Just installed some 4" oval chrome Mopar nerf bars on my 2005 Ram 1500 quad cab 4x2, and the mounting brackets have the bars up so close to the cab that I can see no way an adult can fit their foot on them. They appear to be completely useless. Anyone else have this problem? Maybe I don't have them installed correctly? (I'm pretty sure I do). Any suggestions for an aftermarket bracket or mounting system that will take the Mopar bars? Seems like the bars need to come down and inch, and out an inch.

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated - hate to think I just threw away $350 on bars that will serve no purpose.

Thanks

 

can you get a pic of what they look like on?? I haven't heard of this with the OEM bars, maybe they sent the wrong brackets?

 

I have the OEM's on mine and they work perfectly. I don't have a pic of mine but you must have the wrong bracketing or something

Hope all works out!!

 

Will try to post a pic soon (it's late here now). I can't imagine they are the wrong brackets, as they look like the ones in the instructions that came with the bars. I drove down to the dealership to see if they had any trucks with a set on, and I did see one - didn't look too different from mine. The problem with the bars is that they leave very little room to step on if you have an adult-sized foot. I can get the ball of my foot on the bar and anything behond that my toes are kicking up against the body of the truck. I've been looking at bars on other trucks (dodge and non-dodge, mopar and non-mopar), and almost all the other nerf bars I see out there, besides my configuration, look like they would work better (more space for the foot).

Hope I just have them installed improperly or something.

 

Yeah the OEM step bar sits close to the body, too close and too high for me, that is why I installed stainless steel aftermarket nerf bars. It helps to appease the wife especially when we first took a Ram out for a test drive.....she pulled her back getting in.

 

I've been looking around all I can at other trucks with nerf bars, and pictures of Ram's with the OEM nerf's, and it looks like I have them on right. The problem, as the last posted pointed out, is that the OEM bars just ride too high and close to the body to be very functional. Even comparing pictures on the internet, of dodg'es with OEM bars vs. aftermarket, you can see a big difference in the amount of clearance.

Anyone aware of an aftermarket source of mounting brackets for the OEM bars? Maybe some different brackets would give the clearance I'm looking for.

Thanks

 

I may be wrong but I belive nerf bars are to protect the trucks rockers when wheeling. They should be close to the body to give maximum ground clearence to avoid high centering. Step bars, on the other hand, are lower and provide clearence for your foot. They also have a step built into them. There are both step bars and nerf bars listed in the MOPAR catalog. Are you sure you have what you wanted?
My oem step bars

 

Ok, small picture but I didnt want to post the huge one. You can sort of see the foot cutouts.

the big picture

 

Don't know what type they are, but here's a close up of how mine look.
Hope it helps you?
Regards from the UK
Allan.



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