Keep running boards deployed

[Larryjb]

Our running boards just got fixed, but I'd like to set them up so they stay deployed. I tried the setting on the computer, but they stay deployed until the ignition is turned on and they default to Automatic again. Is there a way to keep them deployed permanently?

Larry

 

[Mountain_Dewd]

Pull the fuse while they are deployed. I forget which one it is (19, 15?) in the engine compartment fuse box. I was just noticing mine was pulled, but don't remember the exact fuse it was and don't have owners manual at the moment.

 

[hlg99]

Fuse #19

 

[tripplec]

I read somewhere they're not a strong as they appear to be. They may get damaged especially in winter hanging out there.

 

[hlg99]

I haven't try scraping a curbstone with them, but they've held up to me climbing up and down to scrape snow and ice off the truck.

 

[tripplec]

I am sure they can handle any body in the least. Little or not climbing up on them. LOL

 

[hlg99]

Turns out they are not as flimsy as they look. I weigh in at 200 with clean drawers.

 

[tripplec]

Ok A full normal load Hig... LOL I am a bit more than that so we'll leave that alone. When I have had Wings and a stein of beer more again.

But down to reality they have to handle any owner pretty much or else. But I don't think you want to clip anything with them which could be a mess if you did.

 

[Larryjb]

Perhaps the hinge mechanism is too exposed to potential road debris. I guess I'd better leave the system alone. I'll keep in mind the repair I read about elsewhere in this forum, or replace the running boards with stationary ones if these cause any further trouble.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I bought ours 07 EB last year with them deployed and stuck open. I took them off, spent hours trying to get the hinges working again. No luck, the hinges are made of some very brittle alloy, and they just break easily. Ended up getting stationary ones form a wrecked Eddie Bauer in perfect condition for $ 150. No more headaches.

 

[Larryjb]

The running boards stopped working a couple of days ago when it was raining. Today I unhooked the electrical connectors on each side, sprayed the inside with electrical contact cleaner, mashed in some fresh dielectric grease, then snapped it back together.

Then I noticed that the insulation of one wire had worn through to the copper wire inside. So, I covered the back end of the connector and the exposed wire with liquid electrical tape, then wrapped the entire connector from the connector to the plastic wire conduit with electrical tape. I'm going to hope, for now, that the main problem was electrical. I may have to remove the running boards and clean up the insides of the motor itself, but when it works, it works well. When it doesn't, it just doesn't, so I suspect it was electrical and not the motor.

Larry

 

[DavidEBSmith]

I am sure they can handle any body in the least. Little or not climbing up on them. LOL

Nope, the hinge on one of ours broke while my wife was standing on it trying to get into a rooftop carrier, and she's the small one in the household. Been driving around with one running board for a year.

 

[Larryjb]

 

[Explorer_PL]

...what I said. Those hinges are made out of who knows what metal ???? Feels like plastic mixed with metal shavings. They break easily.

 

[tripplec]

Aluminum will disintegrate with enough salt exposure and we know salt will hit it in ample quantity over the years. Good thing a fall causing an accident did not occur to the wife. She'd be telling you off for not knowing it was bad. But who would thing that could happen.

I wonder if the wife pondered where or not a diet was necessary as a result. Who knows what went through her mind.

 

[DavidEBSmith]

I wonder if the wife pondered where or not a diet was necessary as a result.

I checked the owner's manual and it tells me not to use my Mountaineer as an ambulance but nothing about weight limits on the running boards.

 

[tripplec]

And they couldn't which make you wonder how strong it really is. Some apparently are doing better than others. My son is going to put tub rounded end bars which mount to the frame later. The ought to hold two people. Front and rear doors at once. LOL