Rock Slide Engineering (RSE) Rail Reliability

[Calm horse]

About a month or 2 ago my steps malfunctioned..the passenger side would only open a little and was doing some weird things I called rse and they sent me new motor module which is on the driver side..customer service was great and this solved the problem but now my passenger side will just randomly deploy..I've reset and pulled fuse....another thing to note is when I had thw first problem I shut the kill switch off but did not disconnect fuse....it killed the battery and the motor that was about to get replaced got extremely hot..
I love the steps when they work but the magnet and plastic mounts are cheap...

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[George Ellis]

I feel there is a design flaw with them and another mfgrs' alpha versions. The step deploys down to the back. They would better deploy back forward. If the step deploys while crawling, it will catch at maximum movement point and catch. If it deployed from the back, forward, it would be able to better slide back out of the way. The leading edge should curve like a ski tip to cover it.

This just means that if there is a failure, it is not destructive to the system and the vehicle if it went the other way.

 

[Jhuff]

I know what you are experiencing as I experienced the identical thing. Mine started opening and closing so much I had to pull the fuse. It did it while the truck was parked in the garage, it did it while I was driving and turning off the kill switch didn't even stop it from happening. Again, I had to pull the fuse.
It is one of two things (based on my experience anyways). Either something has gotten stuck up on one of your cross beams or gussets where the step comes to rest inside the housing and preventing the step from closing all the way. When the step encounters resistance it opens (or closes in the instance that the resistance is external i.e. a rock on a trail or a person's leg). Kind of like the safety mechanism that is in place if by accident it started closing and someone's hand was in the way, it will open back up.
Option 2, the control module is bad and you just need to call them for a new control module and they will send you one for free.
I got my steps very early on. Ordered them from Tc Customs before they were even manufactured in September of 2021 and apparently for some of their very early models they used a control module that had a chip from a different manufacturer than they usually use (story sound familiar) anyhow they swapped them out as customers called about it. I swapped my drivers side out about six months ago and coincidentally just swapped the passengers side out one week ago today.
As others have said, their customer service is awesome and their technical support and trouble shooting is great. Despite the fact that I had to swap out both control modules, I freakin love the steps.
Hope this was helpful.

I appreciate this input, but I definitely don't look forward to removing these again; lots of bolts.

To add to the thread, I installed mine in early 2022 and have had two issues in the first year.

First, almost immediately, I had a bad door sensor which they replaced for free. A year later, my most used side (drivers) has been going crazy, always opening and closing multiple times per entry. It acts like it is looking for its limits but not finding them. After a couple days of this, it remains stuck closed and is "humming" all the time. Additionally, I've had to pull the fuse several times over the year to reset the steps that forget what position they are supposed to be in.

If a little tinkering doesn't help, I'm going to learn what happens after the warranty period expires. I am not looking forward to annual rebuilds, if this is the norm.

 

[Herbie]

I appreciate this input, but I definitely don't look forward to removing these again; lots of bolts.

To add to the thread, I installed mine in early 2022 and have had two issues in the first year.

First, almost immediately, I had a bad door sensor which they replaced for free. A year later, my most used side (drivers) has been going crazy, always opening and closing multiple times per entry. It acts like it is looking for its limits but not finding them. After a couple days of this, it remains stuck closed and is "humming" all the time. Additionally, I've had to pull the fuse several times over the year to reset the steps that forget what position they are supposed to be in.

If a little tinkering doesn't help, I'm going to learn what happens after the warranty period expires. I am not looking forward to annual rebuilds, if this is the norm.

I am guessing your control module has gone bad on that one now. I changed out control modules three times before I finally gave up on the steps and removed them. I am waiting on a pair of fixed steps to be delivered from Archetype racing. Wish I could recoup some of my losses but regardless I was done spending so much of my time taking the damn steps on and off to fix them.
Definitely some sort of design flaw in my humble opinion.

 

[jasonf]

I abuse the heck out out of mine - rubicon -moab - water crossings - have no issues

 

[RJones]

I had many issues with mine. Was onto circuit board number 6 on the passenger side. Tried replacing the whole harness and whole step multiple times too. They were not abused and didn’t get wet. The motor isn’t really that fast to replace because the whole step must come off. Got old after doing it so many times. They also shipped me the wrong side step twice, so they have more issues than just quality control. Luckily they finally agreed to a refund, so happy to be rid of those and have normal frame mounted sliders with no electronics to fail. And last I heard from them they still couldn’t figure out why mine kept failing. I could never recommend these to anyone.

What sliders did you end up putting on in their place?

 

[ksdon]

My early issue was with the supplied magnets. Actually the problem was most likely me not placing them in the exact necessary location. We read on this forum about some larger more powerful rare earth magnets from Amazon. Placed them as best we could, then slapped on a layer of Gorilla rubber tape and never had the problem again for 2 years plus.

 

[Ninjak]

On my RSE I had the same issue, the magnets were not placed well. I did the same, removed them, lined them up correctly, and used Gorilla rubber tape as well, and no more problems.

 

[RJones]

I decided to go with the Metal-Tech rock sliders. RSE look really sweet, but ultimately i decided stick with a simple that doesn’t come with possible fail points.

I wanted robust rock sliders primarily and the step secondary. The lower price point and easier install and overall maintenance over time contributed to the decision as well.

It’s hard to decide on these items without being able to see them in person. I appreciate all the feedback!

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