APS Off-Road Aluminum Running Boards for Access-Cabs

I was looking for running boards mainly to provide some door ding protection from other cars in parking lots. I didn't like any of the OEM offerings and zero degree rock sliders are too expensive and heavy.

I only saw a few people have these boards installed but liked that they were made of aluminum so they would be rust free and to not add too much weight.

I found these on Amazon for less than $250.

$219 APS Off-Road 6.5in Side Armor Stainless Steel Running Boards Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 2005-2023 Extended Access Cab (Nerf Bars Side Steps Side Bars)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079P9646Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Took me about an hour to install by myself with only a few hand tools. With a helper to hold the board and a socket driver I figure it would have only taken 30 minutes.

Pros:

• Great price, and came well packaged in a heavy duty box with foam blocks at the ends.
• Light weight aluminum running boards (rust free!) Note: brackets and bolts are steel.
• Easy install. Uses stock mounting points already on the truck. Only needed tools are a flat screwdriver and 13mm wrench.

Cons:

• NOT rock sliders. These bolt to the cab rocker panels so any impact applied to these will be transferred to the cab (not good).
• Brackets that hold the rails to the brackets are simple sandwich type. Kind of fiddly so you have to adjust the rails to be level.
• Instructions are kind of simple and not clear about bracket mounting (minor gripe). Took me a few extra minutes to figure it out on the truck.

Overall I'm happy with the purchase, but I'd wished the weather would have broken a few weeks early so I could have installed them sooner. I've already gotten a scratch on the passenger door from trip to the grocery store from a careless driver.

 

Nice! I have these installed on my taco too. I feel like you lose a good amount of ground clearance though from the rockers but yes they are light and rust free and that’s why I got them.

I did, however, hear from some video reviews that the nuts, bolts, and brackets are prone to rusting so see if you can give them a good coating of some rust prevention. That’s what I did for mine.

 

They look good on your truck. I have been considering these too. Most negative reviews are about the rust issues with the mounts and hardware. I like the look and that they are not heavy, but wonder how they will hold up. The finish looks like it would scratch easily.

 

The finish on the boards feels like a crinkle type paint while the brackets look to be a simple black paint that scratched easily with tools.

I decided to fluid film all the brackets and hardware after mounting them on the truck to see if I can hold off on any rusting.

 

Here's a one year update to how they've been holding up for anyone interested.

So far they've held up great though this past New England winter. They got blasted by ice, salt and road spray and look great. The weakest part is still the hardware as they're painted steel. The running boards themselves being aluminum held up fantastic.

The fluid film I applied to the hardware wore off as the winter progressed as they hang down in the spray of the tires. I didn't re-apply the fluid film during the winter and the brackets are just showing the slight hint of rust at the edges where the paint is thinnest (see below). I figure I'll attempt to keep any rust at bay by having to re-apply some fluid film periodically as they're so exposed.