Will '95 running boards fit a 2001

[1993Saturn]

I have a set of '95 running boards on my '94 and now I would like to repaint them and put on a 2001. Are there any surprises that would prevent the swap? I'm going to also grind down the bolts that go down through bottom because they can really rip you up if you need to squeeze under there. I'm already a tight fit anyway .

 

[EB4X]

According to this company there ONE second gen aftermarket model fits ALL years of our second gens -- 95 -01 ....so with that I'd say you're good to go as far as bolt up....if you google a 95 Eddie Bauer and a 2001 Eddie Bauer you will notice some very slight contour details but not significant.... you are referring to 'running boards' and not 'nerf bars'....
Link:
6" iBoard Running Boards Fit 95-01 Ford Explorer 4-Door | eBay

 

[1993Saturn]

I'm calling the factory installed ones running boards. I don't know what Ford officially calls them. Here is a picture of the regular model where the ends of the boards tuck in at the wheel openings. The picture of the Eddie Bauer shows additional overlaid fatter moldings around the wheel openings that flow into running boards which don't tuck in at the ends. To do a swap from a '94, it would have to be with the ends that match up to Eddie Bauer fender extentions or the different XLT type that tucks in the ends of the boards at the wheel openings.

 

[CDW6212R]

The boards will swap from 91 to 2001, if the bolt holes in the body are still usable. Get under the truck and inspect those, they go in horizontally from the inside, the top ones are thread inserts in the body. So those should be okay if there's little rust on the truck, but look first. Each bracket uses thread bolts, and the later 98-01's use an additional small support for the rear end of the boards(you don't need those).

 

[1993Saturn]

I see that your vehicle doesn't have any underseal sprayed along the side panels below the floorpan like my 93 and 94. Mine also had flat plugs filling the bolt holes for mounting the boards and it took some scraping to find them and get them out. Looks like you don't have a rust problem there, which is good. What was the repair that was done. Looks serious.

 

[CDW6212R]

I see that your vehicle doesn't have any underseal sprayed along the side panels below the floorpan like my 93 and 94. Mine also had flat plugs filling the bolt holes for mounting the boards and it took some scraping to find them and get them out. Looks like you don't have a rust problem there, which is good. What was the repair that was done. Looks serious.

That's from the reconstruction of my 99 Limited. The seam you see there is where I clipped the body, the front is the 99, the whole rear truck is my old 93 Limited. It's in my 99 thread linked in my signature. My 93 truck was a total from Ohio in 1998, and the 99 I got in 2006 from a NC junkyard. I haven't put the 99 running boards back on it yet, and I didn't have enough undercoat to do the wheel wells. So I have a little to go, it's my mail truck and I'll convert it to V8/AWD some day.
Here's the bottom of it just before bolting it back down in 2006.

 

[1993Saturn]

Wow. More work than I want to do, but it would have been fun if I had been able to have helped you with it. I almost did the same thing with my 93 Saturn of drilling out spotwelds of mine and a donor back half, but upon sliding the 2 pieces together, my measurements showed the front half of my car was twisted 1/2", so I had hit a dead end and couldn't continue. Now it is all recycled. The time wasn't wasted, it provided great experience.
As it turns out about the origin of this thread, I was going to get a 2001 XLT that would have needed boards put on it from my '94 (which actually came off of a '95). Instead I found a nicer '99 Eddie Bauer that had real 4x4 and it already has running boards on it. So no swapping necessary. I'm still going to grind down those bolts poking down through the bottoms of them so I can get in and out from under it if I need to without a jack.This one has 16s on it so it will already be easier.

 

[CDW6212R]

Very good. Enjoy the new truck, I hope it doesn't need much work. I keep getting into trucks that people didn't so much with, so my latest 1998 is nearing $1000 in maintenance stuff. I am counting about $250 for transmission fluid/filter and upgrades. That ATF is expensive now.

 

[masospaghetti]

The boards will swap from 91 to 2001, if the bolt holes in the body are still usable. Get under the truck and inspect those, they go in horizontally from the inside, the top ones are thread inserts in the body. So those should be okay if there's little rust on the truck, but look first. Each bracket uses thread bolts, and the later 98-01's use an additional small support for the rear end of the boards(you don't need those).

View attachment 176733

On my 98 XLT (which did not come stock with running boards), the bottom row of holes were drilled and had the threaded insert installed, but there was nothing even drilled for the top row of holes. Access is limited so you'll need a right angle drill to make these holes.

I went with sheet metal screws for these holes with RTV sealant (which also serves as a threadlocker). Sheet metal screws, admittedly, aren't very good fasteners but they are still tight eight years later.

 

[CDW6212R]

On my 98 XLT (which did not come stock with running boards), the bottom row of holes were drilled and had the threaded insert installed, but there was nothing even drilled for the top row of holes. Access is limited so you'll need a right angle drill to make these holes.

I went with sheet metal screws for these holes with RTV sealant (which also serves as a threadlocker). Sheet metal screws, admittedly, aren't very good fasteners but they are still tight eight years later.

So yours just had sheet metal there for the top holes? The bottom pair for each bracket hold the vast part of the weight and forces. The top bolt you referred to is almost minor, it shares shear forces for the weight, but nothing sideways(compression if you want to count that). If you bounced the running board on a high rock or curb it would want to pull the top bolt out, but that's not going to happen I doubt.

 

[masospaghetti]

So yours just had sheet metal there for the top holes? The bottom pair for each bracket hold the vast part of the weight and forces. The top bolt you referred to is almost minor, it shares shear forces for the weight, but nothing sideways(compression if you want to count that). If you bounced the running board on a high rock or curb it would want to pull the top bolt out, but that's not going to happen I doubt.

Yes, just sheet metal on the top holes. I agree the top hole doesn't have a ton of load on it. If it did the sheet metal screws would have worked loose or failed by now.