Describe the differences please

Might be a stupid question but what are the differences between Rock sliders, Step sliders and nerf bars? I’m not sure if I saw photos of each I would know which is which. But are their functions different?

 

Step bars chincy metal typically rounded bulbus and chrome with plastic tread plates usually hung low as to facilitate a comfortable and easy step for egress and ingress of the vehicle.

Nerf bars typically made of better metal usually 3/16-1/4 aluminum tougher and usually a little higher mounted up but stick out and down enough that they can be used as steps comfortably, grip is usually from dimples or raised slashes in the metal instead of plastic tread plates.

Both nerf and steps are mounted to point on the BODY of the truck and will crumple fold up, bend, tear out and rip up the body if you try to jack, lift, slide, or pivot with them.

Rock sliders are in a class of their own.

Made from thick steel reinforced with square or round tubing and mounted to the FRAME of the truck they are structural armour tucked up high and tight to the body for off-road use prowess and protection of the body's rocker panels they are capable of supporting the weight of the vehicle while sliding over rocks and ledges but they do not make great steps as they are usually angled and do not stick out or down as much so they don't grab obstacles off road or decrease ground clearance meaning they're usually too high to make comfortable steps. Many have a "kick out" that can be used to shove the truck side ways away from a tree or rock and also be used as a pivot and or jack point for the vehicle using a high lift jack.

They are usually welded and/or bolted directly to the frame with large and numerous bolts compared to the smaller and fewer with sliders and nerfs.

So in short, steps are steps, nerfs are tough looking steps pretending to be sliders, and sliders are armour for sliding on rocks.

All depends on what you wanna do.

Sliders, you can see how high and tight they are. They stick up and out only as much as the tires and are above the bottom of the frame by a half inch or so so they aren't the lowest point but they protect the doors and rocker panels from touching something that would damage them as seen here:



Sliders touch, truck don't.

 

Just get sliders and make sure they have a base plate, the ladies will apreciate it after getting on in heels.

 

What are these called? Is that all the mounting hardware needed?

 

What a great explanation. Thank you.

 

Those are nerf bars. Yes, you have to have all the mounting hardware. They typically bolt to the cab mounts.

 

And these?

 

Same thing, those are for a regular cab. The other ones are for a double cab.

 

Thank you.

 

Yes sir

 

Not sure if you need anymore help but these are rock sliders with reverse dimple filler plates made by RCI.

 

Good picture, thanks. Sliders are what I want.
Thank you everyone for the great explanations.

 

At the risk of sounding like a dick, if you don’t know the difference between the 3, you likely do not need rock sliders. Save your money until you are getting your truck into situations where you need to slide over or around a rock/tree/etc to get to your destination. Rock sliders are heavy, expensive, and can make getting into and out of the truck harder.

 

Well, I said, might be a stupid question. My question doesn’t make me stupid and your opinion does not make you a dick. Point well taken. Thank you for sharing.