Running Board Maintenance

[paul_rvlife]

We have had our Sanctuary 19L for a year now and I noticed some rust on the running board brackets. Rocks and dirt that don’t get caught by the mud flaps hit the running board and brackets. This causes pits and exposed metal from continued wear. I removed the running boards from the brackets, cleaned them, coated all surfaces with truck bed liner, and reinstalled. Definitely use anti-seize on the bolt threads prior to re-installing. They were pretty back after just a year. I also did remove the tread plates using the five screws on the top so I could apply the bed liner to the entire top. Note, when reinstalling the tread plates, only hand screw them in and gently tighten. They are self tapping screws that go into aluminum and could be stripped out. I did also apply a second very thick layer to the bracket surfaces that face forward to help protect against the "road meteorites" coming off the front tires. I think this is a maintenance item that will help keep the running boards from rusting off. Hope this helps.

[Antonio]

Thanks so much for this Paul.
Do you live near the ocean? I am just thinking when I should start paying attention to this issue.
Thanks again. Your post was much appreciated.

[paul_rvlife]

Sorry for the late reply, was out of town. I would probably take the precautions now. Once you start seeing rust, you are already down that road. Add the extra layer of protection now and you may never see any issues.