Loving my ROAM frame-mounted side steps/rock sliders

[Demonic]

around 2 hours. installation is a lot different then the mk1 rails.

Thanks, yeah since the install is different I wasn't sure how it affects the time needed.

Definitely longer for me since I had the flag-nuts on the wrong side and on top of that one of the front ones was broken off out of the box.

To be honest, seeing you make that mistake helps the rest of us out haha.

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[Tpham]

Thanks, yeah since the install is different I wasn't sure how it affects the time needed.



To be honest, seeing you make that mistake helps the rest of us out haha.

its not as bad as you think. just organize all the parts as you unpack. roam will send you plenty of foam sheeting to cover your driveway to lay everything down to where everything goes. just be careful when you use a knife to remove it from the bags. i made that mistake lol.

 

[Demonic]

its not as bad as you think. just organize all the parts as you unpack. roam will send you plenty of foam sheeting to cover your driveway to lay everything down to where everything goes. just be careful when you use a knife to remove it from the bags. i made that mistake lol.

Meaning you scratched the coating on something, or meaning they no longer call you Ten Finger Tom?

 

[Tpham]

Meaning you scratched the coating on something, or meaning they no longer call you Ten Finger Tom?

lol! i scratched the coating a little bit.

 

[NPE102414]

i will tell you what wouldve been nice.....when i was ordering my roam steps a few months ago, if anthony wouldve said, 'hey, wait a month and these will be frame mounted, too" . that wouldve been nice. so what i am now is a little pissed that i bought his product for $400 and the same money buys a far better one.

So are you still in love with these? We are looking to get some side steps but most appear to be body mounted. We want something that will be able to take a hit like a rock rail (I assume rock rails are frame mounted??) but also be a step. Currently we have the stock Mopar side steps that come with the Sahara. The problem is with a 2" lift these are pretty much useless from a step perspective. Ideally we want something that hangs down a little to make it easier on the Mrs. getting in and out. But then I saw that the Roam ones are frame mounted and reasonably priced. Have you beat on them or taken a hit on them?
Here is something we found (among many others) https://www.quadratec.com/p/go-rhino/d1-dominator-side-steps-jeep-wrangler-unlimited-jl

They will still be as high as almost everything else that mounts that way. I know there expensive but I got the Rock Slide electric steps, they drop down 13” off the ground. They are sensor activated when you open and close the door. They are frame and body mounted and are a real rock slider. I love them, so do my vertically challenged wife and kids lol

 

[quietpeen]

To be honest, seeing you make that mistake helps the rest of us out haha.

I’m glad it does lol. That’s why I left my post as is and didn’t edit it after I realized I probably did it wrong.

 

[maxjlu]

I got mine today and just got done installing them. I will say the link Anthony sends for install instructions(which is just a thread on here that a member did while installing his mk1’s or maybe they were mk2’s). Either way that thread is only a little useful. The front brackets are completely different, and the flag nuts for the other bracket that bolts directly to the side of the frame don’t work. You have to break the tab off that you hold it with so you can get all three holes to line up. Below I’m holding the flag-nut with all three holes lined up.

Maybe the design is for you to break that handle off because the bracket itself covers most of the hole that the flag-nut was inserted through.

Besides that I’m very happy with them. They look great and seem to be very solid.

Here is a close up of the finish then pics installed

I think these are the MK3 ones, lucky you! Looks amazing!

 

[maxjlu]

They came today. Box was in perfect condition. Every bracket is wrapped in plastic and a few layers of foam and labeled for position from front to back. Every inch of the boxes had extra padding or cardboard pieces. Nothing moving, and everything is in perfect condition (okay I didn't unwrap 1 rail yet). No one mentioned how heavy everything is... wow, these things are stout. I am not a small guy, and the two boxes got dragged into the garage. I won't be installing them for a couple weeks, but do plan to paint the "logo plate" and install the lights. I went with Oznium 1w LED Bolt Flush mounted lights (Blue). They are 11mm, so I will need to drill out the holes just a little bit to fit them. For the "logo plate" trying to determine between Rubicon Red or Ocean Blue body color. The picture below is blue painters tape to get an idea. The plates even have an extra hanger hole on them for ease of "Spray out". I am extremely happy with the build quality of the individual brackets. The bolt bag has the nutserts, but the more improved bolt brackets were in the box too (which I plan to use). Tonight all I had was time to inspect everything. I got the "bed lined" rails, super nice finish on them. Here are some pictures.

Looks great! Love the blue accent!

 

[maxjlu]

Actually I didn't... but Anthony offered them to me as being ready to ship, so I jumped on them. I really like the finish.

Yesterday I wired up the lights in 1 rail. I put the wire in flex loom when it has to transverse the rail so yo don't see any red wires ever. The wires terminate at the front of the rail. from there I will add water proof plugs when I get to that step.

Do you have any pics of lights on? How difficult of the wiring? Thanks

 

[quietpeen]

I think these are the MK3 ones, lucky you! Looks amazing!

thank you and yes I was upgraded to the MK3 rails for my long wait.

 

[MacombRoger]

Do you have any pics of lights on? How difficult of the wiring? Thanks

I'll get them on this weekend, and answer those questions and show the lights.

 

[omg]

got them today. Wont have time until this weekend to put them on.

is there any online document for installation instructions?

 

[quietpeen]

got them today. Wont have time until this weekend to put them on.

is there any online document for installation instructions?

In the email Anthony sent there should have been a link to a thread on here. The install is not exactly the same but it is enough to be able to figure it all out. Just make sure you have the flag-nuts on the proper side for an easier faster install

 

[MacombRoger]

Do you have any pics of lights on? How difficult of the wiring? Thanks

The wiring is pretty easy, but I love that stuff. I picked up a lot of do-dads to make wiring easier, but once I saw the rails, most those plans went out the window, as you don't have much access to the "inside" of the rail.

So here is what I did.
Parts:
1. 8 lights from Oznium. https://www.oznium.com/led-bolts-prewired-leds/led-bolt You need the 11mm ones. I went for Blue with no lens. I originally planned on Yellow so I could use them as running board lights like trucks, but in the end didn't want to introduce another color.

The lights that ship with the rails didn't look too bad to me, but there have been a lot of failures posted here, and I have used Oznium for many projects over the years with 100% success rate. Replacing a light late, would suck!

2. You will need a 11mm drill bit to make the holes slightly larger on the rails. I bought one from Oznium. It drilled out 4.5 holes before snapping. I had a bit at home, the rails beat it down after 1 hole. I had to go to the local hardware store and pick up a 3rd bit, a titanium bit rated for steel. They didn't sell metric, I believe I got a 7/16th which according to packaging is 11.1mm Good enough.

3. Paint, little touch up brush paint or something, whatever you have on hand. Any bare metal should be hit with paint after drilling.

4. Other stuff: Zip ties, shrink tubing, split loom (I had some 3/8" on hand, if you would believe, from my KC lights that I had purchased in 1999 for my 1st jeep, yeah I hold onto parts), and extra wire. The wire on the lights is 22awg, so I picked up extra wire from Amazon of the same size: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKNPGFJ

5. Connectors so I can pull the rails off without having to cut wires: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A6LTK44

Wiring:
I want the plug/connector at the "Front" of the rail. I'll figure out a route under the Jeep Sunday. I know some people terminated the wires in the middle of the rail, and then pass the wires through the middle cross member support.

Install all lights in the rail. The double nut on the Oznium lights produces a good lock connection. I suppose you could use lock tight too, I did not.

So starting at the back, I soldered extra wire on to the light. Shrink tubed each connection, then shrink tubed the 2 wires to a larger bundle, then shrink tube one more time over it. Shrink tube is fun. Then I put the wire in the split loom, and zip tied the split loom, to a u-bend in the wire at the base of the light. Routing the split loom under the nuts and through the rail to the middle lights took some time. I couldn't find my fish tape, and wiring fish poles are not flexible enough. If you look through the foot holes of the rail, you can sometimes see the split loom, but it being in split loom, its all black and won't be seen unless you are inches away from the rail. I typically don't tape split loom, the wire should fit easily into it and hat way it stay flexible,

In the the front, I ran a wire in split loom back to the "middle lights" location. I zip tied all 4 sets of wires together (2 in split loom, 2 from middle LEDs), trimmed them back to about 8 inches. And then same process. Solder, shrink tube, shrink tube, shrink tube. Then bundle and zip tie between the 2 LEDs as a previous picture showed.

Up front, I left the split loom long. I cut back the LED wire, and twisted it the wire from the "middle", then i "inline" twisted it with "connector" wire. For this to be sealed. You have to feed the shrink tube up the wire first. So the individual ones i fed back on the small wire, and the 2 larger ones fed on to the connector wire. So solder... you end up with a straight wire (x2). Shrink tube each wire, then shrink tube together, and shrink tube again. Then place this finished wire into the Split loom, cutting the split loom so it terminates right at the base of the connector. It 95% fit in the split loom, a little tight around the shrink tube, so then I used black electrical tape so seal the split loom from the connector, down over and past the shrink tube. This results in a finished plug that feels quite automotive worthy. Its a little stiff though.

For now I loosely zip tied the connector inside the rail so its out of the way for rail mounting. Note I used Female connector on the rail, so if its ever disconnected, the power wires from the Jeep are not exposed; as the female end has 2 bare points.

I tested each rail with a 9v Battery. Lights work.

Not mentioned anywhere I have seen, but I also picked up Blue Threadlocker (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002UEMZ2) to use when I install the rails.

My plan will be to t-tap into the "yellow" wire in one of the foot-wells that provide entry lighting on the Jeep. I will use something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FQ1CX7N

Questions? Hope this helps somebody.

 

[JLUSDIEM]

is this company from houston? if so have anyone stopped by and just picked them up?

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