GX 470 running board removal
08-14-16, 11:00 AM
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GX 470 running board removal
Hello members, my first post; hope you find it helpful. I recently purchased an '05 GX 470 which I plan to offroad. One of my purchases besides a set of Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx tires has been a set of Metal Tech sliders which just arrived last week. In preparation of a slider install, the running boards needed to be removed. After looking on this site as well as ih8mud and Expedition Portal I could not find a single post on a step by step removal so, after successfully removing my running boards I thought I'd share my experience.
Tools needed: Additional items:
small and medium tip flat screwdrivers electrical tape
needle nose pliers creeper
3/8" ratchet with 6" extension and a 10mm and 12mm socket eye protection (falling grit from the chassis)
Depending upon one's size, it is easy enough to roll about on the creeper under a non-lifted GX. If you desire you could put pin jacks under your GX or use some ramps to elevate the GX as necessary.
My order of disassembly is a suggestion and worked for me. If you come up with something better, more power to you. I started on the right running board which took about 30 minutes and, once I had it done, the left only took about 20 minutes. Pick either side and here we go:
At the very front of the trim piece just adjacent to the rear most portion of the front tire you will see a black plastic button-like push clip. Insert the edge of the medium screwdriver and begin to prise out the collar of the push pin (note, these push pins are perishable, single use items so if you ever wished to reinstall your running boards you will simply have to obtain some new ones). Once the push pin is partially elevated, grasp it with the needle nose pliers and remove it. This push pin goes through the fender liner and seats in the plastic trim piece of the running board.
Next to do, open the front and rear doors and look at the body sill where the sill and running board overlap. You should quickly and easily see a total of 11 (if memory serves) oval shaped plastic fasteners. My GX is sort of a gold metallic and the fasteners are roughly the same color. Slide the tip of your screwdriver under the leading or trailing edge of the fastener and twist the screwdriver to elevate the fastener's edge. With needle nose pliers, grasp the edge of the fastener being elevated by the screwdriver, remove the screwdriver and insert it under the other end of the faster and it should pop out. Depending upon your GX's age, the fastener may be fairly brittle and simply crack into bits or may pop out in tact. As noted above, these fasteners are perishable and will need to be replaced if you desire to reinstall the running boards.
That's all for the topside work. Fell free to use a creeper or roll around on the floor for the rest. Here is where I highly recommend some sort of eye protection because of falling grit.
The running boards are held in place by three spars, front, middle, and rear which just happened to be stamped "1,2,&3" respectively which will make reinstallation easy if you decide to reinstall the RB's. Under the running boards themselves are six, 10mm bolts, two on each spar. Remove and save the six 10mm bolts. At the very front there is one additional 10mm bolt you will need to remove. The original six are machine threads while the front one is a coarse thread which is anchoring into the plastic trim. If you have six machine thread and one coarse thread 10mm bolts removed that part is done.
Disconnect the running board light connection. This is a white, male-female type plug. I found using the small, flat blade screwdriver helpful to depress the keeper on the connection. This plug should simply pull apart. You will find the plug about half way, front to back on the RB. Now is a good time to install a bit of electrical tape to the socket to keep it clean for future use.
The next job is to unbolt the spars from the chassis. Here you will find six 12mm bolts. The 6" extension is helpful. I found that it is easiest if you remove the two front spar bolts and the two rear spar bolts as well as one of the center bolts. The front and rear spars will drop to the floor and then loosening the remaining center 12mm bolt, the running board will fall into your lap along with the middle spar and that's that!
Just in case the front of the running board seems hung up, no worries. My right hand RB fell away easily. The left RB was hung up in front. Should this happen to you, get out from under the vehicle, with both hands grasp the underside of the RB, elevate it to its original position and slide the entire assembly slightly rearward. You will notice there are two small white button-like items that the leading edge of the RB slides into. With the rearward motion of the RB the RB should come free. Ironically this only happened when removing the left RB. The right one fell off right into my lap when I removed the last 12mm bolt.
I hope this thread is helpful even if a bit wordy. Somehow, "remove all the bolts" type threads are typically very helpful. Not having some large drill bits and a couple of helpers, I'll have the Metal Tech sliders installed by my offroad shop when they will be doing my old Man Emu suspension at the end of the month. I have ordered Southern Style front and rear bumpers but won't receive them until sometime in November.
Happy wheeling!
Tools needed: Additional items:
small and medium tip flat screwdrivers electrical tape
needle nose pliers creeper
3/8" ratchet with 6" extension and a 10mm and 12mm socket eye protection (falling grit from the chassis)
Depending upon one's size, it is easy enough to roll about on the creeper under a non-lifted GX. If you desire you could put pin jacks under your GX or use some ramps to elevate the GX as necessary.
My order of disassembly is a suggestion and worked for me. If you come up with something better, more power to you. I started on the right running board which took about 30 minutes and, once I had it done, the left only took about 20 minutes. Pick either side and here we go:
At the very front of the trim piece just adjacent to the rear most portion of the front tire you will see a black plastic button-like push clip. Insert the edge of the medium screwdriver and begin to prise out the collar of the push pin (note, these push pins are perishable, single use items so if you ever wished to reinstall your running boards you will simply have to obtain some new ones). Once the push pin is partially elevated, grasp it with the needle nose pliers and remove it. This push pin goes through the fender liner and seats in the plastic trim piece of the running board.
Next to do, open the front and rear doors and look at the body sill where the sill and running board overlap. You should quickly and easily see a total of 11 (if memory serves) oval shaped plastic fasteners. My GX is sort of a gold metallic and the fasteners are roughly the same color. Slide the tip of your screwdriver under the leading or trailing edge of the fastener and twist the screwdriver to elevate the fastener's edge. With needle nose pliers, grasp the edge of the fastener being elevated by the screwdriver, remove the screwdriver and insert it under the other end of the faster and it should pop out. Depending upon your GX's age, the fastener may be fairly brittle and simply crack into bits or may pop out in tact. As noted above, these fasteners are perishable and will need to be replaced if you desire to reinstall the running boards.
That's all for the topside work. Fell free to use a creeper or roll around on the floor for the rest. Here is where I highly recommend some sort of eye protection because of falling grit.
The running boards are held in place by three spars, front, middle, and rear which just happened to be stamped "1,2,&3" respectively which will make reinstallation easy if you decide to reinstall the RB's. Under the running boards themselves are six, 10mm bolts, two on each spar. Remove and save the six 10mm bolts. At the very front there is one additional 10mm bolt you will need to remove. The original six are machine threads while the front one is a coarse thread which is anchoring into the plastic trim. If you have six machine thread and one coarse thread 10mm bolts removed that part is done.
Disconnect the running board light connection. This is a white, male-female type plug. I found using the small, flat blade screwdriver helpful to depress the keeper on the connection. This plug should simply pull apart. You will find the plug about half way, front to back on the RB. Now is a good time to install a bit of electrical tape to the socket to keep it clean for future use.
The next job is to unbolt the spars from the chassis. Here you will find six 12mm bolts. The 6" extension is helpful. I found that it is easiest if you remove the two front spar bolts and the two rear spar bolts as well as one of the center bolts. The front and rear spars will drop to the floor and then loosening the remaining center 12mm bolt, the running board will fall into your lap along with the middle spar and that's that!
Just in case the front of the running board seems hung up, no worries. My right hand RB fell away easily. The left RB was hung up in front. Should this happen to you, get out from under the vehicle, with both hands grasp the underside of the RB, elevate it to its original position and slide the entire assembly slightly rearward. You will notice there are two small white button-like items that the leading edge of the RB slides into. With the rearward motion of the RB the RB should come free. Ironically this only happened when removing the left RB. The right one fell off right into my lap when I removed the last 12mm bolt.
I hope this thread is helpful even if a bit wordy. Somehow, "remove all the bolts" type threads are typically very helpful. Not having some large drill bits and a couple of helpers, I'll have the Metal Tech sliders installed by my offroad shop when they will be doing my old Man Emu suspension at the end of the month. I have ordered Southern Style front and rear bumpers but won't receive them until sometime in November.
Happy wheeling!
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