Hello everyone! Wanted to put a question out there to the current defender owners that have and do not have side steps. I have two children 8 and 10 years old. My question is, will they have a hard time getting in and out without the side steps? Would like to hear everyone’s thoughts. Thanks!

 

8 and 10? Nah. We drove a p400 Def last weekend and 7 year old was fine... no steps. He gets in and out of our disco 5 that's essentially the same just fine... and has never said anything when i have the 2 inch lift rods on either.

 

My wife is 32weeks preggo and she climbs in and out just fine with no steps...I'm sure your kids will be fine, put it off road mode and have some fun with them hopping in 😉

 

Surely not necessary, and you can always use access mode if it’s hard to get in and out.
I did, however, order them for my car. It does make it easier to get in and out (I have a 4 year old) and I feel you will need less “slide” on the seat when you get in, so hopefully will show less wear on the canvas part of the seat.
Another plus for me, I really like how it looks with the steps.

 

Side steps get destroyed on the trail. I've taken them all off my trucks. Lucky8 is the only company making sliders right now with kickouts to help ingress into the vehicle. I may be getting a pair.

 

One of the videos showing the lucky8 sliders mounted said they do serve as pretty good steps. Just might want to put some non-skid on the tubes to keep from slipping off. Much more useful than the LR steps if you ever plan any kind of off-roading.

 

Went back and forth on this. Steps do reduce some extreme off road capability in my mind. If you are a hybrid vehicle use person like myself I do like that I added them. Access mode does work nice but I worry about constantly exercising the air suspension -probably unfounded. This will sound odd but they do provide good body damage protection in parking lots from lower vehicles which are many due to Defender stance. I noticed this by accident on my RAM 1500. One strange thing is the placement of grab handle. I was used to one mounted higher and I find myself grabbing the wheel a lot as I try to retrain my habit to use the provided handle.

 

I added the side steps. They aren't necessary but when I took delivery the steps weren't available that I had ordered and my wife, who is tiny, asked about them. So I went ahead and had them installed when they were available at the dealership. She has said that she does like having them on the car and its easier for her to get in and out. So that's enough for me. I'm not really worried about the trail, heck I'm more worried about seat wear since I get in and out of the car a lot and the side steps along with the grab handle kind of lift you over the edge of the seat as opposed to sliding on it. Plus as Freemey mentions above I do think they will offer some side protection in the parking lot from the usual yahoos and shopping carts

 

I’m 6’3” and am glad to have the side steps. I have the tubes with steps below each door, so I’m hoping they serve as sliders too!

 

Best use for steps? Helps Keep other car doors from dinging you...at least on all my Wranglers it did and on my current Wrangler it does!