DIY Door Ding Protector Project With Payback
The other day I saw a careless motorist swing his door open and hit a new F-150 door and dinged it badly and then took off. I waited for the Ford owner to arrive and gave him all the intel information on this $#@%# careless motorist.
Since then, I been looking at different door protectors and none of them seem to look "pretty" on my Ranger. Rock sliders will do the job but it is a bit of overkill for a 4 x 2. Forget about magnetic door bumpers and ugly door trim. Good looking 6" sidesteps/running boards/nerf bars will function perfectly as a step and to prevent door dings but I added a feature that no sidestep has in the USA - a row of stainless steel bolts capped with stainless acorn nuts. So when a careless motorist tries to ding my Ranger - my Ranger will ding him/her back many times over. I am still acquiring all the parts for this project and pictures will come later. BTW "Go Rhino", along with many other vendors, has DIY sidesteps for the Ranger.
Of course, parking my vehicle "out in the wilderness" or "the back forty" in the parking lot will solve many future Ranger ding problems but my solution has payback. If any forum member has a better solution - please do chime in.
Good questions but I think I addressed it on #10 (above) quote "What this door ding protector will pickup is mostly cars but not other trucks and higher center of gravity vehicles" I was very clear -that's why I said thatI like the rock sliders as a protection against high rocks or stumps on a trail but can you pls help me understand how these can protect against door dings in a parking lot? I think it would help out against door dings from sedans and cars lower to the ground; but many vehicles nowadays are SUVs & pick ups with identical or even much higher elevation as the Ranger. Am having a hard time visualizing how running boards or rock sliders will protect against door dings from vehicles with same or higher elevation. Would adding some of the other more traditional options for door ding protection provide better protection? My apologies if this sounds like a stupid question.. just can't visualize it
Good questions but I think I addressed it on #10 (above) quote "What this door ding protector will pickup is mostly cars but not other trucks and higher center of gravity vehicles" I was very clear -that's why I said that
There is NO way that any running board, nerf bar, sidestep, rock slider will "pickup" other trucks of equal height and other higher center of gravity vehicles eg SUVs and other high dollar vehicles. My project directs the protection against "cars" which have a low center of gravity. My logic is that any "high price", high center of gravity vehicles eg SUV, truck and other luxurious vehicles, the owners payed out the nose/a$$ for, would/will also try their best not to ding or scratch other vehicles! (Sorry to say - class warfare anybody?) Also, I would never put ugly side molding/trim on my Ranger! You will see by my chrome ornament addition to these running boards will definitely give other motorist a moment of pause before they decide to park beside my Ranger. It has scarecrow protection
Guess what? I am ONLY using blunt high chrome motorcycle acorn nuts for the ornaments.Those extra long spikes that heavy truckers put on their front wheels should be against the law but nothing will be done until some little prius gets a hole ground in the side and kills a child. If you hit a pedestrian and their lawyer says that your attachments were not functional but designed to injure something then you might be on the evening news and NHTS Board will then regulate. Good luck. By posting this on the internet, we are all witnesses for the injured.
That's against the law!Just go around keying every big fat car/truck with big fat drivers in the parking lot.
I'm still having trouble envisioning how this is all going to come together. I don't suppose you have any drawings or photos do you? I saw the photos of some brackets you've make - or maybe we just need to wait until you get it complete.General design specs, tips, hints and suggestions for STX600 Running Board, on the Ranger, with chrome ornament perforated tube/bar:
1. The rectangular shape of running boards chosen for this project made the design of the chrome ornament bar/tubing easy. Holding brackets, for the ornament tube can be easily attached under these running boards due to the "universal" channels below the running boards. Special A36 3/16" steel welded brackets, for the ornament bar, was designed for heavy duty use and for safety. There were NO holes drilled in the STX600 Running Boards.
2. All "ornament tube" fasteners eg bolts, washers, locknuts are 5/16-18 and are corrosion resistant.
3. All "ornament" fasteners eg bolts, nuts and washers are stainless steel grade 304 (18-8) for outdoor use - corrosion resistant. Please note: Even the big box stores aka Home Depot/Lowe's don't carry an ample supply of stainless steel bolts and if they did their cost would be extremely high. I obtained all hardware from the Internet. Bolt depot is one inexpensive solution.
4. Motorcycle, high chrome, high crown, acorn nuts are used as ornaments. (Other "types" of fastener nuts can also be easily substituted)
5. Perforated 1" x 1" aluminum square tubing is 60" long with 1" centers for 5/16" hardware - 6061 T6 Aluminum Tubing – painted black to match running boards.
6. All chrome acorn nuts and fasteners, for vehicle safety, are torqued to spec and has "blue" Loctite thread locker applied to them.
7. Duplicate designed bolts plates and special designed and welded steel mounting plates are used to secure the perforated square tubing to the running boards. Outward and inward distance adjustment is by threaded bolts and nuts.
8. Special compression springs were added/used, are two fold, to the ornament tube for vehicle driver/passenger(s) safety and door impact recoil. The compression springs also adds true meaning to the word PAYBACK. When hit by a careless, motorist door dinger, the spring recoil amplifies the damage.
8. One bolt/chrome acorn nut is applied to every 4" of the perforated square tubing for a total quantity of ~ 15 per running side. This quantity could be easily increased to ~ 60 per side (user preference) BUT probably you need to go to the bank for a bank loan for these extras and also acquire large amounts of Loctite thread locker. Please note: Motorcycle chrome, high crown, acorns nuts go between $1.25 to $2.85 a piece!
9. A simple level/distance adjustment is by a quick nut/bolt, spring, fastener adjustment but I am still debating whether using RF remote controlled linear actuators.
10. The amount of stainless, chrome, hardware fasteners consumed in the project, for the ornament bar addition to the running boards was astronomical but the cost and effort was well worth it. Even with the wide running boards and the extra chrome ornament tubing, the total cost is relative small compared the prices that body shops, now days, charge for ding repair on the new Ford Ranger.