Sorta off topic: F150 running boards

I have seen folding steps which might be the ticket for you - they hang down pretty low but then fold up out of the way.. Not being a "truck guy", I don't remember where I saw them but I'm betting they're common.

Peter

Koz wrote in news:Vt6dnap38oCMaP7fRVn- snipped-for-privacy@seanet.com:

The problem with lowering is that you have less ground clearance and the running board is likely to snag on stuff. Have you looked at the kits for the powered ones?

Perfect on all accounts except the price. Not sure I can swing the $

1300 considering that it's not the car she will be driving very often.

Thanks for the link though as it's something to consider

Koz

How from another vantage point: Instead of fooling w/ the running board, fashion semi-drop down *handgrips* from inside the cab to help get inside? Nylon hand thingies for cable-style weight lifting can be had real cheap ($5?), just need D rings, an attachment point(s) inside. This is actually handy for *anyone*! They bang you pretty for truck accessories, in general.

On the running board itself, which are often large diam. tube-like things to begin with, mebbe you could drill thru, at about 30 deg or so, for a pair of 1" SS tubing, which, if detented, could slide out/down via gravity/hand like a mini-ladder, and then detente/lock back up w/ a kick. IOW, just a pair of tubes sliding perpendicularly out of bigger tubes. Could also just make a manual release pin, like what adjusts squat seats'n'stuff in gyms. MSC has all of this hardware.

"Koz" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@seanet.com... | Just got an F150 4wd extended cab that is a little higher than what I | used to drive. I need to add some running boards/steps. | | The problem is the "wife to be" has rheumatoid arthritis which makes the | climb a little difficult at times. Looking around at commercially | available steps and running boards, it seems that you gain only about 4 | inches in reduced step height. This may be a little too high still on | the "bad" days. | | Anyone know of a brand that hangs a tad bit lower than the others? | Dropping a good 6 inches would be nice and would still be only slightly | lower than the frame (I don't intend to need super high clearance for | off road stuff) | | *metalworking content* I could fab my own but I'm not sure it's worth | the hassle consdering the bolt-ons available (assuming I can find a | slightly lower set). The other option is modifying a mount spacer to | make an off the shelf unit sit a little lower. Anyone built their own | or have any comments on the mount/system to lower the step up? I'd love | to use a lineal actuator to make a lowering step but I think that's a | project that would never get past the planning stage due to time. RV | versions of this tend to be a little spendy and will probably be a bit | of a hassle to mount. | | Koz

Something else to consider. Visit a local shop that sells crane and rigging supplies. Get a few feet of 1" or so cable that's in decent shape. The idea is to use the cable for the vertical part of the steps, and you can make the actual steps out of whatever you like, but it has to clamp to the cable rather than weld to it (bad.) Suspend it however you see fit, and now you have fairly stiff steps that will handily bend out of the way and "spring" back when you need them to. If you mount the top part of the cable horizontally, the steps will point out some and be less likely to swing your wife's shins into the door sill, depending on how stiff the cable is. The shop might help you figure out what a good size or material would be. The one I saw had the cable loop around and back up at the bottom step, which reduced snagging possibilities from the rounded surface. Personally, I never liked attaching anything to the body at the door sill because of the possibility that whatever you hit will cause whatever you attached to damage the body, but this idea tends to be a bit more forgiving, although I'd still rather pick it up at the frame, but it is farther away.

I think, in your situation, you could purchase a nice (decent) set of "nerf bars" which are the "tube" type steps which extend out from under the truck and act as a step. I believe most are "bent down" a little bit - and I was thinking you could :

1... Make up a spacer of sorts, to lower down the mounting point from the frame, and it's thickness could be whatever you needed. 2... If (and I say *if* because I don't know for sure) the mounting ends of the nerf bars are still tubular in shape, you could mount a spacer to the underside of the frame, then a round "socket" for the end of the nerf bar to slip into.... the nerf bar could be slipped into place, your lady could then enter the vehicle, the nerf bar could be removed (only for ground clearance problems) and stored in the back of your cab. Upon arrival at your destination, you could insert the nerf bar again for exiting the vehicle... because you are the gentleman that you are - you will be there to open her door for her anyway.... Ken.

KISS - buy or build a nice wide and sturdy footstool for truck access on the 'bad days', and toss it in the bed of the truck after she gets in. ;-) Between that and a running board/nerf bar step, she should be fine.

Been There, Dealt With That, several times. E250, C3500, FJ-62.

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Something like this might work:

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"