Toyota OEM Side-Tube Step Bars: Sandblasted & Refinished

I'm new-ish to the world of TacomaWorld (registered a long time ago, never really participated... I guess I was a bit of a passing troll, sue me). This may have landed somewhere already, feel free to hate if so. I was doing some digging while prepping to trade in my Gen-2 Taco for a Gen-3 and discovered that the part number for the Double Cab Side-Tube Step Bars was the same for both the later model (2011-2015) Gen-2s as they were for the Gen-3s. So, those baby's came off my old truck and are going on the new one!

Now, before you get that project done, make sure you check the rear most brackets for wear, I live in the Northeast, where sand is used a lot in the winter. The rear-most brackets were absolutely sandblasted.



Through some trial and error I sanded down the factory powder coat a bit to scour it up, sprayed two coats of self-etching primer on the whole brackets, and hand painted them with Herculiner roll-on bed liner. Everything is still curing in my basement, but that should make them a little more resilient to the ballistic sand and pebbles that the crappy roads here in Maine present. I'll take some after photos when I get home tonight before re-assembly begins and update you all.

 

"Troll, sue me and hate"... all 3 words in first sentence. You will fit in well here me thinks.

Can't see your pic tho.... need to use the "upload file" button down in right hand corner VVVVV

sub'd for pics.

 

Isn't self-etching primer usually for bare metal (aluminum)? I figure a good epoxy primer would work better on old paint or powder coat unless you stripped it completely bare. NBD

 

Thanks for the tip.... it was the "more options" button that I wasn't seeing. Got it now.

 

I consulted my brother on this issue just as much as I trialed and errored. I first attempted undercoating, and that didn't adhere at all to the aluminum. My brother's a painter by trade, and he made the recommendation to use an acid based self-etching primer (actually he gave me the primer out of his stock, 2 cans of PPG Paints Self Etching Primer). He also recommended Herculiner over other brands of roll-on bed liner, since it is a poly based.

 

So, the brackets came out great, the steps sides came out awesome, every looks great. That said, looks aren't everything, right? Well, turns out I don't think Toyota much designed these for removal and reassembly. Two of the three bolts I attempted to install resulted in the grommets (for the lack of a better name) to brake free from the tube with just finger tightening. This I assume is either a product of either galvanization of the aluminum, failure of the grommet themselves, or some sort of f***ed up installation from the dealer that I got my original Gen-2 from (and who ultimately did the original side tube installation two years ago). I took some photos of how everything came out before it all went to hell, not sure if you all are interested... Let me know, it may be worth it for an idea. I imagine if these were new out of the box I would have different very different results.

 

Came up with a few ideas as to a repair on these bars to make them work. I sincerely think that there was something up with these from the original installation... oh well, live and learn.

 

So, got everything implemented. I gotta say, these trucks look 100x more complete with a set of nerf bars on 'em. With a 1-15/16 inch hole saw, some 2 inch CalPlug grommets, some stainless bolts, fender washers, lock washers, and serrated locking nuts; I got them all back together. I drilled the hole close enough to the brackets to afford me space to get a wrench and hardware inside the tube. It's not a perfect solution, but it saved me hundreds over new OEM and new aftermarket tubes. Please excuse the white smudges around the hole, I used a little Gorilla Glue brand construction adhesive to hold in the grommets, then forgot to take a photo of the hole so had to quickly remedy that situation (the aluminum is really thick, so I wanted to be sure these didn't have to be constantly replaced).