Aliexpress bed step

[ATestBishop]

EGAD! You fought and you won there... Way to see it through

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[RCMUSTANG]

Welp, install is complete, but boy did it fight me. Passenger side was fine (which thankfully I did first), but the driver's side was cursed. Not only was it the side with the scratch (which is definitely noticeable) but then getting the original trim piece out was a bother. Not one of the scrivets wanted to come out without a fight, and then one of the 3 bolts was so rusted the metal clip embedded into the original trim had to be spun free of the plastic to get it off... (And then babied with PB Blaster). And then I discovered the Alibaba bracket was welded off kilter and one of the 4 bolt holes wouldn't line up no matter what I did.... After taking it in and out 5 times trying to make it fit I finally just had to send it with the bolt cross threaded, as I wasn't taking that mfer back out and ordering another. Took half an hour to get that one bolt in because it had to cut new threads the whole way. Then I realized there were two cracks in the bracket in the throat of the right side... (I was so focused on the scratch in the plastic I didn't even look at the metal parts closely I guess). Ended up drilling holes at the end of the cracks just to stop them from propagating and will maybe see if I can get a friend to touch them up with a welder sometime in the future (that'd mean needing to pull the plastic shroud again though, so it may just stay as-is unless it starts to rust out or something...) Then of course several of the plastic clips decided to slip and not line up during the final trim install which buggered them up, but thankfully the kit came with extras.

All in all I can't say I recommend the alibaba steps. You get what you pay for. Thankfully I'm only $175 into them or I'd be very pissed right now. Final fit and finish is at least good, that's all I can give them. The plastic clips don't snap nicely into the bosses on the trim pieces like the original, and the spots for the metal clips aren't quite molded properly to hold the metal clips positively, but I don't know that these matter all that much in the end.

Also some tips for install, the round pins on my brackets were both bent, and had to be straightened up to fit in the holes. I also found rather than shorten them it was easier to pop the two bolts and scrivet holding the forward wheel well divider partially (there's two permanent rivets which prevent it being removed entirely) and then you can squeeze the bracket back. Also highly recommend the loosening the bumper/trailer hitch method rather than drop it entirely. That worked a treat. Torquing the bumper bolts back to the specified 148 ft-lbs was fun, but you get stuck doing this no matter what.

I did notice one bracket of mine was probably bent from shipping as it didn't totally line up with the step. I just pried it enough to line up. No biggie. I have a feeling those cracks are on the factory ones as well. I don't see them as a big deal and not worried about them cracking on the future. The clips didn't sit tight on about 70% of mine so i just dabbed them with some silicone to keep them from falling out during install.

 

[ChronciallyChronic]

Welp, install is complete, but boy did it fight me. Passenger side was fine (which thankfully I did first), but the driver's side was cursed. Not only was it the side with the scratch (which is definitely noticeable) but then getting the original trim piece out was a bother. Not one of the scrivets wanted to come out without a fight, and then one of the 3 bolts was so rusted the metal clip embedded into the original trim had to be spun free of the plastic to get it off... (And then babied with PB Blaster). And then I discovered the Alibaba bracket was welded off kilter and one of the 4 bolt holes wouldn't line up no matter what I did.... After taking it in and out 5 times trying to make it fit I finally just had to send it with the bolt cross threaded, as I wasn't taking that mfer back out and ordering another. Took half an hour to get that one bolt in because it had to cut new threads the whole way. Then I realized there were two cracks in the bracket in the throat of the right side... (I was so focused on the scratch in the plastic I didn't even look at the metal parts closely I guess). Ended up drilling holes at the end of the cracks just to stop them from propagating and will maybe see if I can get a friend to touch them up with a welder sometime in the future (that'd mean needing to pull the plastic shroud again though, so it may just stay as-is unless it starts to rust out or something...) Then of course several of the plastic clips decided to slip and not line up during the final trim install which buggered them up, but thankfully the kit came with extras.

All in all I can't say I recommend the alibaba steps. You get what you pay for. Thankfully I'm only $175 into them or I'd be very pissed right now. Final fit and finish is at least good, that's all I can give them. The plastic clips don't snap nicely into the bosses on the trim pieces like the original, and the spots for the metal clips aren't quite molded properly to hold the metal clips positively, but I don't know that these matter all that much in the end.

Also some tips for install, the round pins on my brackets were both bent, and had to be straightened up to fit in the holes. I also found rather than shorten them it was easier to pop the two bolts and scrivet holding the forward wheel well divider partially (there's two permanent rivets which prevent it being removed entirely) and then you can squeeze the bracket back. Also highly recommend the loosening the bumper/trailer hitch method rather than drop it entirely. That worked a treat. Torquing the bumper bolts back to the specified 148 ft-lbs was fun, but you get stuck doing this no matter what.

Due to these being Aliexpress parts, the low price and who knows what Chinese materials I'm pretty certain you're going to see that black plastic fade very quickly - I'd very quite surprised if the plastic components have much if any UV stabilizer in the polymer formula.

As you said, you get what you pay for.

 

[FergyA]

Due to these being Aliexpress parts, the low price and who knows what Chinese materials I'm pretty certain you're going to see that black plastic fade very quickly - I'd very quite surprised if the plastic components have much if any UV stabilizer in the polymer formula.

As you said, you get what you pay for.

To be fair, the factory trim pieces I took off were already fading, and those have only been on there 14 months. They did feel noticeably heavier than these too though... We'll see how they hold up.

 

[FergyA]

I did notice one bracket of mine was probably bent from shipping as it didn't totally line up with the step. I just pried it enough to line up. No biggie. I have a feeling those cracks are on the factory ones as well. I don't see them as a big deal and not worried about them cracking on the future. The clips didn't sit tight on about 70% of mine so i just dabbed them with some silicone to keep them from falling out during install.

Yeah, mine was this way too, but it meant that the top bolt pattern was about 1/8th inch off too. I ground the one hole a little wider, but it still fought me. In the end I was limited by where they put the bend in the piece holding the round stud.

I'm not super worried about the cracks either, but I did notice as I flexed the step the cracks did widen, thus my decision to drill them and remove the stress concentration. That way the cracks don't spread any further at least. (I've dealt with fatigue cracks enough at work to maybe be a bit paranoid... I work in the space industry).

 

[ATestBishop]

I might do a step by step article when mine come in with overview/install, no pun intended...

 

[ATestBishop]

I did receive my kit, shipping box was a bit beat and both brackets had a tear on one side at a 90deg joint. I did need to drill out the 2 rear inner fender rivets to allow clearance to properly install the brackets but luckily they are replaceable with the factory style scrivets. I did use lock washers on the 8 included M6 step bolts and reused all the OEM clips. Fitment is good but trim is not perfect fit at horizontal body line all the way around at back, OEM was not perfect at far back vertical alignment with body though, that trim line was a bit overextended. Same spot with the kit actually lined up better in that small line..

 

[ATestBishop]

Be very aware again that quality control is really not a big concern at all for most of these sellers, the brackets arrived both torn in the exact same high street area/spot. This apparently is just very common and very well could be be metallurgy or equipment related. It's kinda funny in a way though because this is truly "cutting corners" ! I just wanted to share so people are more informed

 

[ATestBishop]

This seller was very eager to dismiss it as "shipping damage" and wash their hands so any type of support will be only from the sellers platform but even then I wouldn't think they'd care

 

[ChronciallyChronic]

Be very aware again that quality control is really not a big concern at all for most of these sellers, the brackets arrived both torn in the exact same high street area/spot. This apparently is just very common and very well could be be metallurgy or equipment related. It's kinda funny in a way though because this is truly "cutting corners" ! I just wanted to share so people are more informed

I don't understand why you're dismissing this kind of crap quality. You do truly get what you pay for.

 

[ATestBishop]

The reality is there are countless of these overseas products that appear/are shown as one way but typically have a fatal flaw/s in often simple ways that render them useless in function either right away or very quickly. Being that I enjoy projects I sometimes enjoy making crap work and fixing bad products, I just thought it was funny in this case that the "corner cutting" was quite literal. I read up on this generic kit to gather information and went into it at least knowing this was likely to happen, due to budget I decided to try my luck. I may get some of the cost back from the platform/store or might not but this might induce me to explore learning welding which could be valuable.

 

[ATestBishop]

And I did experience one of the OEM captive nuts spinning out of one of the 3 perches per OEM trim mold, being that it had lock tight and no access to the nut there was no avoiding that, but at least it's repairable to preserve the OEM trim piece. Overall I feel like it's substantial project but hopefully I feel accomplished when it's completed

 

[FergyA]

Yeah, that is exactly where the one I had was "torn" as well. I drilled the root of the cracks because when I stood on the step you could see the root of the crack move. This means if the step is flapping from road vibrations (which is always going to be the case, on a micro scale) that crack is flexing too and is going to spread. The hole will stop it. Even if you weld it you should probably do this as it's possible the weld won't penetrate fully and the stress concentration will still exist.

As far as these being low quality, if the oem parts didn't cost $1200 (plus taxes & shipping) I'd be all over them, but the reality is I can buy between 4 and 10 of these for what oem costs. (Depending on the tariffs at that given moment and how much is refunded for faulty parts). If it dies I'll replace it and pay more attention to the next set, but it'll probably be fine.

I'd love for my truck to have come with them, but I bought used, so I have to do what I can reasonably afford.

 

[ATestBishop]

I understand what your saying and I appreciate you being open to share. At the very least I try to find some humor in my experience with them. I also considered bolting on a scab of steel there as an alternative to sandwich welding scabs on both sides but definitely I'm cautious about the defect being potentially worsened by any given repair. At least I'm pretty lightweight and I'm willing to fix things which helps in this case. Weld penetration and gap coverage I was hoping to avoid with the steel scabs covering a greater surface area than the tear, almost a "box it in" approach

 

[ATestBishop]

As an update I talked with the seller and submitted a partial refund request of $40, after some back and forth the seller offered $30 and I accepted. I've added some photos of the install. While I was in there I made custom bolts for the bumper brackets, took some time but I think they turned out nice.

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