Hey guys. So today we're checking out the RedRock 4x4 Side Armor with Step
Pads fitting all 1987 to 2006 YJ and TJ Wranglers excluding the unlimited models.
So if you're searching for some side steps to fill up that wheel-to-wheel space, you're looking for
something stylish and also something that's gonna do a good job of protecting your rocker area,
then this is gonna be a great choice to take a look into. Now, this is going to attach to the
frame and provide some outward protection as well as some protection underneath with
the tubular construction. What I really like about this is the fact that this is going to
have a large stepping pad up on top to help you get in and out of your Jeep a whole lot easier.
So, in my opinion, this is gonna be great for somebody who's looking for a good balance
between protection for off-road and also better accessibility for their Wrangler. This will be
especially great for the YJ and TJ owners who have added a lift to their Jeep and are looking
for better access, again, for not only them but their passengers as well. Now, like I said before,
these will be great for protection on the trail especially with the underbody protection here.
These will be made of a tubular steel construction so they will be able to hold up and they're gonna
have a nice texture black powder coat finish on top, of course, to protect that steel underneath
but also to match with any other heavy-duty accessories and to give the side of the Jeep a
more off-road look. Now with all that being said, these are gonna come in at right around $350,
and in my personal opinion, I think that that's a great price point for what you're getting.
Not only will you get better accessibility, you're also getting that better protection
with minimal modification. Now some other options that are gonna focus a little bit more on
protection are usually going to require a lot of modification especially to the side of the
rocker area. They may mount up directly to the body of the Jeep and mount on the body points
and then some other choices are usually going to be for that lighter protection
and more focused on accessibility which will usually consist of a step bar instead of a tubular
construction like this that's reinforced and also has a stepping pad. So, again,
in my opinion, I think if you're looking for a good balance of protection and also accessibility,
you're also looking for something stylish in the meantime, then this is gonna be a great choice.
Now when it comes to install, again, you will have to do a little bit of modification in order
to get these mounted up. We will be drilling some holes in the frame so I would keep that in mind,
but I'm gonna give this a two out of three wrenches. Nothing you can't do in about two
hours with some pretty basic hand tools. So speaking of the install, let's jump into that
now. The tools that I used for my install were a pneumatic impact, a pair of safety glasses,
a ball peen hammer, a 13-millimeter socket, a 13-millimeter swivel socket, a 3-inch
extension and a 10-inch extension, a center punch, a paint marker, a can of PB B'laster,
a drill bit set ranging from 5/16 of an inch down to 9/64 of an inch and a drill.
So our first couple of steps are going to include getting the side step up and positioned and we
need to mark where we are gonna drill our holes. We're gonna have to drill eight holes into each
side of the frame in order to mount up our side step. So for this step, you're gonna need
a paint pen or something to mark the frame with and you're also going to need some support for the
side step to hold it up in place. I'm gonna use a couple boxes. You could also use jack stands or
grab a friend for this step. So, like I said before, you will need to support the side step
in order to line it up against the frame so we can mark for the holes that we are about to drill.
I would like to mention that the angled mounting location is gonna go towards the front and the one
that is level is gonna go towards the rear. We are at the back mounting location right now. What I'm
gonna do is take this paint marker and make a mark on the four mounting locations for the side step.
This may be a little bit difficult to see but once I have the side step out of the way and we drill,
you'll get a better look.
So as you can see, the front mounting location is angled up because the frame does angle up
as well. So we're just gonna continue the same process and mark our mounting location.
So at this point, now that our mounting locations are marked, we can go ahead and drill
and for this, you will need a center punch. I have a center punch and a hammer here
and you will need a drill index. We are gonna be working our way up to a 5/16-inch
hole. You're gonna need a drill and also if you'd like to use a step bit, you can definitely do so.
It may make it a little bit easier but at this point, we can mark the center of our
mounting location and go ahead and drill. So first I'm gonna take the center punch. Just
line that up with the center of the mounting location and take the hammer. Make a mark.
So once we have the location of where we need to drill, what we can do is start
with a smaller drill bit. I'm gonna be using a 9/64-inch bit. You can use, really, whatever
size you need to. I'm just gonna work my way up. Really, this is just gonna be a pilot hole.
So at this point, I'm gonna move up to a 3/16-inch. Like I said,
we're just going to gradually work our way up to a 5/16-inch drill bit.
So if you do have oversized tires, it may be helpful to take off the tire for these
back two mounting locations just because you don't want to drill into the frame sideways.
So I'm just gonna continue with my 3/16-inch drill bit. Work our way up to a quarter-inch
and then last but not least, we can use our 5/16-inch drill bit.
Once the rear is complete, we can do the same thing up front.
So what we can do at this point is mount up our side step. So for this, we're going to
line it up with the holes that we just drilled out. You will need your provided hardware which is
the 13-millimeter self-tapping bolt. You're gonna need a 13-millimeter socket as well as an impact
wrench in order to secure them in there and then what I would also recommend is to loosely secure
each side separately. So I'm going to do the front and then we'll jump back to the
rear and then we can go back and tighten everything down. You're gonna need support,
whether that's a friend or the supporting box or jack stand that you used before
on one of the sides in order to get everything lined up correctly.
So we can take our supplied self-tapping bolt.
I'm just going to loosely thread that into the mounting location then we can take our
impact wrench and 13-millimeter socket and we can tighten that up.
So after this bolt is tightened up, what I did was just backed it out a little bit
after the threads were cut. So now that it has a thread through the frame,
what we can do is just back it out so we can line all these other bolt holes up.
So I'm gonna continue that process with the other mounting locations and this 13-millimeter socket.
So after the front is complete, we can start on the rear. We're just gonna do the same thing.
So for this top one, I'm also using that extension.
So for this one, you may need a 13-millimeter swivel socket just because there is a curve
on the side step here. Now at this point when everything is attached, what we can do is just
make sure that everything is tightened down and then we can repeat that process on the other side.
So at this point, we can take a 13-millimeter socket. I'm using a swivel socket and I'm
also using a longer extension. May just depend on how much room that you have
and I'm gonna use that 13-millimeter socket and tighten those up.
So after everything is tightened down on this side, we can repeat that same process on the
other side and you'll be all set to go. So that is going to wrap it up for my review
and install. Make sure you like and subscribe for more videos and products just like this,
and always keep it right here at extremeterrain.com.