Custom removable steps for factory Gladiator rock slider rails preview (coming soon)

[NXTGENAutomotive]

I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" but also pretty cheap and don't always need to get quite this much. Maybe i'll see you guys next year around Black Friday? who knows. I love the concept and would be buyer, just not at that price point.

For this particular item, cost is all tied to the complexity and costs to make it.

Based on what happened with previous companies who made a clamp-on and other fold away step options, we approached this a bit differently. With most of our products, we custom design and create very unique, high-quality items, which are typically very unique vs other offerings. Our pricing usually matches this as well.

For the step pricing, we are coming at this very aggressively, actually, and are trying to do a value product.

The Archtype steps were billet aluminum, which you can't work with how we are building ours. That's a pricy material, but our premium US steel steps have about 4 times the material. The AR steps also were machined so there was no molds. Our tooling costs before we ever produce a step for purchase is near 6 figures, not including development. They were almost a thousand bucks for 4 small steps, but they seemed rather busy with orders.

The hideaway step is a similar price point to ours, but it is also very small, not nearly as complex and our costs to make something like the hideaway would be a fraction of what we are going to produce.

Eventually the tooling costs and development costs will be covered after many are sold. That will help a bit, but we are hoping for strong demand as we are pricing these pretty aggressively based on how complex and costly they are to make. If you factor the costs and complexity to build our factory rail solution vs any other so far, we actually have the strongest value proposition at the estimated price.

We could be way less if we simply had a rail with welded steps made overseas. There is a reason why you have not really seen something like this before. We've been making custom products for over 40 years and this could be one of the most complex projects we've ever done. The factory rail is an interesting piece. It is curved, it is asymmetrical, it is a unique shape, and it is full of all kinds of odd complexities.

We understand our steps are costly than some other options, like getting different rails, and some may go another direction. But we think the price point is within reason and we may not be able to discount it for a good amount of time. Because we are being much more aggressive to start vs the other options out of the gate, when our costs to build are the absolute highest.

We are a transparent company and I hope that helps to better understand why the costs are where we are projecting them to be.

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[Moby]

It looks really good. Like others, the price point will have some bearing on my getting these, but other than that, looks absolutely great.

 

[loganjeeps]

very nice, been looking for something like this for a while. i actually like the look and think it matches the factory rails nicely. personally i would prefer something a bit lower profile.

have you done any real pressure testing on them if most of the vehicle weight is resting on one of them (i.e. put a jack under one to simulate it resting on a builder)?

p.s. like others have said, speak loudly about the US sourcing. i co-owned an all US sourced RTT company that didn't make it through COVID but that was big selling point for us.

 

[NXTGENAutomotive]

very nice, been looking for something like this for a while. i actually like the look and think it matches the factory rails nicely. personally i would prefer something a bit lower profile.

have you done any real pressure testing on them if most of the vehicle weight is resting on one of them (i.e. put a jack under one to simulate it resting on a builder)?

p.s. like others have said, speak loudly about the US sourcing. i co-owned an all US sourced RTT company that didn't make it through COVID but that was big selling point for us.

@loganjeeps

We appreciate the feedback.

We try to clearly list on all of our product pages where the components are from. We're proud of the US components, but it is also going to slow this down through the holidays. We were shooting for January, because that was the forecasted tooling and ramp-up time when we were working on the featured test mules, but that was a few months ago. Trying to get this all going now is painfully slow. The steel molds and parts are all from the great lakes area. The 3 big holidays and winter weather is not going to allow for a January release. At the current pace, later in February to March is more realistic. Start putting aside those tax refunds!!!

In regard to the profile, we have made a number of changes from the featured tester. The clamps are more curved and similar to the rail, where the testers are sharp and angular.

The side frames are also rounded, not flat and very angular. The front of the step is also rounded not pointed and angular.

Regarding the weight, that is not likely something we will be testing. The steps are extremely robust and solid. Each step can take a few hundred pound person bouncing on them without issue. The clamp covers the full rail, and the step and side frames are the same grade and thickness of steel as the rail. So there are no issues with sizable amounts of downward force as designed.

Testing them for large amounts of force or weight from the bottom is not something that we will be doing, as that is not what they are intended for. With 2 quick screws per side, the steps come off, which is the entire idea. If these did not need to be pretty easily removable, we would have been done many months ago. A solid step solution that is pretty easy to take off and put back on after the initial install is much more complex, vs something you strap on that is not intended for relatively easy removal.

If someone was going to go wheeling in a place where you were going to bottom them out or make hard contact with boulders, they should be removed. You'd want your full clearance and no steps, which is the purpose of something clamping to the factory rail.

This will be outlined in the product pages, once live.

 

[Redfour5]

Depending on price, I would be interested for a set

So would my wife.

 

[CPTRVB]

Your competition is the MORE step, they are $180 each. So your right there with them.

Neat idea, I like it!

I love my MOREs. I only have 2 but that’s all I need. Pricey, but well designed.

 

[NXTGENAutomotive]

Removable step update!!

We have finished the final design and we've given it a hard testing this past week.

Please note, it is not the actual finish. In order to save time, we simply rattle canned the step satin black, and did the rail to match. The actual production units will have the same finish type as the rail, which is a very high-quality, multi-coat process.

Here are some pictures and we'll have a promo/ instruction video based on this final pre-production prototype next week.

The final version compared to the last tester shown is less angular. We have rounded the 2 side frames on the front and softened the edges on the front sides of those frames. The front of the step is no longer pointed, but rounded. We've rounded the clamps that attach to the rail and thinned them where we can (but not to a point where we compromised the integrity).

The are very strong, stable and hefty units.

Here is the last one to compare the softer and less angular look

The steps are wide enough to be useful, but low profile enough to not get in the way for those that don't need them or wish to use them. You can get in and out normally without rubbing up on them if you don't use them. This has been a long project, but we have put a lot of thought and effort into getting the details as good as possible.

We are looking at about 108 days to build the 8 custom molds (step parts, hardware and spacers), 3 custom packaging molds and then produce the initial 1,500 steps. The intended final price will be $595 for a set of 4 or $300 for a set of 2 plus taxes and shipping.

In the coming week or so, we will have more information on our website and we'll share the next video too.

- The NXTGEN, Inc Team

 

[Jerhemi]

Looking good. Any chance you will be building a style that doesn't drop down?

 

[NXTGENAutomotive]

Looking good. Any chance you will be building a style that doesn't drop down?

If the demand is there, that could absolutely be V2.

First and foremost, we need to get this going in April as we are a few new Wrangler 392s into this project

Then we are happy to look into a full running board if that is of interest!!

 

[NXTGENAutomotive]

Hi All,

Here is a bit more detailed video demoing the function and install. Please remember this is our final pre-production prototype. The final product will have a superior finish, as well as better quality tools and hardware included.

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