Installed the Aries nerf bars from Truckxessories.com

Not much to say about the install of these as it is very straightforward and took less than an hour. The mounting holes are plugged and you have to push the center of the plug inwards to release. Don't waste time trying to pull the plug without doing this first, or you'll tear the collar off the plug and end up having to push the whole thing into the frame rail.

I installed about a week to 10 days ago and have the following observations:

1. The bars don't come with any end caps which surprised me a little as they will likely collect snow and salt in the winter and need to be flushed out.

2. They lower your ground clearance to about 9 inches. The brackets, while substantial, may just be waiting to get hung up on the first rock that you try and climb over, or at the very least they will act like a plough should you be driving in mud.

3. The bars may actually hinder access to the vehicle. Lets face it, you don't actually need a step to get into the Ridgeline. I'm 6'2'' and my wife is 5'4'', and both of us don't use the bars as a step, but because they extend your reach into the truck we have both actually caught our heels on the plastic step that's fixed to bar. Just waiting for the scream that my muddy bars have ruined her best pants or dress.

4. In taking the photos below, I noticed that the mounting bolts have alread rusted. Would have been nice to have some stainless or zinc coated bolts.

All said, I'm of the opinion that the bars are very much for appearance rather than being practical. They do look good though :)

those look great man. Did you have to drill those holes yourself for the bolts?

I put the Aries Nerf bars on my Red Ridge as well....no drilling. Just mount them loose set the alignment and tighten. Added the Bush Guard but had that done for 50.00. Looks great :cool:

Great pics. Thanks for posting them.

Those look every nice. I might get some.

Great job on the "how-to"! Very informative pictures!! The bars look great on your truck Lingered_I.

These look great! I too have Black and have been considering this addition to my Ridge. How's the pricing on these?

These look great! I too have Black and have been considering this addition to my Ridge. How's the pricing on these?
I paid $227 all in.

Maybe I got what I paid for. :(
A guy at work shouted 'Hey rust' and pointed at my truck today. He was pointing out that all the bolts attaching the nerf bars to their brackets were rusted. A trip to the SS/zinc bolt section in Home Depot coming up I think.

Be warned.

Maybe I got what I paid for. :(
A guy at work shouted 'Hey rust' and pointed at my truck today. He was pointing out that all the bolts attaching the nerf bars to their brackets were rusted. A trip to the SS/zinc bolt section in Home Depot coming up I think.

Be warned.

Lingered, Very nice post! I also have a black Ridge and we were trying to decide between the Chrome and Black versions! That is until we saw the fully retractable units from AMP. You open any of the four doors and they move into position. Close the doors and the step retracts up under the rocker panels out of sight and they appear to have zero affect on ground clearance. Anyways, for your installation just replace the hardware with cad plated or stainless and you will be fine. BTW, are the ends of the tubes capped off? If not you can have a muffler shop weld caps on the ends or a machine shop can whittle some stainless caps with "O-Rings" so road salt and junk can't corrode them from the inside. I think your RL is coming along very well.:)
Ron

Thanks dude. Ive been looking at bars like this for my RL. They look great on yours. I was pricing some for around $460. Not the same deal you got tho. I will need to look around some more. Over all tho, How do you like the way they look and how much do they actually hinder you when getting in your vehicle?

I like the way they look very much (apart from the rusting bolts). I think that they make the truck look less slab sided. Regarding access, I'm fairly tall so I just step over them, although I occassionally catch a heel on the plastic step. Some, shorter, passengers have commented that it makes it more difficult to get in. There seems to be a relunctance to actually use them as a step and use the grab handle to swing into the vehicle.

For 5S - nope, there are no end-caps, but thanks for the tip.

I have the exact same set of bars.

I have the exact same rust.

But they are very solid and do look OK.

I too will be changing out the bolts.

Those look great!

I do agree with you that any type of sidestep, especially the running boards, actually hinder your ability to get into the vechile. I usually step over my running boards when entering my truck, and step on them when getting out of the truck just so I don't get my jeans dirty! LOL I bought them because I think they will prevent road splatter from getting on the side of the truck, and the Ridgeline just needs something on the sides to complete the look.

I agree on the look thing. I've been trying to decide what to go with. The nerf bars are pretty good looking, but they would not protect the under edge of the truck from the splatter as much. Thanks for the pics on the height of the bars. Do they stick out from the truck about the same as the side steps?

Thanks for your post on installing the Aries Nerf Bar / sidestep. It was very helpful to my selection prcess and just as good for install. I bought mine on e-bay from TREX Mtorsports, $167.00 delivered all in. Incidentally they came with removeable end caps. We just mounted them on my brand new Ridgeline ( Metallic Steel Blue / black bars) as I turned 100 miles. I was fortunate enough to have a dealer demo for two weeks while waiting for my truck and can only confirm what others are saying about the joy of driving / owning this terrific vehicle.

Welcome to the board divotdog. I'm glad you've been finding the postings useful. We aim to please :)
So you got end plugs with yours huh? I've been washing my truck once a week since the salt season started, but haven't flushed my bars yet. I was amused to get home a couple of weeks ago after driving in heavy falling snow, but reasonably clear roads, and finding a build up of about 6 inches of road slush on top of the bars that wasn't there when I set off. I wasn't expecting that. I still think the truck looks better for them though.

Thats why I choose Westin, stainless and lifetime warrenty.

I see why you went with Aries, good price.

What's snow ?