GX460 Running board removal and slider install write up? (1 Viewer)

[r2m]

They look great Qball!! They look wider then my MetalTechs. Can you stand on them with at least the ball of your foot over the tubing with the doors closed? (on the narrower section, not the kick-out)
Also, I highly suggest getting some black (or whatever color you like) track tape, like the stuff used on skateboards. I ran a 1" wide strip the entire length of my sliders and it helped 100%! Especially when it's wet or snowy out, those sliders will get real slick and you don't want to slip off them.

 

[Qball]

Did you guys cut factory steps while on the car?

No, I took it off and then cut it. I guess it can be done but very little room while it's on the car.

 

[Qball]

They look great Qball!! They look wider then my MetalTechs. Can you stand on them with at least the ball of your foot over the tubing with the doors closed? (on the narrower section, not the kick-out)
Also, I highly suggest getting some black (or whatever color you like) track tape, like the stuff used on skateboards. I ran a 1" wide strip the entire length of my sliders and it helped 100%! Especially when it's wet or snowy out, those sliders will get real slick and you don't want to slip off them.

Thanks, the wiser step is the biggest reason I went with RSG. Well ok, wider, flat option, big kick out, fully covered top AND lower price are the reasons I went this route vs MetalTech and OPOR. They are same price shipped as MetalTech sale price without shipping, did I mention I like them better?

over all initial build quality is excellent, fit is perfect(need to specify that it’s for GX when ordering), hardware is awesome(metric and 10.9) and even the packaging is really good, arrived with no scratches. Very happy with them so far!

And yes the track tape is on order.

 

[Turbohardtop]

For those that are considering the RSG sliders, they are having $100 discount at the moment by using March100 code at checkout. I am debating whether to get angled one or straight. What do you guys think?

 

[r2m]

For myself, I prefer the angled look. I really can't think of a practical reason, since you only gain about 1" of clearance off the side of the slider which in itself is a moot point since the rest of the under carriage is much lower anyways.
I just think angle sliders give a more high speed, serious "bring it on, grid me over that rock" look and less like all the "poser step rails" out there that are worthless.

 

[Qball]

I went for the flat version and my wife and son love it. Doesn't have the gnar look but I'm cool with it.

 

[Canyonero]

Love the look of those RSG sliders. I've always put rock sliders on as my first mod, but the GX seems less of a "bolt on" vehicle for this mod.

So that leads me to ask - has anyone used their factory running boards as rock sliders? Any evidence of how stout they are? The OEM running boards are so tucked up on the truck, I'm tempted to just keep them and see how they fare.

 

[ducktapeguy]

I ordered a set of straight RSG sliders last week, I’m still waiting for an email to know if it’s shipped. Was hoping to get them before this weekend.

As far as the factory running boards, they work great as steps, not so good for sliders. It’s just plastic and lightweight aluminum extrusion underneath, meant to support the weight of a person standing on it, not a 5k lb truck. One rock will bend it into a pretzel. Almost ripped mine off on some minor off roading, that’s why i needed to order sliders. I figure sliders are cheaper than replacing a door or rocker panel

 

[r2m]

So that leads me to ask - has anyone used their factory running boards as rock sliders? Any evidence of how stout they are? The OEM running boards are so tucked up on the truck, I'm tempted to just keep them and see how they fare.

My wife and I went wheeling with some friends some years ago with her 100 series Landcruiser. All stock, the only mod was 31" BFG A/T's. By the end of the day, her running board/steps were completely buckled! Nothing happened to the doors or rocker panel of the vehicle or frame, but the running boards were done in.

Lesson learned: one CANNOT use factory running boards for sliding, pivoting or bouncing off of. I am very sure our GX running boards are not any more robust than my wife's Landcruiser.

In addition, one of my best friends and neighbor purchased a 2017 4Running new a year or so ago and he added sliders, but with the drop down step for the front and rear doors. I didn't want to tell him that will make the slider pretty much useless for sliding off of. One can still use it as a jack point for lifting or bounce off of, but not sliding.
Don't know why he purchased those since his 4Runner is stock except for a slightly larger tire and he and his wife are tall and in good physical shape. Absolutely no need for a step!

 

[Qball]

I ordered a set of straight RSG sliders last week, I’m still waiting for an email to know if it’s shipped. Was hoping to get them before this weekend.

For powder coated sliders it's usually 1 month lead time. Mine took a little over a month to ship but once shipped it's pretty quick and they are well packaged. For GX orders make sure your order has the notes saying it's for a GX, the mounting plate is a little different.

 

[ducktapeguy]

For powder coated sliders it's usually 1 month lead time. Mine took a little over a month to ship but once shipped it's pretty quick and they are well packaged. For GX orders make sure your order has the notes saying it's for a GX, the mounting plate is a little different.

I just got the email last night, my sliders are on their way. I couldn’t wait for powder coat so I ordered bare metal. I’ll probably paint or Bed liner them when I get a chance, but they’re going in bare for now so I can use them this weeekend. I didn’t add any notes to my order, I ordered the 2010+ GX460 sliders so I hope they’re correct

 

[Qball]

I just got the email last night, my sliders are on their way. I couldn’t wait for powder coat so I ordered bare metal. I’ll probably paint or Bed liner them when I get a chance, but they’re going in bare for now so I can use them this weeekend. I didn’t add any notes to my order, I ordered the 2010+ GX460 sliders so I hope they’re correct

Oh they have that option now. When I ordered they didn’t have that option so that’s awesome.

 

[Superfly Snook]

Since this looks like an open thread on slider install I'll share my thoughts on the Rocky Road sliders here. I got these a few weeks ago and finally got around to installing them. I can echo many of the comments in here already, and will pass along some tips to those who may attempt this and are not great mechanics, like yours truly. These are the Rocky Road kick out sliders with full cover. It took about 5 weeks to get them. The folks there are great, the fella that took my order is the same dude who fab'd up the sliders.

I started with the driver's side, and the factory runners come off as already detailed in previous posts. I had a hard time with the KDSS line attachments - there are two points that need to be loosened up, and although I removed the bolts they still didn't really want to move. In the end i had to more or less jam the slider bracket up behind them and pry them up and out of the way with pliers while I got the bolt started and a socket onto it. PITA. This brings me to tip #1 - an articulating socket adapter is your friend. Many of the bolts could not be tightened without it in my application. I also would say I don't think it is necessary to loosen the parking brake lines - I did on the driver's side and felt I didn't need to , so I didn't bother on the passenger side and had no issues working around them.

I used a cut-off tool for the trim piece. I'd like to finish the trim like R2M did - so if I find some trim I like I'll come back here with the deets. I got much better at cutting the second go around on the passenger side. I just laid the factory runner on a table outside and went at it with the cutting tool - tons of black plastic stuff is gonna spray all over the place if you do this, and you will want to watch for build up of plastic gunk around the guard over the cutting disk and stop and clean it off if necessary. I pulled the lights from the factory runners and will pull the wiring from it sometime this week to maybe rig up some puddle lighting for the Rocky Road sliders.

Here is a pic of the KDSS shield that is referenced in many above posts. You can see how it overlaps the Rocky Road bracket and hardware - I had to take some material off with an angle grinder. I used a extra heavy grit metal grinding wheel and just went at it for a few minutes.

The install sheet for the Rocky Road sliders make mention of some models not having a nutsert for one position on the middle mounting bracket. Sure enough, this is the case on my '16 460. The sliders are the same they tell me as for a current 4Runner, so maybe some of the other Toyota models have a threaded insert here, but the install sheet says that if this isn't the case it won't affect the sliders. So, I think I am good, with 5/6 bolts on each side, they feel sturdy, but at some point I may go ahead and install a nutsert and get that last bolt in there.

that's all i can think of for now! Thanks again to all who contributed to this thread and gave me the motivation and confidence to do this.

 

[Turbohardtop]

thanks for the tips. You mentioned that you used a cut off tool to cut the factory step, was it something similar to the Dremel or more like a angle grinder with a cut off disc? Which ones would you recommend for a steady straight cut? Thanks.

 

[Superfly Snook]

thanks for the tips. You mentioned that you used a cut off tool to cut the factory step, was it something similar to the Dremel or more like a angle grinder with a cut off disc? Which ones would you recommend for a steady straight cut? Thanks.

I think anything can work - the step itself and the concave nature of the area you will want to cut will mean you'll spend a few minutes figuring out how to get the right angle with whatever you use. I happened to use the Genesis cut off tool from HD.

 

[r2m]

View attachment 1947118

Since this looks like an open thread on slider install I'll share my thoughts on the Rocky Road sliders here. I got these a few weeks ago and finally got around to installing them. I can echo many of the comments in here already, and will pass along some tips to those who may attempt this and are not great mechanics, like yours truly. These are the Rocky Road kick out sliders with full cover. It took about 5 weeks to get them. The folks there are great, the fella that took my order is the same dude who fab'd up the sliders.

I started with the driver's side, and the factory runners come off as already detailed in previous posts. I had a hard time with the KDSS line attachments - there are two points that need to be loosened up, and although I removed the bolts they still didn't really want to move. In the end i had to more or less jam the slider bracket up behind them and pry them up and out of the way with pliers while I got the bolt started and a socket onto it. PITA. This brings me to tip #1 - an articulating socket adapter is your friend. Many of the bolts could not be tightened without it in my application. I also would say I don't think it is necessary to loosen the parking brake lines - I did on the driver's side and felt I didn't need to , so I didn't bother on the passenger side and had no issues working around them.

I used a cut-off tool for the trim piece. I'd like to finish the trim like R2M did - so if I find some trim I like I'll come back here with the deets. I got much better at cutting the second go around on the passenger side. I just laid the factory runner on a table outside and went at it with the cutting tool - tons of black plastic stuff is gonna spray all over the place if you do this, and you will want to watch for build up of plastic gunk around the guard over the cutting disk and stop and clean it off if necessary. I pulled the lights from the factory runners and will pull the wiring from it sometime this week to maybe rig up some puddle lighting for the Rocky Road sliders.

View attachment 1947119

Here is a pic of the KDSS shield that is referenced in many above posts. You can see how it overlaps the Rocky Road bracket and hardware - I had to take some material off with an angle grinder. I used a extra heavy grit metal grinding wheel and just went at it for a few minutes.

View attachment 1947120

The install sheet for the Rocky Road sliders make mention of some models not having a nutsert for one position on the middle mounting bracket. Sure enough, this is the case on my '16 460. The sliders are the same they tell me as for a current 4Runner, so maybe some of the other Toyota models have a threaded insert here, but the install sheet says that if this isn't the case it won't affect the sliders. So, I think I am good, with 5/6 bolts on each side, they feel sturdy, but at some point I may go ahead and install a nutsert and get that last bolt in there.

that's all i can think of for now! Thanks again to all who contributed to this thread and gave me the motivation and confidence to do this.

Regarding the nutserts, is it possible to to use a long bolt and go through both walls of the frame?

 

[Qball]

View attachment 1947118

Since this looks like an open thread on slider install I'll share my thoughts on the Rocky Road sliders here. I got these a few weeks ago and finally got around to installing them. I can echo many of the comments in here already, and will pass along some tips to those who may attempt this and are not great mechanics, like yours truly. These are the Rocky Road kick out sliders with full cover. It took about 5 weeks to get them. The folks there are great, the fella that took my order is the same dude who fab'd up the sliders.

I started with the driver's side, and the factory runners come off as already detailed in previous posts. I had a hard time with the KDSS line attachments - there are two points that need to be loosened up, and although I removed the bolts they still didn't really want to move. In the end i had to more or less jam the slider bracket up behind them and pry them up and out of the way with pliers while I got the bolt started and a socket onto it. PITA. This brings me to tip #1 - an articulating socket adapter is your friend. Many of the bolts could not be tightened without it in my application. I also would say I don't think it is necessary to loosen the parking brake lines - I did on the driver's side and felt I didn't need to , so I didn't bother on the passenger side and had no issues working around them.

I used a cut-off tool for the trim piece. I'd like to finish the trim like R2M did - so if I find some trim I like I'll come back here with the deets. I got much better at cutting the second go around on the passenger side. I just laid the factory runner on a table outside and went at it with the cutting tool - tons of black plastic stuff is gonna spray all over the place if you do this, and you will want to watch for build up of plastic gunk around the guard over the cutting disk and stop and clean it off if necessary. I pulled the lights from the factory runners and will pull the wiring from it sometime this week to maybe rig up some puddle lighting for the Rocky Road sliders.

View attachment 1947119

Here is a pic of the KDSS shield that is referenced in many above posts. You can see how it overlaps the Rocky Road bracket and hardware - I had to take some material off with an angle grinder. I used a extra heavy grit metal grinding wheel and just went at it for a few minutes.

View attachment 1947120

The install sheet for the Rocky Road sliders make mention of some models not having a nutsert for one position on the middle mounting bracket. Sure enough, this is the case on my '16 460. The sliders are the same they tell me as for a current 4Runner, so maybe some of the other Toyota models have a threaded insert here, but the install sheet says that if this isn't the case it won't affect the sliders. So, I think I am good, with 5/6 bolts on each side, they feel sturdy, but at some point I may go ahead and install a nutsert and get that last bolt in there.

that's all i can think of for now! Thanks again to all who contributed to this thread and gave me the motivation and confidence to do this.

Fantastic write up and tips! BTW I really like the way your sliders look also!

 

[Turbohardtop]

Do you guys have close up pictures of the cut area? I received my RSG angled sliders and plan to cut the factory steps in a couple of weeks. I am trying to see how high I need to cut and what the edge looks like after cutting.

 

[tigerrag]

Cutting looks much cleaner than just removing them.

View attachment 1902994

View attachment 1902995

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View attachment 1902997

This might seem dumb...what did you guys use to cut them?

Also, when you unplug the wire do you have to cap it or anything?

 

[Nicemarmot]

Questions before I start this project myself:

(1) Do you install the sliders without the trim piece in, then re-attach the trim piece. Or does the trimmed piece from the steps go back on before installing the sliders?

(2) How do you know exactly where to trim the steps? (A) Remove them, install the sliders and measure the gap, (B) It'll be obvious when I get to that point, or (C) Something else?

Thanks in advance!