Should I Get Running Boards for My Truck?

As a teenager, I always wondered if running boards were really necessary as I had no problem hoping right up into my grandpa’s old Ford truck. Now that I am older with 4 kids of my own, my views about running boards have changed.

Should I get running boards for my truck? You should get running boards for your truck to make it easier for you & your passengers to get in and out safely. Running boards are especially helpful for kids and elderly passengers. Running boards will also protect your seats from wearing out.

Running boards or side steps come in many types, sizes, and styles with some more attractive than others. They all provide functional help for you and your passengers and many can add a nice touch of personalized style. Let’s take a closer look.

Three Running Board Types

Though running boards are actually a specific type of side step, running board is also a common term loosely used to refer to just about any type of side step fixture that runs the length of the cab beneath the side doors of a pickup truck or SUV. To use the term loosely, there are three main types of “running boards,” as follows:

Running Boards themselves
Nerf Bars
Rock Sliders

Even though these are all different types of running boards with different benefits, they all share one benefit in common, providing a step to help you climb into your truck or SUV more easily. Here is a quick run down of the three different types.

Running Boards

Running boards are the most classic style of the three. An actual running board is essentially a fixed, wide, fully flat surface that runs from the rear of your front fender to either the back edge of the cab of your truck (Cab Length) or to the front of the rear fender on your truck or SUV (Wheel to Wheel).

These flat running boards often have some kind of grip surface that runs the full length of the board to help with traction so you don’t slip as you step in or out of your truck.

When you have a wheel to wheel running board on your truck, that extra length between the back of the cab and your rear fender provides a great step to help you more easily access the front part of your truck bed.

Fixed running boards come in metal or thick plastic mounted on metal brackets. For fixed running boards, the plastic style seems to be the more common of the two as this style comes from the factory on many newer SUVs. More and more, most newer trucks and SUVs are being equipped with nerf bars and power running boards (discussed below).

As mentioned above, there is also a much newer and more modern version of the running board that has become very popular. It is the power retractable running board which sits tucked away under the rocker panels of the truck until a door opens, at which time it extends down and out for a nice step to get in or out of your rig.

Nerf Bars

Nerf bars are metal tubular bars, round, oval, or even squarish in shape, that come in cab length or wheel to wheel configurations, much like a running board, but with indented sections with a tread grip near each door access. The wheel to wheel nerf bars also have an indented tread grip along the front side of the truck bed to help access the front part of the truck bed, much like wheel to wheel running boards.

Rock Sliders

Rock sliders run right along the rocker panels below the doors of a truck or SUV between the front and rear wheels. Rock sliders are made of heavy duty steel and are usually bolted or welded directly to the truck frame for a very strong and solid mount.

The primary purpose of rock sliders is to protect the body and doors of your vehicle during serious off roading. As their name implies, rock sliders are intended to be able to come into contact with rocks or other obstacles like a stump or log press or slide against it without damaging the body of the vehicle. Rock sliders are intended to handle supporting the full weight of the vehicle without breaking.

Being used as a step is only a secondary purpose to rock sliders as they usually sit higher than other running boards and only some sliders have steps molded or built into them.

Functional Help of Running Boards

The biggest benefit of most running boards is the function they perform to assist you getting in and out of your truck more easily. Most trucks and SUVs sit higher off the ground than cars do so you have to climb up to get into them. This is usually fine until you go to load your kids or Grandma & Grandpa and they struggle lifting their legs high enough to get in. Running boards make it so easy to just take a lower step up first so they can get in easily.

When your truck is lifted, having a running board to be able to get in and out becomes even more beneficial.

Even if you are in great shape, the ability to step up into your truck will also help prevent premature wear to your seat. When you step onto a running board, it raises the level of your backside so it can sit down into the seat without sliding across it. So many truck and SUV seats wear out on the outer seat edge from drivers sliding up & in or down & out and running boards can reduce or eliminate this premature wear.

As mentioned before, a wheel to wheel running board helps you access the bed of your truck from the front sides. It makes it so you can step up and reach down in without being stopped by the tall bed rails. Also, you can reach farther across towards the center of the bed to access bed space more easily. This is especially helpful when you have a truck bed toolbox mounted in the bed.

Additionally, as you are able to step up into your truck with a running board instead of jumping or hopping up in, you will find it so much easier for yourself.

When you are wearing nicer clothes but your truck or SUV is dirty, running boards make it easier to keep your pants clean as you climb in and out. This is because with the running board, you can step on it at a point further out to the side from where your legs usually dangle when sliding out without a step. See my article here about mud flaps as those can also help when trying to stay clean.

Running Board Style

As far as style is concerned, some running boards, like the older flat steel or aluminum boards, just look much more old school. Some people are OK with this as the function is more important. However, many of us want more modern style or we want the functional help of the running board as a step while also maintaining as much ground clearance as possible.

A Nerf Bar definitely looks a little more finished and modern than a traditional running board. However, sometime the step height is not as low or wide so it’s not as helpful when it comes to stepping up into the truck. Nerf Bars can come in polished shinny chrome surfaces or be painted for a more subtle look.

Power retractable running boards, like the one found here, are very popular because they are often undetectable when they are tucked up under the rocker panels with the doors closed. When the doors are open and they drop down, they often have a lower step up height from the ground than fixed running boards and nerf bars so they are more helpful for getting in and out.

Power retractable running boards are one of the best choices for a lifted truck because you maintain the desired increased ground clearance and looks when in motion, yet you get a pretty low step to be able to climb up into the taller truck. Retractable running boards will also allow more clearance for wider and larger tires to be installed. See my article here about how to make truck tires stick out.