ICI Magnum side steps.

Well guys I was going to get into some long drawn out post about how pissed I am with what I bought but Ill get right down to the facts.

I love the look of the ICI Magnum side steps so I bought some. Turns out the hardware is for crap if you buy these side steps plan on having problems with the install and especially with the hardware. ALso check over them very well I found 2 chips in the black finish so now I will have to spend more money to make them right. I have not contacted them yet as these were just installed yesterday and they probably are not open today but I will be contacting them soon to see if there is anything they can do to make this right.

Install was pretty straight forward and simple a pair of jack stands go along way to helping hold them in the proper location while you tighten up the nuts.

In the pic with the nut you can see the chip in the paint and on the last photo you can see where the cheap ass hardware they supply with the kit broke off inside the nut attached to the frame rail. Hopefully They will make it right. By looking at the pics you can see the condition of the box and how it arrived. The pic on my front porch laying across my bench is how I found it notice all the bends and damage to the box.

My next question is there anyway to get to these nuts that the bracket mounts to that is on the inside of the truck so I can take the one with the broken bolt in it out and replace it with another one so I can finish mounting all the hardware. Basically if I take out the interior trim panels and pull up the carpet can I access those nuts on the inside? Right now I only have one bolt in the front bracket and one bolt in the middle bracket on the driver side. I would rather complete the install using nuts and bolts but could find someone with a welder to just weld the damn things on at this point

Note according to the instructions it says NOT TO USE AN IMPACT DRIVER when doing the install. So I did not, the bolt that I broke was done so with a cheap 3/8" drive rachet. Notice the rachet laying on the ground in pic 5.

 

Had the same poor bolt quality with the ones I got last Christmas for my Tundra, they were calling for more torque thsn the bolt were rated for. I got a higher grade for replacement, and wqas reimbursed by the vendor for the cost. Just a pain in the ---.

 

The brackets look pretty thin also. I'd send the whole thing back and look at other options. I get the whole wanting a different look, but i would be fed up by now.

 

I seriously considered those but went with the Westin HDX Drop Steps. Similar look, great quality. I'm happy so far.

 

Could send it back but this really is what I was wanting Its just a matter of buying some 8M 1.25 25mm Grade 8 bolts. Which is proving to be a little harder than I thought. Either way they are on and looking good so I just need to swap the bolts out once I get them.

As far as the brackets they seem very solid. they are beefier than they look. They are definitely stronger than the floor boards that they are mounted to. I really don't like the way they mount to the bottom side of the cab seems kinda chicken shit but I'm working on welding some brackets to the frame and really making these function as needed. Im not small and neither are most of my friends.

 

Hey man do you have any pics installed on your truck?

 

You can't access the weld on nuts by pulling up the carpet. You would need to cut the floor boards open to access the underside of where that nut is. Also be careful with torquing the bolts in those factory threads. I just replaced my factory tube steps, and remember seeing in the instructions (after I tightened everything down) to torque them to ~24 ft/lbs.

Best bet, you may be able to extract the bolt using a bolt extractor, as long as the bolt isn't spinning (which means the nut is no longer welded to the body (I had this happen to one of mine, and all I could do was get the bolt cut, as the old steps were still installed at the time).

 

I drilled the busted bolt out an retapped all the threads pulled another bolt out and tryed it in the freas tapped threads and it worked like a charm. Bad thing is there is another one where the welded nut did pop loose so now I've got to figure out how to get it renutted. I think there is a rubber grommet near by so I way be able to get a wrench inside there to hold a nyloc nut on that one.

So since ive decided to replace all the bolts with grade 8 bolts and they are a little tricky to find what about just ordering ARP bolts do they carry grade 8

 

Here's a quick phone pic of the Westin steps!

 

They look good. Any chance you could take a side shot a little further away to see the full truck?

 

Here's what I have on me at the moment. Different angle.

 

Thanks.

 

how much was the hardware ? I should be receiving this same steps today , thanks .

 

It wasn't to bad i don't remember exactly maybe 20 bucks for everything. Also don't forget I would recommend getting the right tap and trace the holes with a tap in the bottom of the cab. and a good lubricant like wd40 would make it easier.

 

I know people are having problems with these ICI steps hardware, but these ICI steps are just the best looking Ive seen. They look to good for me to let bad hardware stop me from buying them, which is why I just ordered some for my super white Tacoma and cant wait to get them. I dont see having a problem getting the proper hardware. I have a fastenall right down the street from me, and there is always McMaster.com if it comes down to it.