Body Side Protectors (Honda) Install Summary

[zero]

Ouch! That is precisely why I got them as well.

I figure that if they get too banged up, I can take them off and replace them with a new set.

[LadyRidge]

Originally Posted by zero

Ouch! That is precisely why I got them as well.

I figure that if they get too banged up, I can take them off and replace them with a new set.

OMG I didn't congratulate you on 1k posts. Nice job. Welcome to the K club!!

[zero]

Thanks Ladyridge.

[Truckin']

zero, with the group of us expecting our BSMs any day, I'm bumping this thread. You did an outstanding job in your pictures and explanations. It will help all of us that are doing a self install.

THANKS!

[zero]

No problem, Truckin'. Glad to be of some help.

[Truckin']

I'm going to tag on some installation pics with Zero to show how we modified the instructions a bit and got our BSMs put on to our satisfaction. We got our BSMs a couple of days after returning from Sedona but had to wait until the weekend for spare time and good weather to install them. Look at the beautiful day in this first pic taken in my backyard!

The most time consuming thing was driving all over town looking for a rubber roller. Zero, if you'd been online I would have inquired where you got yours. We went to Home Depot, WalMart, Target, Harbor Freight, Auto Zone, Sears, Bed, Bath and Beyond (sheer desperation) and finally to Lowe's before finding one. It's called a Jay Roller and is used for applying laminate counter tops. It cost $12. We got a flexible 18" ruler at Harbor Freight that has mm marks for $5. That's more than I wanted to spend for tools, but it was just what we needed.

[Truckin']

This first pic is just of Harold holding up the top front trim to see how it looks. You install the back top trim first and work forward then back on the bottom. We followed the measurement instructions on the left side. By the time we added the second top molding on the front door, I noticed we were high at the opening side of the front door by about 1 or 2 mm. Not much, but enough that I wanted to make sure we didn't keep putting them on crooked. I'd just read a bunch of the install threads and recalled Duncan's tip for making a template out of thin cardboard. I found a piece of cardstock and cut the five lengths that are used with two of the 100 mm size for the lower trim on the front door. This helped us with the rest of the strips, but I still eyeballed them to make sure. We came up with yet another strategy on the passenger's side when the measurement method would have left the top front trim about 3 mm low.

[Truckin']

It took a few minutes to cut the measuring templates, but it actually made the measuring go much faster. The 100 mm straight across on the front door and 100/102 mm slightly sloping space on the back door between the top molding and the bottom were a breeze.

When we started on the passenger side of the truck, we went faster than we'd gone on the driver's side. A word of caution: make your measurements in the approximate location of the lines in the drawing on the instruction page. If you measure too far in from the edges of the doors, it throws your lines off.

Another hint is for you to have another set of hands if you have the luxury of doing so. It sure helps on the stepping back to eyeball it and with getting both ends lined up. We also peeled it off after the initial end stick a couple of times and that would have been more difficult with only one person. I know a few people have done the whole thing without the measuring and most have done it by themselves, but I am not that brave.

[Truckin']

When we placed the measurement for the front top molding on the passenger's side, it would have been about 3 mm low in comparison to the back right where they meet. This is when we decided to use the ruler as a straight edge to line them up in the middle. I'll post the finished left and right at the end. There's not a lot of difference, but I think the passenger's side has a better line to the moldings.

[Truckin']

Here are the finishing steps and the end result.