N-Fab Wheel to Wheel Installed Today

Got my N-fab steps today and from some of the posts I've seen I thought there might be some issues installing them. Actually takes longer to unpack them than it does to put them on! N-Fab does a great job of packing them up so they arrived without issue. Pretty basic stuff, but for those who are wondering, it takes about 10 minutes per side to install them by yourself.


1. Unpack them and lay them out. (The instructions have an error in that they say to have the long piece of tube to the rear (correct) and the bent flanges facing towards the rear of the vehicle (wrong). The mounting holes are not evenly spaced so they will only go on one way. The picture shows them laid out in the correct way with the bottom of the picture facing the front of the vehicle.


2. Remove the plastic plugs (the black plug with the slot in the photo). There are six factory plugs but you will not use the front inner hole so only need to remove 5 plugs per side.


3. Assemble some of the bolt / lock / flat washer combos and hoist one of those puppys up. Get the two bolts started in the center flange and then put two bolts in the rear flange and one in the front. Align the steps front to back (I shoved mine as far forward as they would go...there is about an inch of adjustment). Tighten all the bolts to 15 ft. lbs. and repeat the process on the other side. Total time from Box to truck was about 1/2 hour, with half of that spent pulling staples and unwrapping the bars.


NOTE: For those who were asking, the steps do not get in the way when getting in and out of the front of the truck. The hoops are positioned in such a way that you miss them with your leg which is one of the reasons I got these steps. The other is that my Lady is only 5'4" and I needed to do something to keep the peace.

 

Looks good. Do you think they stick out far enough to prevent parking lot door dings?

 

Looks good....nice truck

 

These are 2" ones not 3" correct?

 

Those are 2"

 

No, they don't. Got a nice pair of dents in mine from a runaway shopping cart. Paintless dent repair scheduled for 1/3.

 

Correct they don't stick out far enough

 

Looks great. That is next on my list.

 

For that you may want to look into Avid bolt on slider style steps

 

Just received my Nfabs and ran into a fitment issue on the driver's side- there is a decent sized gap between the front mounting bracket and the truck. The passenger side fit perfectly and took about 4-5 mins. to install by myself (without lifting it). I think I could run a longer bolt, but I'd rather have a proper (flush) fit. Anyone else hear of this issue?

 

Ordering cab length for my rig next week.

 

Loosen all the other bolts that you've already mounted it with, and see if you can move it enough to get the bolt threaded in the hole. If that doesn't work, start by threading this bolt first and see if you can get enough leverage to make the other bolts line up.

 

I've tried your first suggestion and I can push it close enough to reach the thread. It doesn't line up perfectly though, and there is quite a bit of force pushing back. Even if I do get it to thread in straight, is it safe to have 'that' much pressure on the bolt? I'll try your second suggestion tomorrow and begin with the front bracket. See what that's all about. Thanks.

 

N-Fabs or Smittybilt N-Fabs ?

 

I put these on my truck. Just a suggestion. If you think you may want to remove these some day use anti-seize on the bolts. I had to use a tap to clean out the threads on my truck before installing because they were rusty then used the anti-seize on the bolts.

 

N-Fabs. 3" . Manufactured in Houston.

Purchased online from Ontario.

 

@SprtBkr: Tried suggestion 2 and it worked. Once I bolted the front bracket, the middle was flat and flush, the rear was off (gap between truck and bracket) but it was easier to push up and bolt in (due to the longer length of bar in the back). There was still a fair bit of resistance though. I'm guessing there is a manufacturing defect of this driver-side bar though with regards to how/where the brackets were welded onto the bar. The passenger-side went on 'flush' and without any issue. Do you guys think it's safe for the driver-side bar to have that much resistance on the bolts? Or should I return it and get a replacement? Check out the pic showing the difference between the two sides. The driver-side bar is slightly touching the truck (and I do have the bar slid all the way to the rear), and passenger-side has a comfortable gap.

 

Here are my 3" NFab

 

I bought Smittybilt and they didn't fit. Manufactured backwards and tube touched the front frame cab mounts. They are being replaced under warranty.
According to Smittybilt rep, short end tube mounting bracket to center mounting bracket should be 30". If your's don't measure 30", make them replace thie steps.

 

I have the 2" Wheel to Wheel Bars. I have them as far forward as they will go and there is about 1/2" gap from the end of the front tube to the pinch weld (closest point). There was a very slight gap on one bracket, but nothing abnormal. I put all the bolts in loose and then torqued them to 15ft. lbs. waited a bit and re-did the Torque. Everything went flush and fit fine. As to dings...not gonna help if it is a big truck, the steps do stick out enough if a car opens their door into the step. The rails are pretty much flush with the outside of the rocker panel, the tube steps stick out to just about even with the tires so would be a 1/2" or so past the tires on a stock TRD OR or Sport Taco as the Pro has about 1/2" more wheel / tires extending out than a stock Taco.