- Joined
- Jun 30, 2017
- Posts
- 1,162
- Reaction score
- 1,632
- Ram Year
- 2017
- Engine
- Hem 5.7
So after weeks of mulling over white knuckle or Maple Offroad I finally pulled the trigger on the Maples. First and foremost Neil at Maple was absolutely amazing with his customer service. I will definitely be buying more from Maple. I had a tight timeline to get these installed before my camping trip this Wednesday so after talking to Neil via email he assured me he could get them to me and he nailed it. Plus side to me ordering Maple in the beginning was price, 1)cheaper by about $50 total after shipping, 2) timeline, 3) shipping service was UPS which had a frieght location 20 min from my house.
I went with the full top plate on mine with no coating as I was gonna raptor line them. Last Thursday I picked them up from UPS.
I sanded, with 80 grit, thoroughly cleaned and laid acid etch primer first. Let that cure for a day. Then I wiped down again and laid down the raptor liner. I bought their kit that includes the gun. This stuff sprayed surprisingly well, I used a 6 gallon Craftsman pancake compressor. Laid two coats of raptor then let the wait begin for it to cure.
Week later I got to installing. Very straight forward. Driver's side was a bit of a *****. First on odd years like mine (2017) Neil warned me of a bundle of brake lines and wiring harness that runs along the frame. First you must take off a plastic bracket that houses the brake lines and pull it away from the frame this is near the front bracket closest to the fender. I used a piece furring strip to wedge behind it to give me room to work. I ended up doing this all myself having a buddy would help alot. I found center of the slider and laid it on my Jack and carefully lifted into place. After getting it close I put ratchet straps around it to help secure it in case it flipped off my Jack. The rear two brackets were very tight to get to. Having skinny arms would've helped getting to the top bolt on the bracket near the fuel tank. The brake line bundle must be pulled away from the frame from these areas as well to slide the backing plate behind them. I snugged the middle bracket and made sure the slider was in position I wanted and snugged the other two brackets. Then I went back and torqued evenly to 80ftlbs. This side took me about 2 hours that included taking off my old steps.
Passenger side was a breeze took maybe 25-30 min tops. Only real interference was a unused grounding stud that needs to be cut off. After that's cut off it's clear sailing. Removing the floor cubby would make getting to one of the bracket bolts a little easier but I was to far in and just struggled around it...lol All in all thoroughly impressed with these. Definitely able to jack the truck up with these. Install was maybe a 5-6 on toughness scale for someone with decent mechanical skills. I work in power plants so I'm used to working in crappy spots.
There is about a 1/2"-3/4" gap in between them and the body. I couldn't get my fingers in but I also have bushwacker rocker panel protection on there.
I opted for the standard size width on the rub rail. I will say of you want a true step the standard width won't be for you. I would definitely talk to Neil about widening that area. You can step on it but there isn't alot there. I will try and get measurements later today. One thing I may do is find some rubber and put it in between the brake lines and the backing plates.
All in all this probably is my most well built stout thing I've bought for my truck. These are worth every penny. Fit, fabrication, and customer service was all stellar. Love these sliders, Maple Wagon FTW!!
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
I went with the full top plate on mine with no coating as I was gonna raptor line them. Last Thursday I picked them up from UPS.
I sanded, with 80 grit, thoroughly cleaned and laid acid etch primer first. Let that cure for a day. Then I wiped down again and laid down the raptor liner. I bought their kit that includes the gun. This stuff sprayed surprisingly well, I used a 6 gallon Craftsman pancake compressor. Laid two coats of raptor then let the wait begin for it to cure.
Week later I got to installing. Very straight forward. Driver's side was a bit of a *****. First on odd years like mine (2017) Neil warned me of a bundle of brake lines and wiring harness that runs along the frame. First you must take off a plastic bracket that houses the brake lines and pull it away from the frame this is near the front bracket closest to the fender. I used a piece furring strip to wedge behind it to give me room to work. I ended up doing this all myself having a buddy would help alot. I found center of the slider and laid it on my Jack and carefully lifted into place. After getting it close I put ratchet straps around it to help secure it in case it flipped off my Jack. The rear two brackets were very tight to get to. Having skinny arms would've helped getting to the top bolt on the bracket near the fuel tank. The brake line bundle must be pulled away from the frame from these areas as well to slide the backing plate behind them. I snugged the middle bracket and made sure the slider was in position I wanted and snugged the other two brackets. Then I went back and torqued evenly to 80ftlbs. This side took me about 2 hours that included taking off my old steps.
Passenger side was a breeze took maybe 25-30 min tops. Only real interference was a unused grounding stud that needs to be cut off. After that's cut off it's clear sailing. Removing the floor cubby would make getting to one of the bracket bolts a little easier but I was to far in and just struggled around it...lol All in all thoroughly impressed with these. Definitely able to jack the truck up with these. Install was maybe a 5-6 on toughness scale for someone with decent mechanical skills. I work in power plants so I'm used to working in crappy spots.
There is about a 1/2"-3/4" gap in between them and the body. I couldn't get my fingers in but I also have bushwacker rocker panel protection on there.
I opted for the standard size width on the rub rail. I will say of you want a true step the standard width won't be for you. I would definitely talk to Neil about widening that area. You can step on it but there isn't alot there. I will try and get measurements later today. One thing I may do is find some rubber and put it in between the brake lines and the backing plates.
All in all this probably is my most well built stout thing I've bought for my truck. These are worth every penny. Fit, fabrication, and customer service was all stellar. Love these sliders, Maple Wagon FTW!!
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
