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Which retractable running board do you recommend

DaddyO

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I have a Sasquatch version of my ‘24 Badlands and added a 2 1/2” lift but still running the original 315/70r17’s. Now it’s too tall for my 4’11” wife to get in without a stool.

Can anyone recommend a retractable running board that will hold up during off-roading? Especially if I land on them while rock climbing.
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B22-2023

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I have a Sasquatch version of my ‘24 Badlands and added a 2 1/2” lift but still running the original 315/70r17’s. Now it’s too tall for my 4’11” wife to get in without a stool.

Can anyone recommend a retractable running board that will hold up during off-roading? Especially if I land on them while rock climbing.
The Rockslide Engineering set, adding on the additional armor. I land on them hard all the time on rocks.

Be sure to put them in bypass mode when offroad, so they don’t deploy while you are on a big rock and open the door to spot or something. Happened to me twice and snapped off the steps. Now I just run them without steps.
 
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DaddyO

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The Rockslide Engineering set, adding on the additional armor. I land on them hard all the time on rocks.

Be sure to put them in bypass mode when Offroad, so they don’t deploy while you are one a big rock and open the door to spot or something. Happened to me twice and snapped off the steps. Now I just run them without steps.
THANK YOU
 
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Well I didn’t ask for cheap, did I? Wow. Those are the most expensive ones I’ve seen yet but sounds well worth it. Do you have to order from manufacturer or is there an alternative with maybe a discount?
 

GoHawks63

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Have these retractable steps gotten better? I swear I am often seeing Tahoes, Navigators and Escalades driving around with them stuck in the deployed position.

I'm guessing the road salt (Live in the Great lakes area) and grime take a toll on most of them.
 

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Have these retractable steps gotten better? I swear I am often seeing Tahoes, Navigators and Escalades driving around with them stuck in the deployed position.

I'm guessing the road salt (Live in the Great lakes area) and grime take a toll on most of them.
Must be a different manufacturer since RSE doesn’t make sliders for the models you mention
 

GoHawks63

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Must be a different manufacturer since RSE doesn’t make sliders for the models you mention
I didn't mean that specific brand of running boards in relation to the vehicles I mentioned.

I just meant to say, have retractable running boards in general gotten better.
 

Brian_B

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The RSEs are the only version I know of that are off-road capable.

They are ~not~ as strong as a dedicated, frame mounted rock rail. But they will hold up to a hit and not get totally destroyed. They are not impervious, you can destroy them if you really try, but they have held up to everything I do (moderate stuff) and still work fine. A few rocks, lots of stumps, etc.

As far as holding up - early revisions had an issue with parasitic drain. This has been solved. The RSEs also use magnets to determine if a door is open or shut, and position of those magnets is critical. It's easy for them to get moved around or fall off, and a step get stuck deployed - but the flip side of that is it's a pretty easy fix too - just get a new magnet or reposition the sensor.

RSEs are not officially compatible with body lift kits. There are two brackets that bolt to the frame, and if you do have/use a body lift kit, you will have to either go without those brackets (which significantly limits their strength) or get the brackets modified to fit.

As far as reliability - I'd say nothing is going to be bulletproof, but steps in general are fairly reliable if taken care of properly. You do have to clean the mud/dust out from the mechanical parts and use a bit of lube in there on occasion.

For me (and my wife) - yeah it's pricey, but it's one of the best purchases we have made for the Bronco.
 
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Lcubed

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I didn't mean that specific brand of running boards in relation to the vehicles I mentioned.

I just meant to say, have retractable running boards in general gotten better.
That’s like asking on the B6G forum if all off-road vehicles are still unreliable after seeing a Tahoe mall crawler stalled in the Starbucks drive through line
 

Doc TOC

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Extreme Terrain and Northridge run sales, but not much of a discount. RSE holds that pretty tight vis-a-vis who they distribute to.

Extreme Terrain from time to time has open box versions for sale that are scratched, missing a few parts or the wire harness - all available from RSE to get it up and running. On the open box items, you can get a significant discount if you aren't afraid of figuring stuff out, or willing to tolerate fixable scratches.
 

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Lcubed

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I’d reach out to Doetsch Off-Road and see if they’re doing their annual group buy
 
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Brian_B

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I got my RSE with a decent discount via Bronco Nation of all places
 
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DaddyO

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Extreme Terrain and Northridge run sales, but not much of a discount. RSE holds that pretty tight vis-a-vis who they distribute to.

Extreme Terrain from time to time has open box versions for sale that are scratched, missing a few parts or the wire harness - all available from RSE to get it up and running. On the open box items, you can get a significant discount if you aren't afraid of figuring stuff out, or willing to tolerate fixable scratches.
I figure since Im asking for something that holds up Offroad that a few scratches will get blended in with the new ones.
 

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I figure since Im asking for something that holds up Offroad that a few scratches will get blended in with the new ones.
I purchased mine directly from RSE during an Easter sale. They have 20% off sales quite often, and currently have 10% off with code rse10
 
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DaddyO

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Thanks I’ll watch for it. Not in a huge rush to spend that much money. I was looking at their open box items but they couldn’t guarantee they were complete. Go figure they were ones that had been installed and then removed and returned. Who returns only part of what they installed?
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