Im relatively new here, so bear with me.

Last September I bought a set of Wildcat Flash bars (black) and tried to install myself. Although I'm unfamiliar with other bars, these were an absolute pain to do. First, the directions looked like a third generation faxed copy, and for all intents and purposes, gave no real pictoral views of the actual truck it is supposed to go on. As I got under the truck (98 f150 flareside, reg cab, sport package), the mounting points were on the cab itself as well as the frame (for the rear bracketry). The directions say no drilling, and initially it was done without, but as the first attempt was made, I found out that the front mounting point had a convoluted bracket (or two) and that the supplied frame plate had to be "jammed" in place before getting it to fit properly. The back set of brackets were relatively easy to install. The main bracket bolted to the bottom of the cab and became flush with the frame, while a smaller, secondary bracket was attached to the bottom of the main bracket and then to the bottom part of the frame (with one bolt). Now here is the kicker: After all the bolts were tightened, I took it for my normal around the block test drive and noticed a rather loud banging noise coming from the back bracket. Come to find out that since there is some frame flexing going on with these trucks, the first main bracket (attached to the cab) was pushing down on the secondary bracket and when the rebound occurred (when the secondary bracket went back to its original location) the noise appeared as well. The reason for this is that there is only one bolt attaching this second bracket to the frame and its position is on the back end of the bracket. This causes a pivoting effect and hence causing all the noise. Suffice to say I brought the bars back to the dealer, and after some haggling, they drilled a hole in the frame and installed another bolt to eliminate the "pivoting." Although this worked for the banging frame noise, I still am getting some metal to metal noise from the main bracket since it is attached to the cab. My solution to this problem besides tossing the bars? The main bracket doesn't serves much use any more since the second bolt was installed, so here comes the hack saw and elbow grease. Im cutting it down so that it won't rub on the bottom side of the cab. Well, sorry for such a long diatribe. There is more to this story, but I won't bore anyone on that. Does anyone have these bars and experienced the same thing that I have?

I should have gotten Westin's instead.

 

Just installed the Black Westin's on my '01 SCrew last Saturday. Fit is excellent. $225+tax at Discount Hitch in Houston, Texas. Position is good to step in and out of the truck. They don't stick out real far or hang down real low. Feel good and solid. I've jumped up and down on them (200#'s or so..) and they don't move an inch. I reccommend the Westin's .

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2001 F150 Supercrew 4X2 (Gen III), Lariat, Arizona Beige Metallic, 5.4L, Towing Package, 3.55 LSD, Moonroof, Captains Chairs, Premium Sound, Extender
Ordered 14 Dec 2000, Received 9 Feb 2001 Life is Good...
Modifications:
Line X bedliner, Ford factory splashguards, Black Westin Step Bars, Aux Back Up Lights

 

I had the Westin Platinum series nerf bars installed on my new SCrew and like them a lot. The only thing I noticed compared to my Mannik on my Dodge Quadcab was that the Westin only mounted to the body.



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F-150 SuperCrew, XLT, 4X4, 4.6L, Ox. White, Med. Graphite 60/40, Towing Pkg, Offroad Pkg, 17" ORP rims, Moonroof, 3.55 L/S

Ordered 1-26
Built 2-26
Delivered 3-7
Picked up 3-9

My website

 

I have a question for anyone who has some Westin nerf bars. Do they stick out past the bottom edge of the door very much. The running boards that I have now are kinda tucked back underneath the bottom edge of the door so you don't have much of an area to step on.

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1997 F-150 Lariat
Ext Cab Short Box
4x4 Off Road Package
3.55 Gears
265/75 R16 Uniroyal Laredo M/Ts



My 2 cents worth

If you're gonna stroke it, POWERSTROKE IT!!!

http://www.powerstroke73.homestead.com/

 

Plenty of room on mine buddy.

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98 Black F150 S/C 4x4 ORP 5.4

4" Rancho lift, 14 KC lights, lots of other goodies. Check out www.F150World.com/Mudder for pics and all the info.

 

Hey Mudder,
What brand is your Grill Guard and how do you like it? It obviously holds a lot of lights with whatever mods you made to it.

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Gen III
4x4 Lariat
5.4
Lmtd Slip, 3.55
ORP
Tow Package
Oxford White/Az Beige
Med Parchment leather
Heated captains chairs
Moonroof
Slider
Bed extender
CD Changer

Ordered 1/11/01
Arrived at Dealer 2/28/01

 

I have a Manik, and I love it. A whole lot of the guys on this board have gone with them also, they are good.

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98 Black F150 S/C 4x4 ORP 5.4

4" Rancho lift, 14 KC lights, lots of other goodies. Check out www.F150World.com/Mudder for pics and all the info.