I've now had to remove BOTH of my Mopar SS Oval Full Length Side Steps. Both sides have succeeded in tearing the Crush Nuts through the Mounting Area sheet metal. Both succumbed to vibrations that threatened to drop them off the Truck and onto the Highway.

Neither Sode Step has any damage to the Mounting Area. And while I did scrape one of them over rocks during a moderate Off-Road trail run, the "catch-point" didn't even succeed in dinging the Side Step metal (just a scratch in the finish). This is unlikely to be the cause of the mount area metal failure - both because the tear-out damage in the mounting area is opposite of the direction that catching the Side Step on a rock would have caused; AND because the other Side Step failed the same without similar cause.

The metal at the mounting area tore out radiating from the bottom of the holes that fit the Crush Nuts - both in outward direction and between the two holes. It is readily apparent that this occurred because the steel around these holes is NOT reinforced at all, and are placed within a moderate sized flat area without any structure to resist flexing and eventual fatigue.

Even though the Dealership installed the Mopar Side Steps directly out of their own Inventory as part of the Original Sale, their response is "Nothing We Can Do" (or one time "Nothing We WILL Do").

Other than the Mount Failure Issues, I've been QUITE HAPPY with the Side Steps - for their styling, their functionality, and their solidity.

So, WHAT can I do to get the Mount Area Fixed - Repaired; Reinforced; or what ??

Surely I'm not the only one this has happened to... Given the popularity of the Mopar Side Steps.

Who has a Solution ?? (Fix rather than additional frustration at Dealership)

 

There was an article about a month ago on the forum about using a different nut to hold side steps, do a forum search to find this article I am sure it will help your problem.

 

I went through the same issue dealer attempted to fix and completely failed so I did it myself and found out that Chrysler knows there is an issue and actually makes a kit for reinforcing the steps that no one seems to know about I had to spend an hour at the dealer parts counter on the phone with some parts expert in Michigan to get it and it doesn't look like much but made a world of difference along with rivet nuts I found that spread out much better when you use the correct tool. I am a big guy and had nothing but issue since I did my own work no issues knock on wood for over 2 years. I believe I may still have some documents that I put together for someone else on the site detailing the parts and what I did send me a PM with your email and will be glad to provide you some advice on what I did. Here are some of my other posts.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/4th-gen...-chrome-4.html

 

Thanks. I actually remember your post with the Step Reinforcement parts. I tried unsuccessfully to get that Part from my Dealership's Mopar Parts Dept, at that time.

 

This is a little late, but I didn't use the crappy hardware they supplied. I used grade 8 stainless shoulder bolts fished thru with 90 angle needle nose pliers. Double butted with a nylock. You could hang my truck from my step bars, they are not going anywhere.

 

Now this is a late request, any pics on how you used your shoulder bolts? My OEM passenger side step fell off 2011 RAM 1500 CC and having a hard time figuring out how to reinstall them. TIA

 

5 year old thread. Those users are no longer active members. You might have better luck starting your own thread.

 

Just adding a note... the Amazon specials actually run very quiet compared to all the others I’ve used.
No issue with airflow/cooling.
Only time will tell for longevity.

 

NSB has a fix to this problem, they are pretty much just plates with oversized nuts welded in, way better than the oem rivnuts that always break out.
https://www.northspecbuilt.com/produ...-repair-plates