I'm Ryan from extremeterrain.com and this is my review and installation of the Amp Research
PowerStep fitting all 2007 and up JKs.
Today we're gonna talk about the construction, and of course, how you get these installed
on your Jeep.
Generally when you're considering a side step for your Jeep, you're either looking at a
side step that doesn't offer protection that will hang down a little bit lower but be a
very useful step, or you're looking for a step that's tucked up closer to the body and
still offers some protection to the Jeep but you sacrifice a little bit of that convenience
in your step.
This PowerStep is going to be a nice balance of both where it'll swing down to make it
very easy to get in and out of your stock or lifted height JK, but when you close the
door, it automatically retracts up under the body and gets out of the way.
However, this is not going to be able to take a lot of abuse on the trail.
So in my opinion, this is for somebody who wants a very easy to use step that will then
swing up out of the way so it's not visually impacting the way that the Jeep looks.
However, this is not going to swing up out of the way and provide any type of protection
or make it so that you can go off road and conquer the hardcore trails with these side
steps.
On top of that, these steps are going to be very expensive, so I would not want to take
your Jeep off road and put these in a situation where they could get crushed or damaged.
These side steps can really be broken up into two main components.
One would be the step itself and the other would be the motor and the mount.
The side steps that come in this kit are an anodized die-cast aluminum that is covered
in a non-skid black powder coated finish and in my opinion, they're a really nice step
by themselves.
They're going to be lightweight while still being very strong.
But, when you combine them with the brackets and the motors that allow these to move in
and out automatically when you open and close the door, you really have the complete package.
These brackets are made of a billet aluminum.
And the motors that are included in this kit are an automotive OEM grade weatherproof motor,
so even though these are going to be under the Jeep, you won't have to worry about them
being damaged from the weather.
These side steps also include two LED pods for either side.
So as well as the convenience of being able to get in and out of the Jeep easier, you're
also going to be able to see what you're stepping down into.
And this kit also includes the wiring harness that you'll need to get this hooked up for
power and so that they'll automatically swing down and swing closed again every time you
open and close the doors.
Overall the installation for these side steps is definitely going to be more involved and
more difficult than installing a traditional side step.
I would give these a strong two out of three wrenches because there is some wiring and
a little bit of drilling to do.
So if you're somebody who's not comfortable with automotive wiring or isn't comfortable
drilling a hole in the pinch seam of your Jeep, I would recommend taking these to a
shop to have them installed.
So as far as the installation itself goes, the first step is to remove any existing side
step or Rubi rail that you might have on the Jeep.
Once those are removed, you can install the brackets that come in this kit.
Up front, they'll just bolt to the bottom of the tub and onto the pinch seam, but in
the rear, you will have to drill one additional hole to make sure you get the strength you
need for these brackets.
Once you have both the brackets installed, you'll attach the motors to the brackets and
finally bolt the side step onto the brackets themselves.
You can slide the side steps forward and backward on the bracket.
So you'll just want to make sure you get them centered underneath the rockers before you
tighten them down.
From there it's just a matter of installing the LED lights and then you can move onto
wiring.
As I said before, the harness that's included with this kit does make the wiring pretty
simple.
You will have to make a couple of splice connections for the LED lights, but the motors themselves
will just plug in.
You'll also have to make a couple of splice connections into the vehicle's wiring harness
itself so that the side steps know when the doors are open and when they're closed as
well as making a connection at the battery for power and ground to power the new side
steps.
If you are somebody who's comfortable with automotive wiring, the instructions and the
wiring harness that come in this kit do make this fairly simple.
However, if this is a little bit outside of your comfort level, you can certainly take
this to a shop for install.
The whole installation process will take you around four hours give or take.
You won't need any specialty tools to get it done although you will need a drill and
some good drill bits as well as all of your wiring tools and some traditional hand tools.
As I said before these steps are a little bit expensive.
But, I do think that they're completely worth the price that you have to pay for them.
Everything from the build quality to the quality of the design and the motors to the fact that
these can hold 600 pounds per side all mean that they are very well built.
You couple that with the fact that they're made in the U.S.A. and you have a very high-quality
product that you can be proud to own.
However, a lot of you guys are going to say that this is just out of your budget for a
side step, and that's okay.
If you're okay having a side step that hangs down a little bit lower and isn't motorized,
there are a ton of options on the market that are going to be a tenth of the cost of these
steps.
But, if you absolutely want a powered step that's going to flip down and then tuck back
up out of the way every time you open and close the doors, I think that this is a really
nice option as long as you have the budget for it.
So if you're in the market for a set of powered side steps that'll make it easier to get in
and out of your Jeep but then fold up out of the way to retain that sleek profile view
on your Jeep, I would definitely recommend taking a look at these ones by Amp Research.
So that's my review of the Amp Research PowerSteps fitting all 2007 and up JKs that you can find
right here at extremeterrain.com.