I went out for a little off road fun last weekend, and seemed to bump and rub the running boards on my Explorer quite a bit. My question is this, Do other Explorer owners usually take the running boards off or leave them on?

I took mine off. In addition to the clearance, it made my truck look a little higher. My lady doesn't like it cuz she has to climb up awkwardly, but she's getting used to it : ). Hope you don't regularly pick up elderly people, or have kids, or other people that might have difficulty getting up.