Got a 2004 D2, It's been lifted 2" and sits a bit higher with bigger rubbers. I need side steps. I am thinking about rock sliders with the tree bar tubes. Anyone running these on a " jacked up rig" I want some insight into how good they act as side steps. My concern is that they might sit up a little to high for steps. Thanks for any input.

 

I have sliders without tree-bars. With a 3" lift, they're practically as high as the door sill and floor so I don't see any point to them as steps. I took the factory running boards off the truck when my kids were like 3 and 4 years old and they still needed some help getting up. So I installed some nylon straps with an oak rung on the end. They could open the door, pull the straps down, climb up, and usually, I would flick the steps back up and close the door for them since it wasn't practical for them to reach the door handle from up on their car seats. Any kind of rigidly-mounted low-hanging step would just catch on rocks and get ripped off when off-roading. The straps could be pulled into the vehicle but even if they hung out they would just flop over obstacles.

If you did put steel sills (sliders) on, it would be a fairly simple thing to weld steps at the desired height, but the trade-off would be the risk of bending or ripping them off on obstacles. If you wanted something more durable than strap or rope steps but still flexible, you could weld cables onto the sliders and a rung on the end of the cables.

 

They help a little but are not running boards.