Running Boards

[F150 Pat]

As many others my drivers side running board is at a point of taking it in under warranty to the dealer. I have have tried soaking with several types of lubricants which is only a temp fix. I don't want them taking my $100 deductible, lubing them and sending me out the door. They have been lubed by the dealer already. Question is, can I replace the pins and bushings myself or at least take them out and clean and reinstall. I cant see how to remove the hinge pins. Anyone do this? Part #s?

 

[TheDoug]

I had my passenger one die a slow death as you are describing. I was under my factory warranty at time mine died and they replaced it without problem.

I will say they did try cleaning and lubing first but ultimately replaced it. I think you just need to stay on them and be adamant about it because it needs to be replaced.

 

[RacerBX1]

I don’t have power running boards on my Expedition, but did have them on my 2015 F150. Them not moving well is not covered under warranty, so if the dealership will do it under warranty take them up on it. I had mine serviced once and it cost around $200. Not sure if they replaced the pins or not. The hing pins are press fit. A kit for the F150’s was offered by Summit Racing I believe. I did not try it myself because I don’t have a press to re-install or put new ones in. I managed to keep mine going for a long time using a GM General Lubricant (ordered from Amazon). I tried other lubes without luck. Besides the GM stuff an ideal lubricant would be a graphite lube because that would not attract dirt and crud. You can get cable lube kits for bikes and motorcycles that have needles and are graphite lube. If you can make that work it would be the best choice other then replacing the pins and bushings.

 

[F150 Pat]

Thanks. I'm going to the dealer. We'll see!

 

[F150 Pat]

Replacing motor and hinges today and my Left front wheel bearing tomorrow. I'm thinking it cant go that smooth. We'll see tomorrow!

 

[NyackRob79]

My driver side automatic running board stopped working a month ago (72,000 miles). It's been deploying slow during the previous months. Then it simply deployed half-way out.

Dealer replaced the motor under extended warranty. It works like new.

Now my passenger-side is going slow as well. I give it another few months before it bites the dust.

From what I hear, the replacement motor + labor are around $1k.

As the old saying goes, the more moving parts, the more to go wrong.

 

[Air00Max]

Speaking from past experience, the motor on one of the running boards was $1K w/ labor through Ford. I was able to find a motor on Ebay from someone, but it was difficult to find one for the EL. I had that motor replaced myself. I later added an extended warranty through Ford and the other running board went out; Ford replaced it under warranty with no issue.

 

[F150 Pat]

Motor and one hinge replaced. Hinge was pretty much seized. Works great now.

 

[dlcorbett]

Mines is doing this now on the passenger side. Of course it does this when I'm not In The states to do anything about it and my wife took it across the country. Will see of warranty will replace and if the can do it at a ship where she's at, or if she will need to wait.

In the mean time, was there a way you were able to get them to work? The board seems to get stuck intermittently.

 

[F150 Pat]

Plenty of hinge lubrication.

 

[Calidad]

2019 just had my first goofy running board issues. Read through this thread definitely helpful. I did notice a fine gritty stuff splashed on the fender and running board before it started getting stuck. Best guess someone rinsing fresh cement off equipment and I drive thru the gutter wash etc. The step
Took a light assist from me to retract and definitely had a gritty feel to it.
I hosed and cleaned the hinges off then soaked them good (rinsed them) in chain lube. Definitely made a difference no more issues but I had to do it twice over a 5 day period to get rid of the gritty feel.

I suspect the clearance on the hinges is just about right for hard slilica grit to bind things up. And if you go to long having the system fight with the binding I would expect it fries the control board due to the added power load.

The only way to protect against it is probably avoid use when your in a situation where high silica road grime is a issue like de icing treatment in the winter lots of cinder used on winter roads in the PNW. Etc

Then a really good cleaning and probably a couple of good lub rinses before you turn it on again.

Kinda lame but I can’t think of another way to avoid screwing these up otherwise

 

[duneslider]

I am having an issue with my passenger side too. Started after several miles of driving on dirt roads. I have washed mine multiple times, lubed them, washed them, lubed them, and still occasionally they don't go up. I am going to keep working on them but thus far my experience with them has not been great. I was also one who really thought that keeping them clean and lubing them is all you needed to keep them working...

 

[Calidad]

So I might be onto something that I hadn’t thought about. Heat/sun and expanding parts causing binding in the hinges. I’m pretty sure this is what’s going on with my rarely used passenger side which gets all the sun in my driveway. When I back in ie put it on the shady side the binding goes away. Sooo…. When I get a chance I’m thinking loosen the hinge bolt on points enough to let things shift, let it sit in the sun then re snug them. I’m betting the binding goes away.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

So here’s a different observation with my running boards. After starting to have intermittent issues with auto deploy and retract, I simply set them to OFF. But now when I open the driver’s door, I still hear the mechanism actuate as if the boards are coming out, but of course, the boards stay in. Afterwards, when driving off, I sometimes again hear the mechanism actuate as if trying to retract the boards above the threshold speed. Weird.

 

[IndyDave]

Available on Amazon

 

[2018ExpyPlatinum]

Available on Amazon
View attachment 79502

I think that's the stuff I bought and mentioned in another thread. I think it works pretty good.