Aluminess Nerf bar/step

[Gnarvan]

I had Aluminess drop the step down two inches below their stock setup on the nerf bars I just installed. At first pass when I looked at them in the shop during the install I thought I had made a mistake by lowering them. They look like rock magnets. After driving the van around for a day I've reversed my initial reaction to, I like them they work great as a step. They are down a little to far for those of you who do any serious wheeling but the "Nerf Steps" do make it a lot easier to get in and out of the van. I have 14" of clearance from the ground to the bottom of the nerf bar. Check out the photos I took today when I ran up to Dugan Falls on the Washougal River in Washington.

How much clearance do other people have on their nerf bars?

Passenger side


Drivers side


Dugan Falls at 7200cfs. If you're wondering the cat boat line is against the bank river right.

[PatO]

i'M REALLY GLAD YOU ARE POSTING ALL OF THESE COMMENTS. oops cap lock. I have the hoop steps and have knocked the heck out them on rocks especially the side door. They have 14.5" from the ground so a dropped nerf would not be for me. I had them put on because the original nerfs SMB installed in 2004 did not function well as a step (wife, not for me). Great rocker protection but no toe room. I'm very close to doing the Aluminess nerfs so really good info. Thanks, Pat

[jage]

Mine are in line with the axle tubes, but I dropped them manually. They are just the regular SMB steps not the Aluminess bars. They're pretty thin aluminum steps and steel brackets, so I think they're pretty likely to be folded, bent or dented by anything harder than a bunny.

Still I'd rather have the step be convenient for the 99% of the time it's not being pushed to the limit. So far only once have I not taken the line I wanted due to the dropped steps, and honestly any rock come along that big and gnarly- time to turn around.

Those look great by the way.

[SteveInLA]

Originally Posted by Gnarvan

How much clearance do other people have on their nerf bars?

Apparently I didn't have quite enough. On the bright side, a little bit of damage has done wonders for my 4x4 cred.



Steve in L.A.