Nerf Bar, flimsy mounting

In looking at the various manuf for nerf bars, I see reviews that complain about flimsy mounting, two vs. three brackets. Most manuf pictures don't show the actual bar for the truck.

Anyone have recommendation on a chrome (oval preferred) nerf bar with two mid-mounted brackets. (I think it's the bars with mounting at the ends that are suspect.) Westin seemed to offer this in one of their lines (they seem really expensive though). Dee Zee appeared to only have end mounting.

Thanks!

 

I have Westin oval stainless steel bars... they have three brackets per bar. For the bars, instalation, tax and brackets it was $430 bucks... can't beat that! I love them

 

Hey WesfirstTacoma, The Westin might be a bit more in price, but the quality is there. On their Signature Series (3" dia. round tube) they offer a 5 year warranty of the finishes. Not many others have that.

Westin also has the oval tube steps like you are talking about.

 

Thanks for the info on Westin. I've seen some on the road, and they do have good quality. It's best to go with what works well. I'm sure they'll look good on the Tacoma too.

Thanks!

 

I have n-fab nerf bars and I have been very happy with they. (Only 2 brackets per bar)

 

Keep in mind that 99% of the nerf bars out there mount to your body mounts which will flex due to the rubber doughnut in there. Westin does make a universal 3" round nerf bar with frame mount brackets if you want to drill your frame and have a solid mount. It isnt recommended that you drill your frame though

 

Just curious why you would not drill a frame ??

I have drilled Hundreds if not thousands of holes in truck frames over the years .

A round hole does not hurt anything it is vertical welds that can bite you in the butt.

 

I used to have Smittybilt bars from 4 Wheel Parts....they had 3 mount points and were sturdy. And also the cheapest of all the ones I found.

 

99% do not mount to the body mounts. no clue where you've seen that. most mount to the frame (tube steps) or cab pinch welds (running boards). most of the round or oval bars use a bolt under the front cross-member and a threaded stud attached to an oblong piece of metal to drop through the rectangle hole behind the front door on the frame.

and I agree with @Wyoming09 a small drilled hole in the frame is not going to compromise the structure. That's why they make bolt-on. If you're really worried then get the weld-on

 

Ive installed tube steps for 20 years. Most on the market install to the body mount. Only in recent years are they starting to install to existing OEM threaded inserts on the pinch weld but that is roughly 2008 and newer model trucks. A few earlier like 2nd gen tacomas have threaded inserts but that only started in 2005. Frame mount bars were mostly done away with around 1998 when automakers started using T1 steel in their frames for the purpose of hydro forming the frames and drilling holes in these new frames greatly weakens them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6NO8fWJzJc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_afuH5-_8o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t72iCjagl2w

 

I had westin nerf bars....finally put sliders on....the other half can still use them to climb in the truck. I like the sliders much better....the westins would give a bit with me standing on them and I don't weigh much.