Finally pulled the running boards (1 Viewer)

[TheFuzz]

I've only been talking about doing it for a month...it's about time, sheesh. Anyway, I cleaned out the garage today and found most of my missing Craftsman sockets (not all of them unfortunately...thanks kids) as well as my maintenance ramps, so I had no more excuses not to do it.

For those of you who have said it's a 15 minute job...good for you, you're much faster than I am. I spent the better part of an hour going at it. It wasn't difficult, it was actually quite easy, but more time consuming than I thought it would be due to having to change socket/ratchet sizes several times to fanagle the hardware off. There are some tight squeezes under there.

A couple of things to share with anyone looking to do this:

1. Go buy some PB Blaster right now, and spray the nuts/bolts a day or two before you want to do this - especially on a rust belt truck. Seriously, go now. You'll thank me later. That stuff is a godsend. I sprayed the bolts a week ago since my LC lived most of it's life in Chicago. Plenty of rust under there. I was going to spray them again today before I got started, but decided to give it a try without getting messy. All of the hardware came right off, with hand tools.

2. It can be challenging to access the front passenger side hardware due to the lines that run through that area. Remove some of the 10mm nuts that hold the heat shield looking thing for the lines to the body/wheel well, and you can pull the lines far enough away from the body to snake a ratchet in there.

3. For the rear upper-most bolt on both sides, you'll need a teeny-tiny 1/8" drive ratchet to get in there. It looks impossible, but it can be done I assure you.

Anyway, I am EXTREMELY pleased with how it turned out. When I pulled the running boards off of my Yukon, it looked kinda goofy. With the LC, it looks ten times better without the boards, IMO. Toyota obviously designed these things without the boards...which is even more apparent from the chipped paint on both sides of the truck where the plastic boards made contact with the body.

Before:

And after:

Now I need some new tires and a lift...

ETA: Those three piles of dirt you see in the pics? Yeah, that was from the driver's side board only. Not only are these things heavy, they hold a sh*tload of dirt and crap.

 

[OregonLC]

Looks great Fuzzy! Much more rugged. I need to do the same, but I can't until I get some sliders (with a step) to replace them with as the won't be able to get in without some assistance (5 months prego).

 

[TheFuzz]

I was about to give you crap about leaving yours on with the bigger meats, but I completely spaced that the had one in the oven! Congrats again, btw. Hope all is well on that front.

I'm going to buy some touch up paint and clean up the wear marks from the running boards. It's not that bad...hardly noticeable unless you're really looking for it. I think I've just about got my talked into some new tires, but she's not *quite* there yet...it's always hard to justify new tires when the current ones have 3/4 tread left.

"But honey, winter is coming, I need better tires for snow season...you want me to be safe, right?"

 

[TheFuzz]

Oh, and speaking of the wifey, I snapped those pictures on my phone and came inside after I had everything cleaned up, and she says "What have you been doing out there?"

I held up the phone and showed her the picture, thinking that I would have to explain it to her, but she immediately says, "Wow, that looks great! It looks much better without the running boards."

I love my wife.

 

[OregonLC]

Sounds like a great woman! Is the Accadia her DD? Do you use that as the family vehicle? Mine loves her ES, but I don't like driving it so my choice is either to make the LC -friendly or drive the ES.

 

[TheFuzz]

No, unfortunately that one belongs to the mother in law. 's DD isn't nearly as nice (ford fusion) but it gets the job done for the time being...I can't wait to ditch the damn thing though. She wants a 470 pretty bad after driving the cruiser. (God forbid I have a nicer ride than she does )

 

[FullyLitLED]

No, unfortunately that one belongs to the mother in law. 's DD isn't nearly as nice (ford fusion) but it gets the job done for the time being...I can't wait to ditch the damn thing though. She wants a 470 pretty bad after driving the cruiser. (God forbid I have a nicer ride than she does )

ohhh jus get her an LX already she obviously knows a lot about quality aka the 100 series/lx470

 

[TheFuzz]

Heh, yeah shes pretty tuned into the luxury stuff. We're a little (read: alot) upside down on the fusion since it's value dropped like a rock over the last year, damn Fords. Gotta get that paid down first so we can unload it, then we will add another Hundy to the stable.

I caught her staring at a white LX in the church parking lot today...

 

[FullyLitLED]

Heh, yeah shes pretty tuned into the luxury stuff. We're a little (read: alot) upside down on the fusion since it's value dropped like a rock over the last year, damn Fords. Gotta get that paid down first so we can unload it, then we will add another Hundy to the stable.

I caught her staring at a white LX in the church parking lot today...

Lol thats not a bad thing. My mom also caught on to the 100 series' overall excellence, she wants an LX470 to go along with our 2 100 series lol looks like her GX470 might get traded...I wouldnt mind having a LX to drive every now and then

 

[BMWSTOY]

Looks Good, a little to close to the Black Pearl and looking very similar now...sorry mine gets jealous of all these on the site and my wife still complains that I don't have running boards. "when you going to put those back on?" ah, never.

 

[FullyLitLED]

Looks Good, a little to close to the Black Pearl and looking very similar now...sorry mine gets jealous of all these on the site and my wife still complains that I don't have running boards. "when you going to put those back on?" ah, never.

"I lost them honey, I need to get those cool metal one's from [insert favorite slider brand here]"

 

[TheFuzz]

Looks Good, a little to close to the Black Pearl and looking very similar now...sorry mine gets jealous of all these on the site and my wife still complains that I don't have running boards. "when you going to put those back on?" ah, never.

"Well you see hun, a couple of the studs sheared off when I was removing them, so they can't be put back on. There are some nifty aftermarket options though..."



My wife is too smart for that sh!t, but that doesn't stop me from trying. I enjoy getting that "you're an idiot if you think I'm gonna believe that BS" look every now and then.

 

[cgstrickland16]

Fuzz - My 2000 is black same as yours and I've gotta say I love your pics sans the RBs. I removed the rear spoiler only last week (I've had my cruiser just over a year) due to personal preference, and even that 5 min small mod made a vast aesthetic improvement IMO. Now I realize I have to and CAN tackle the RB issue. I'm def gonna take your advice and hit the bolts w/ WD40 for a day or two b/f I go at it. I wanted to ask you - will a standard, full Craftsman socket wrench set have everything I need to complete the job? Just curious since I've read about the few tight spots. Tks.

 

[TheFuzz]

Thanks! Truck looks a bit different now though.

As far as tools, it really depends on the socket set. I did most of it with a standard 1/4" drive ratchet, but as I recall the rear uppers were a very, very tight squeeze that required a small 1/8" drive ratchet to get the hardware off...anything bigger wouldn't fit in there.

Been meaning to pull the wing off, just need to get something to plug the holes.

 

[maxdog1969]

This is what addition by subtraction meant

 

[cgstrickland16]

Gotcha. Did the same sockets fit the 1/8" drive ratchet, or do you have to pick up a whole new set? Any chance you remember what size sockets you used? Thanks.

 

[10080]

Heh, yeah shes pretty tuned into the luxury stuff. We're a little (read: alot) upside down on the fusion since it's value dropped like a rock over the last year, damn Fords. Gotta get that paid down first so we can unload it, then we will add another Hundy to the stable.

I caught her staring at a white LX in the church parking lot today...

A message from God.

Sent from my mudPhone using IH8apple

 

[TheFuzz]

Gotcha. Did the same sockets fit the 1/8" drive ratchet, or do you have to pick up a whole new set? Any chance you remember what size sockets you used? Thanks.

I have a basic craftsman mechanics set that came with 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" drive ratchets (small, medium and large, respectively) and their corresponding sockets. The "drive" size refers to the size of the sockets that will fit on the ratchet...by definition they aren't interchangeable. 1/4" drive will require 1/4" sockets, etc.

I do not remember the exact sizes that I used, you'll have to climb under there and fiddle with it a bit. There may be other removal threads that list sizes, I'm not entirely sure though.