Nurf Bar Help

[Ford_Fanatic]

I have a stock 1996 (production year 1995) ford explorer xlt 4 door 2wd 6 cyl that does not have nurf bars or side steps. all It has is a simple skirting or molding around it. I purchased a pair of factory nurf bars to install on it that came off of a 1997 explorer for $30 bucks (what a steal right!) and painted them up to match the bumper and molding color. I figured that since most explorers within a few years would be produced the same and have some mounting bolt hols that I could just bolt these to but I don't think it is the same configuration. What am I missing? I called the ford dealership and asked them if they had a PDF on installation instructions and no dice. I don't want to drill holes I don't have to, and if I do have to I don't want to put them in the wrong place. HELP!?

P.S. Black hole FANATIC!

 

[Joe Dirt]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281308

All 4-door 2nd Gen Ex's have the factory holes. All you will be missing are teh clips shown in that thread, if they don't come with your running boards,

Are they boards or bars? Post a pic of what you've gotten...

 

[Ford_Fanatic]

they were off of a 1997 explorer. my camera is broken but they are identical to on of Turdle's post (although I thing they were originaly on Gman's Black hole lol)

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279443

Anyway these are identical to the ones I have. I didn't actualy pull them off of the vehicle myself but 16 bolts came with it and I called the guy back this evening to see if I could come back buy to get these clips but he already got rid of it and said they were just bolted to the vehicle...duh.

I crawled under to have a looksie and there is a row of holes parralell to the stock molding that used some of the holes for plastic bolt inserts. which would mean that I could put 2 bolts in each of the 4 brackets per side but there are no holes for the oblong holes in the top of the bracket.

I think I will have to go buy the clips (C-clips?) and just take one of the bolts with me to match them up. When I do get the hardware I will post in here the complete install with pics on my new camera! what do I do about the top bracket holes? will they work ok with just 2 bolts per bracket?

 

[Joe Dirt]

No- the top holes must be used. You have them, they're under rubber plugs. Similar to the one further down from the red circled hole in the 5th picture.

Look above teh parallel holes- there are 4 plugs from front to back corresponding to the location of the two holes at the bottom. You will have to pop the plugs off if your truck has never had running boards.

 

[Ford_Fanatic]

do they make special clips for those holes, or are regular metal clips sufficient? I called autozone and advanced auto, and they don't carry those parts. I think these are dealer items only.

but yes i do see the rubber plugs roger that. I will call the dealer tommorow and ask them if they have any clips, or if they need to be ordered.

 

[Joe Dirt]

they're pretty heavy threaded clips that the bolts screw into, they're in that pic in my other post linked above. However many are in that pic I have, I won't be using them, so you're welcome to those at least...

 

[Ford_Fanatic]

Well first I went to the local parts place for the nuts and bolts. No luck on the clips but the bolts were 8 for 5 buck = 15 bucks just for the bolts. I went to the dealership and they wanted a dollar a peice for the clips X 16 = 16 bucks that would be a total of $30 which is what I paid for the steps to begin with. My father-in-law told me of a place called Stot Bolt that specializes in stuff like that so I went there (with a printed picture of your bolt and clip layout mr dirt . They have a 5 dollar minimum and a 25 peice minimum and I got scared. he looked up the parts and said for 25 clips and 25 matching bolts would be $7.83 total. I said hmm let me think about it yea I'll take them. The whole drive home I was saying wow...wow...wow

so then I got out my tools and air compressor and pulled out the 4rubber plugs. to make it simpler, and so that the holes would match up, I installed each L shaped bracket individualy, installing the clips and then the bracket and the bolts. in some places I had to drill through the plastic molding where there was a hole in the metal, but in some spots there was no hole in the plastic. I left the bolts loose on the brackets so I could adjust them when I installed the tube.I installed all 8 L brackets then mounted the tube, gave it a little wiggle and installed the bolts that mount the tube to the bracket.

I got out my phumatic ratchet, and tightened the 10mm bolts from the tube to the bracket first, then tightened the three bolts holding the bracket to the frame all from font to rear. WHALA! they realy look awsome. I want to take some pictures so bad but thanks for all of your help Joe Dirt your posts and knowledge realy made this easy. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!


THANKS AGAIN GUYS

 

[Joe Dirt]

You're welcome! Nice job on the bolts and clip-nuts!

Glad you got them on... Looking forward to pics!

BTW- the links you posted aren't working... (The addresses are abbreviated so they won't link)