Amp / Bestop boards....ripped through body panel, and the fix

So.........after 2 years of my not so thin ass jumping around like a monkey on my Bestop powered steps.......I ripped the front mounts through the thin body panel (inner rocker). These are held on with the same style of rivnuts that the OEM boards use. And....they suck. Not enough meat to them and - well, here's the result.



A few weeks ago, I saw a post here where someone linked this video:

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I called AMP, ordered a set of the plates. Cost, $32 shipped to my door.

Here's what they look like up close and personal:







I got 'em welded on today



was eyeing down the nifty dirtymax in the back with the escalade front end.



I'll get the boards back on tomorrow......or early next week. Will be nice to know that they aren't going to rip out of these thick plates now!

good I hope the way I got my OEM boards mounted hold up better. Since mine didnt come with them from the factory with the press nuts or the boards

I want a set of those sooo bad LOL glad you got 'er fixed up JJ

They should have given them to you since their original mounting method failed...especially given the cost of these.

I heard that BEstop isnt as good quality as AMP...

any real difference?

everyone has to notice that it wasnt the steps that failed. It was the OEM mounting location that is used on the truck. So that means even trucks with the OEM step bars should watch out. It is a dumb setup that Dodge has should be better renforced.

Unless JJ needs to eat less food LOL

kkreit01 said:

They should have given them to you since their original mounting method failed...especially given the cost of these.

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Amp doesn't owe me anything.....I have Bestops.

a_guerrajr said:

I heard that BEstop isnt as good quality as AMP...

any real difference?

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None that I've seen, other than length of warranty.

LB3711 said:

everyone has to notice that it wasnt the steps that failed. It was the OEM mounting location that is used on the truck. So that means even trucks with the OEM step bars should watch out. It is a dumb setup that Dodge has should be better renforced.

Unless JJ needs to eat less food LOL

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In my chats with the dealer......and Chrysler....I have learned that this failure isn't uncommon. If the rivnuts are installed incorrectly, fail. Heard about a guy that bought his truck in WI and was driving it home (somewhere) and in STL his steps fell off. 600 miles on the truck. Awesome.

The dealer installed OEM steps on the truck when it was new - I had them remove those when I bought the truck. The rivnuts were reused on the Bestop boards. Surprise surprise........Chrysler wouldn't warranty it. Instead I got to listen to a ******* service manager - who single handedly made my decision on where to buy my cars from now on. Stupid move on his part....I've bought 5 brand new vehicles from that dealer since May 07.

As for less food? Beh, I gotta keep up my girlish figure!

god those wheels are dirty...you are slacking....lol

I might clean 'em next week.

yah, clean those wheels for me, you know I'm all about a clean truck LOL

bigbadram1500 said:

yah, clean those wheels for me, you know I'm all about a clean truck LOL

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Glad you're getting them fixed. Think whenever the day comes that I'm going to order a set of steps, I'm just going to order up a set of those plates also.