So the side steps on my 2009 Dodge Sport/SLT are starting to lose chrome. It is peeling off like a bad sunburn. I washed and waxed the truck for 4 hours on Saturday and as I was wiping it down I got cut by a piece of the chrome coming off. Nice! Anyone else having a Chrome loss on their steps. Only a year and a half old and 24,000 miles. Only one winter season. Shouldn't be peeling already. Starting right along the edge of the plastic step pads. Maybe they are rubbing on the chrome and making it peel? I wonder if those are covered under warranty as it was a dealer installed option.....

 

Mopar parts are covered by your factory warranty, so let em have it. My chrome side steps still look new. Knock on wood...

 

Yeah. Well this just started on mine. I wax my truck pretty frequently and I had no problem until the end of Summer. Keep an eye on where the plastic step pads meet the chrome on the steps. That is where mine are blistering and the bubbles popped and peeled. It isn't horrible looking yet...but I know it is there if ya know what I mean.

 

I was told that most of the step bars are chrome plated steel and water gets in under the pad and starts to rust. Then the chrome bubbles like you mentioned. Rock chips toward the front of the bars also let water in.

I was told to go with the chrome dipped stainless steel bars to avoid this problem, but I haven't purchased anything yet. Maybe next week.

 

I too considered the Mopar chrome step bars for the 2010 Crew I bought in July, but several friends or associates with newer Dodge trucks had similar experience with the chrome bubbling or rusting base metal if the chrome is chipped off. Lots of gravel roads where I live and a fair amount of salt is used on the highways in winter. I went with a pair of the Westin Platinum bars, which are chrome over 304 stainless. Price was less than $400 online, and installation was easy. I've only had these a couple of month, so I can't say how well they will truly hold up.

http://www.runningboardworld.com/wes...um-chrome.aspx

 

these mopar bars are aluminum

 

I don't have peeling chrome, but mine have pitted already. In fact, they started pitting no more than 4-5 months after I took delivery of the truck. The step tubes on my '08 were still pristine after almost 2 years. Maybe the same people that made the chrome bumpers are making the step tubes! I am just waiting on the recall on those POS so I can get them replaced, maybe I will mention the step tube problems when that happens.....

 

You'll be waiting indefinitely. Recalls don't work that way. Recalls are ONLY for safety related items, not for cosmetic issues.

 

Even a TSB is classified as a type of recall. Manufacturers can issue a non-safety related recall where it was found that the overwhelming majority of a manufactured part showed a flaw in the process or design and are issued to correct reputation damaging issues in quality or reliability. These "recalls" are typically not called recalls because the term "recall" is commonly associated by the public with a safety related issue. Because they are outside the government jurisdiction or mandate for safety, manufacturers aren't required to use the terminology.

Whatever its called.....recall, TSB, RRT, replacement policy, warranty......my service manager said they have been advised by Dodge that theres an impending "recall" (to make it not such a process to have to wait until the bumper is a total disaster before they will replace it) in the works because of the large volume of chrome bumpers with defects (rust, staining etc.) and also that theres possibly another regarding the upper bolts that secure the front bumper for rusting prematurely and causing rust staining running down the front of the bumper.....

 

my side steps also have the chrome pealing off. took it into the dealership for warranty.... there was only 1 year warranty on the steps and i was 3 months over. I am thinking about painting them or just replacing them in a year or two.