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Interior & ExteriorDiscussions about the interior, and exterior of your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "Nerf Bars", within the Interior & Exterior forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
I just picked up a Tundra about 3 weeks ago, and I need some step bars since my wife is pregnant. The one accessory place here was pushing the Westin's, which they offer for $320 without installation. Are there any others I should look into?
Thanks,
~J
$320 seems a bit high. A few weeks back I found a site that had the black ones for $149 and the crome bars for $199. I do not remember where. Just do a search in yahoo for nerf bars and you will find it. It may take awhile. If you can't find it, just go to ebay, I saw that they have black ones for $149, but the crome was $275 I think.
Good luck, Barry
Well, I've looked a bit online, and it looks like most chrome ones are around $300. Are there any other cheap ones I should look into? Are there some brands to avoid?
chrome will deteriorate much faster than stainless. if you want a shiny mirror finish, stainless is by far the way to go, particularly for something like a tube step/nerf bar...the first time it gets "used", or even after a few months of being stepped on, chrome will show its relative lack of durability as compared to stainless.
chrome is for polished bikes, hot rods, and other things that dont get stepped on or crunched .
...if you are looking for durability and willing to consider black, a black powdercoat (not paint) is the most durable option by far. a friend of mine with nerfs was hit from the site by a honda civic, it left a scuff mark on the powdercoat, the truck was of course untouched, and the civic suffered mr-t style pain. nothing beats powdercoat, but if you want shiny, stainless is worth the money.
Re: Is stainless worth the extra price on nerf bars?
Quote:
Originally posted by vmaam I can't decide whether to get stainless or chrome for my Tundra.
Does anyone have a MAPP nurf bar?
In all actuality you can have both. If you get 304 stainless you can mirror finish this. the best part about it is you can take care of it and re-polish it every now and again to keep the finish.
With chrome plating you can pitch it after you scratch it, or live with it's new pin striping.
Most companies dont make a 304 stainless nerf bar though. Most I believe are using 409.
I made my own out of 304 stainless and long grained the top and mirror finished the outside edge.
I guess I will have to take some pics when its clean to show you guys.
so you're saying that most of the stainless bars are actually a 409 alloy with a chrome plating?
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didn't know that. glad i got a silver truck with black accents, i can stick with good ol' black powdercoat .
vmaam, if you hit up a muffler shop that works on show cars, they might be able to bend and weld a 304 stainless bar which you could then bolt or weld on, but you'd be doing a bit of the work yourself, since you're probably wanting bolt-on, and this sort of custom app would probably mean you'd need to drill the frame.
I'd like to just pruchase a bolt on. Laneer is selling a stainless one made by MAPP. Have you ever heard of them? It's only about $289 pus $60 for installation.
nope, sorry...but waag makes a very nice set of wheel to wheel bars, completely bolt on so you can diy in a few minutes, really nice, and i know they do something shiny, chrome or stainless i dont know but im pretty sure its stainless. they'll cost 100 bucks more for the parts than the mapp, but they're a very high quality part.
Originally posted by DeepStealth sounds like a really nice set of nerfs.
so you're saying that most of the stainless bars are actually a 409 alloy with a chrome plating?
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didn't know that. glad i got a silver truck with black accents, i can stick with good ol' black powdercoat .
vmaam, if you hit up a muffler shop that works on show cars, they might be able to bend and weld a 304 stainless bar which you could then bolt or weld on, but you'd be doing a bit of the work yourself, since you're probably wanting bolt-on, and this sort of custom app would probably mean you'd need to drill the frame.
-sean
Naw they usually use some grade of steel that is pretty rigid but then they chrome plate it. I dont think you can actually plate stainless steel. I dont think it will take any thing but paint or powder coating and I am not sure if those applications will even work that well on stainless steel.
You would actually have to ask the company that makes them. They should be able to tell you exactly what grade of stainless steel they are using. I personally have not asked a company what they are using, because I planed on making my own anyway, but if they say mirror finished stainless steel, that is 304 stainless. If it just says stainless steel then it could be any of the above. I have seen some stainless nerf bars that look like hell after they have been on the veh. for a while, and I have seen some that are pretty good. I know for sure that you can not polish 409 stainless.
I appoligize for my previous post as I did not explain this very well.
One thing to remember about mass produced nerf bars is that they have low weight limits, most I have found are in the 350 - 400 lb range. This is not much when it comes to having a nerf bar as protection.
Mine are not wheel to wheel, they are actually a functional step bar but at the same time they have a weight limit of around 1200 lbs, as this is higher than the frame bend weight the frame flexes when I have over 450 lbs on the bar but that is down pressure and not up pressure, havent tested that yet. The max I have had on the bar is around 450lb 2 250 lb men. did fine. Plus the fact that is is a 4" x 1" flat tube it comes in handy for highlift jack applications.
Anything you fabricate "most likely" will require quite a bit of work on your part. For my bars there was a total of approximately 20 man hours between me and my dad making and installing them. It is not an easy project, and if you want them to look good you need to pay attention to detail and not rush yourself.
I have to wash the truck so I will probably get some pics maybe this weekend or the weekend after next and post them.
Originally posted by vmaam I'd like to just pruchase a bolt on. Laneer is selling a stainless one made by MAPP. Have you ever heard of them? It's only about $289 pus $60 for installation.
I have the MAPP ( Mid America). Thats about what they cost me. They look fine. If they install like mine you shouldnt have to pay $60.00 to install. They bolted right on with 2 brackets on each side and only took a few minutes to do. good Luck--- Buzzard
I work at a company that manufactures nerf bars. Most of the bigger names in the market including ours are made out of 304 stainless steel and polished to a mirror finish, or also called a super buff. Powder coating is extremely durable only if you start with a material or coating prior to a powder coat. You look at almost any nerf bar that is 1+ years old and they will show signs of rust. Nothing with stick to a polished stainless steel including paint, chrome plating, powder coat etc. Some companies are powder coating, plating over stainless but the stainless is a mill finish, not polished, but still have a hard time sticking to the stainless.
No doubt about it, a chrome plated stainless would appear or sound the best out there, but one must think about it for a minute, nerf bars are located right behind your front wheels and WILL get rock chips and chip the chrome plating away eventually. Then you are left with a dull stainless finish behind the bright chrome plating that just chipped away.
In my opinion, as with our companies, the best product is a 304 stainless steel nerf bar that will last forever and can be repolished to look brand new again. You can not do that with the chrome plated over stainless as you will still have the chipped chrome.
One other option to consider if you don't like shiny products, is to purchase a set of stainless steel nerf bars and rough them up a bit and have them sprayed with a Line-X type product. We have made many samples like that and they look awesome, BUT, most people will not pay the amount of money it takes to make it profitable for us.
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1996 T100, 180,000 and counting
nerf bars
Re: nerf bars
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