After market running board install problem

[Caius]

Hi all, looking for help installing running boards, but I think I might be out of luck. I have a 2021 NFE so wanted black sidesteps to help our little ones get in the SUV, not the chrome ones Kia installs. After reading that there were no body changes from 2020 to 2021, I ordered Black Horse Peerless black steps which were listed for 2020 tellurides. Ran into an immediate issue with the first bracket I tried to install.
In the photo I’m attaching the problem is the vertical part on the top of the bracket. There’s no where for it to go. The photo in the installation guide shows a contour to the underside of the vehicle, which does not match mine.
I‘m thinking it’s just plain not going to work, but was hoping to find someone who had installed these before. To make matters worse, in removing the plastic cover along the bottom of the vehicle I broke several of the plastic attachments, so if I just ditch the side rail idea all together I may have to buy a new bottom molding piece.
Any help is appreciated.

 

[Socal949]

Hi all, looking for help installing running boards, but I think I might be out of luck. I have a 2021 NFE so wanted black sidesteps to help our little ones get in the SUV, not the chrome ones Kia installs. After reading that there were no body changes from 2020 to 2021, I ordered Black Horse Peerless black steps which were listed for 2020 tellurides. Ran into an immediate issue with the first bracket I tried to install.
In the photo I’m attaching the problem is the vertical part on the top of the bracket. There’s no where for it to go. The photo in the installation guide shows a contour to the underside of the vehicle, which does not match mine.
I‘m thinking it’s just plain not going to work, but was hoping to find someone who had installed these before. To make matters worse, in removing the plastic cover along the bottom of the vehicle I broke several of the plastic attachments, so if I just ditch the side rail idea all together I may have to buy a new bottom molding piece.
Any help is appreciated.

I installed these about a month ago. Just have to take your time. Follow the instructions. You first have to take off the bottom piece to start off with. Here is a few pics of when I did the installation. Hope it helps. You will have to trim the bottom piece after you are done installing all the brackets. The last part you should install is the side steps themselves. Ask away if you have anymore questions.

 

[Socal949]

Here are a few more. Took a ton of pics hope they help everyone else who would like to install some and save some money too You also have to remove some caps that’s where the bolts go so you can mount and tighten down the brackets. Those caps are accessible only after you remove the bottom piece.

 

[Caius]

Ok, did I remove the wrong trim piece? I removed the long one along the bottom edge, which shows when the doors are open. Your first photo looks like something completely different. Is that the larger flat piece that has a sort of felt like texture on the under surface?

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[Socal949]

Y

Ok, did I remove the wrong trim piece? I removed the long one along the bottom edge, which shows when the doors are open. Your first photo looks like something completely different. Is that the larger flat piece that has a sort of felt like texture on the under surface?

Yes it’s the bottom piece that feels like texture. These is like 10 or 12 screws in total. 3 out of those screw are plastic screw nuts. Here is picture of the cover and count of me he screws.

 

[Caius]

Thank you so much for taking the time to help with this. Do you have a side pic of the front bracket installed on the bolt? I will try again tomorrow but still feel like the ridge extending downward will get in the way of the bracket, even with the textured piece removed. I'm hoping this picture shows what I mean.

 

[Socal949]

Thank you so much for taking the time to help with this. Do you have a side pic of the front bracket installed on the bolt? I will try again tomorrow but still feel like the ridge extending downward will get in the way of the bracket, even with the textured piece removed. I'm hoping this picture shows what I mean.

Yes I sure do. Took a ton of pics.The first bracket extends and it’s the longest. The middle and back bracket are normal size. Hope that makes sense lol. Few different angles from front, middle bracket and the back one.

 

[Caius]

I was referring to the black piece on the vehicle, in my picture it's the ridge extending downward. It's not part of the large flat textured plastic piece, as far as I can tell. Am I removing the thinner piece that runs front to back as well? It's the piece that the silver bolt is sticking out of in my pic.

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[Socal949]

I was referring to the black piece on the vehicle, in my picture it's the ridge extending downward. It's not part of the large flat textured plastic piece, as far as I can tell. Am I removing the thinner piece that runs front to back as well? It's the piece that the silver bolt is sticking out of in my pic.

Are you located in Canada by any chance? Maybe the underside is different but I wouldn’t think so. Start by removing the bottom texture piece you most likely will have to remove the other one too where you put the silver bolt. That doesn’t look right and it sure doesn’t go there. I know for a fact that in order to put the silver bolt in the correct stop first you need to remover the whole texture bottom piece then you will see some black rubber round plug that needs to be removed. That is where the silver bolt will go.

 

[Caius]

Nope not Canada, it's a 2021 sx-p in the US. I'll take off the textured piece today. The thin black piece running front to back didn't strike me as removable yesterday, I will take a better look this morning. That is where the black plug was, in the thin piece oriented front to back

 

[Socal949]

Nope not Canada, it's a 2021 sx-p in the US. I'll take off the textured piece today. The thin black piece running front to back didn't strike me as removable yesterday, I will take a better look this morning. That is where the black plug was, in the thin piece oriented front to back

I’ll look under my car today and take a picture but mine will have the piece back on obviously.

 

[Caius]

Once I got the textured piece off, the holes that the bolts are actually supposed to go in were obvious. I've got the brackets on. Now I'm just trying to figure out how, one handed, to hold the texture piece back up so I can mark it where the cuts for the brackets need to go . I obviously have bitten off a project that's a bit out of my league

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[Socal949]

Once I got the textured piece off, the holes that the bolts are actually supposed to go in were obvious. I've got the brackets on. Now I'm just trying to figure out how, one handed, to hold the texture piece back up so I can mark it where the cuts for the brackets need to go . I obviously have bitten off a project that's a bit out of my league

Here is what helped me. I installed all the brackets first and after that I installed the cover back on to help me hold it up then I took a sharpie and traced it so I could make the cuts. That was the hardest part. But the 2nd side I made it easier on myself. What I did was measured the brackets and traced them on the floor made the cuts and after the brackets where on I took the bottom texture piece and tried putting it back on to see if it would clear. If it didn’t I would trace and trim a little more until it was clearly clearing the brackets and it would sit flush. Here are pics of the first bracket. Your brackets looks exactly the same correct?

 

[Socal949]

I was referring to the black piece on the vehicle, in my picture it's the ridge extending downward. It's not part of the large flat textured plastic piece, as far as I can tell. Am I removing the thinner piece that runs front to back as well? It's the piece that the silver bolt is sticking out of in my pic.

Okay just looked at my pics and no need to remove the other hard black plastic trim. Only the texture long one I showed in my pictures.

 

[jcambria23]

I just wanted to jump in and say thank you for the pics. I was looking over the Black Horse installation instructions and the removal of the cover/panel in the very beginning and end (for trimming) were a bit confusing. Like Caius, I thought the part that needed to be removed was the bottom panel that you see after opening the 2 doors. It probably didn't help that I was also looking over the OEM Side Step instructions as well to get a better idea of things which does show this step. But anyways, thanks again!

 

[Caius]

Just an update, the running boards are installed thanks to your help. To those interested in this particular running board, if I had known about the need to cut the trim underneath, I probably would have passed. Additionally, the bolts for the rear brackets are very hard to install. There's an L shaped bolt the short arm of which you slip into the hole in the frame, which is fine for the front and middle brackets because there is some purchase to stabilize the inserted part of the L, however for the rear one it just spins and it's extremely difficult to tighten the nut. These boards look very good, but are not for the novice installer.

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[ernysan]

Just an update, the running boards are installed thanks to your help. To those interested in this particular running board, if I had known about the need to cut the trim underneath, I probably would have passed. Additionally, the bolts for the rear brackets are very hard to install. There's an L shaped bolt the short arm of which you slip into the hole in the frame, which is fine for the front and middle brackets because there is some purchase to stabilize the inserted part of the L, however for the rear one it just spins and it's extremely difficult to tighten the nut. These boards look very good, but are not for the novice installer.

What about some pics in appreciation to those who help you and love the TELLURIDE

 

[Caius]

What about some pics in appreciation to those who help you and love the TELLURIDE

LOL. I intended to take them right away but was so frustrated by the install that I didn't feel like it at the time.
Which brings me to another con to these boards. They really show dirt. I'm going to have to wait until the next time I wash the car to take pics!
But I don't want to be all negative. My four year old loves them because he can get in and out on his own. So in the end, they've achieved the intended purpose.

 

[ernysan]

A good day to wash your Telluride TODAY!!!!!!

 

[Socal949]

LOL. I intended to take them right away but was so frustrated by the install that I didn't feel like it at the time.
Which brings me to another con to these boards. They really show dirt. I'm going to have to wait until the next time I wash the car to take pics!
But I don't want to be all negative. My four year old loves them because he can get in and out on his own. So in the end, they've achieved the intended purpose.

Lol no worries all things get dirty but don’t they look beautiful and don’t you feel such a great achievement that you got them done. My kids love them too. Not that hard but they do take time and patience.