked on the install instructions & each one was for earlier models requiring the installation of weld nuts into the rockers. I knew that was wrong; double checking the applications for the boards still said they worked for 2019 & 2020 models. Had I of checked each & every one, I would have found it sooner or later but there must be dozens. I became frustrated & gave up. I just drove to the dealership & told them what I wanted.
What I was looking for was the size of the nuts used, because I wanted to buy a threading die or chaser to clean the stud threads. Since I was unsuccessful on the web site, I grabbed a micrometer & crawled under the truck to take a measurement. What I came up with looked to be 0.3125" - which is 5/16". Great - I found a die locally. On the way to the dealership to pick up the boards I stopped at the auto parts store & picked up the die. After getting home with the die & the boards, I unfold the instructions & looked at what is included in the bag: 12 count 8mm nuts! For those metric challenged, 8mm = 0.315". Really close...but we weren't playing horseshoes. The instructions didn't tell me if they were 8mm x 1 or 8mm x 1.25 thread though. I assumed 8mm x 1.25 - but with the luck I was having I wanted to be sure. A quick trip the the local Home Depot with one of the nuts to try on their thread board confirmed I was correct. Now to try & find a die locally - & it wasn't easy. I wanted to install the next day & didn't want to wait on UPS or Amazon. Luckily, about 2 miles from my home in an O'Reilly's Auto Parts storefront attached to one of their huge warehouse centers. They had one - & only one - die. A quick trip up there & I had my die.
And it was a good thing too, because the studs were really covered in paint. Fortunately, a 1/2" drive 1" socket had just enough depth to thread the die to the bottom of the studs. The evening before I was planning on installing the boards, I crawled under the truck & cleaned all 12 utilized for installation. The Mopar wheel-to-wheel steps are mounted to the studs behind the front wheel & in front of the rear wheel only - the center set of studs are not used,
The next morning I pulled together the tools I thought I might need: 3/8" drive ratchet, short extension, 13mm deep well socket, 13mm ratcheting box end/open end wrench, small 3/8" drive torque wrench. Ended up not using the box end/open end wrench or extension. There is something I didn't consider though. I'm not a big person: about 5'8" & 180Lbs. I had no problem crawling under the truck to clean the studs with the 20" wheels on the ground. However, the side steps sit lower than the rockers. It was difficult to crawl under the truck, then lay the steps on top of me & get them into position to mount. As these are wheel-to-wheel steps, they are long & it's awkward to manipulate one end when you're working at the other end anyway, this made it harder. What I did was use a floor jack covered with a towel in the center of the step, gently roll it into position under the truck, gently lift it into position to get at least 1 nut started on 1 end, then get another started on the other end by having just my head & arm under the rocker. It actually went fairly smooth that way; had it not I would have used the floor jack to lift the truck. I think using ramps to drive the truck onto would have worked well - but I don't have those (yet).
Once aligned & started, tightening the nuts on the studs went smoothly. The instructions call for torquing the nuts to 16Nm or 12FtLbs. I'll check them is a few hundred miles to be sure they're still tight.
In the end, they work great - my wife steps into the truck now, either as a passenger or driver, without issue. We also like the way they look. I wanted to post this in the event anyone else is looking for installation information for the Mopar boards.
- 8mm x 1.25 threading die (to clean the studs)
- 1" socket, 1/2" drive (to run die on threads)
- 1/2" drive ratchet
- 13mm deep well socket, 3/8" drive
- 3/8" drive ratchet
- 3/8" drive torque wrench
- floor jack
Yesterday (Saturday) morning I installed Mopar's wheel-to-wheel side steps on my 2020 RAM Crew Cab, 5'7" bed. I picked them up Thursday at my local dealer after ordering them Monday afternoon.
When going through the truck purchase a week ago, I promised my wife I'd immediately install steps. We are both into our 6th decade; at 5'2" it was uncomfortable for her to climb into the truck. After looking at *a bunch* of web sites & options, I decided on these.
For those who are interested: these are the polished stainless steel boards. They are also available in chrome, the price difference was negligible (I want to say maybe $25 or so but I'm not sure). My mind was set on SS anyway so it didn't really matter to me. The part number is 82215300AB. The list price is $567. I was given a 15% discount (my initial parts purchase at this dealer & without asking - a nice touch
) bringing the price down to $481.95 before tax.I didn't take a picture of the packaging - sorry - but the woman at the parts counter had told me when I ordered them she would open the package & make sure they looked OK before she called to say they were in, & it was evident she had done just that. The steps weren't individually wrapped but they had large foam separators installed on each board to prevent contact with each other & they worked well. Taped & glued inside the large cardboard box was a plastic bag containing the 12 nuts, instructions, & packaging slip ("Thank you for purchasing this quality product. It was packaged by......"). Everything was in order.
One thing to mention: I was extremely frustrated with the Mopar Accessory web site. I spent a lot of time there trying to determine what they offered for side steps. I did know the truck had studs installed inside the rockers for bolting up steps. There are a bunch of different Mopar offerings. For everyone I clicked on, I also clicked on the install instructions & each one was for earlier models requiring the installation of weld nuts into the rockers. I knew that was wrong; double checking the applications for the boards still said they worked for 2019 & 2020 models. Had I of checked each & every one, I would have found it sooner or later but there must be dozens. I became frustrated & gave up. I just drove to the dealership & told them what I wanted.
What I was looking for was the size of the nuts used, because I wanted to buy a threading die or chaser to clean the stud threads. Since I was unsuccessful on the web site, I grabbed a micrometer & crawled under the truck to take a measurement. What I came up with looked to be 0.3125" - which is 5/16". Great - I found a die locally. On the way to the dealership to pick up the boards I stopped at the auto parts store & picked up the die. After getting home with the die & the boards, I unfold the instructions & looked at what is included in the bag: 12 count 8mm nuts! For those metric challenged, 8mm = 0.315". Really close...but we weren't playing horseshoes. The instructions didn't tell me if they were 8mm x 1 or 8mm x 1.25 thread though. I assumed 8mm x 1.25 - but with the luck I was having I wanted to be sure. A quick trip the the local Home Depot with one of the nuts to try on their thread board confirmed I was correct. Now to try & find a die locally - & it wasn't easy. I wanted to install the next day & didn't want to wait on UPS or Amazon. Luckily, about 2 miles from my home in an O'Reilly's Auto Parts storefront attached to one of their huge warehouse centers. They had one - & only one - die. A quick trip up there & I had my die.
And it was a good thing too, because the studs were really covered in paint. Fortunately, a 1/2" drive 1" socket had just enough depth to thread the die to the bottom of the studs. The evening before I was planning on installing the boards, I crawled under the truck & cleaned all 12 utilized for installation. The Mopar wheel-to-wheel steps are mounted to the studs behind the front wheel & in front of the rear wheel only - the center set of studs are not used,
The next morning I pulled together the tools I thought I might need: 3/8" drive ratchet, short extension, 13mm deep well socket, 13mm ratcheting box end/open end wrench, small 3/8" drive torque wrench. Ended up not using the box end/open end wrench or extension. There is something I didn't consider though. I'm not a big person: about 5'8" & 180Lbs. I had no problem crawling under the truck to clean the studs with the 20" wheels on the ground. However, the side steps sit lower than the rockers. It was difficult to crawl under the truck, then lay the steps on top of me & get them into position to mount. As these are wheel-to-wheel steps, they are long & it's awkward to manipulate one end when you're working at the other end anyway, this made it harder. What I did was use a floor jack covered with a towel in the center of the step, gently roll it into position under the truck, gently lift it into position to get at least 1 nut started on 1 end, then get another started on the other end by having just my head & arm under the rocker. It actually went fairly smooth that way; had it not I would have used the floor jack to lift the truck. I think using ramps to drive the truck onto would have worked well - but I don't have those (yet).
Once aligned & started, tightening the nuts on the studs went smoothly. The instructions call for torquing the nuts to 16Nm or 12FtLbs. I'll check them is a few hundred miles to be sure they're still tight.
In the end, they work great - my wife steps into the truck now, either as a passenger or driver, without issue. We also like the way they look. I wanted to post this in the event anyone else is looking for installation information for the Mopar boards.
Attachments
![20200503_101119[1].jpg](/community/data/attachments/54/54801-768e3c57050ff0072d485af8431a8ba8.jpg)
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