Power running boards

[jeep1]

Northridge did a couple videos on the install on a JT a couple years back.. might be some gems in those..

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[ShadowsPapa]

Northridge did a couple videos on the install on a JT a couple years back.. might be some gems in those..

Thanks.
I've got 2 sets to install -
on my wife's 2023 JLU Rubicon 4xe,
and on my 2022 JT Overland

Gen3 with lights.

I have a feeling the JLU 4xe will be a challenge because I can't find anyone who has done it........ and they are wired VERY VERY differently under the hood. There's a ton of stuff packed in the engine bay like 20 sardines in a 15 sardine can.

 

[csandoval1988]

Just want to throw another option for the OP i have ARIES Actiontrac Power boards and i love how its the drop down step when you open the door with an additional step that is adjacent to the body that they fold back into. You can see them in the opened position in my Profile Picture.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Please take a look again - that's their text and their red arrow, not mine. The paragraph on both the JL and JT instructions show that picture - and say to run the cable to the battery, and point to it.....

Run red wire with fuse holder from rear passenger door (right side) .... next to the lower battery area:

And their red arrow points to this -

Doesn't look like driver side footwell or the wires to the switch, IMO.

They show the same thing in their video -

But they must have a fender off or something and they whiz through every step so danged fast you can't tell what's going on - like wait a minute - where exactly is that? Did they remove the fender liner or fender? Where'd they get that shot?

It's definitely not the driver side footwell, but don't recognize those parts either.

You’re right. I looked at it wrong. Battery area. The only fuse holder is right next to the battery on the yellow positive wire. They’re pointing to their harness loom. It’s easy to feed wire up behind the passenger fender liner without removing it. I’ve got several things including this run that way.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I've got another problem now, maybe have to post in the Wrangler forum on this -
You know how the wiring harness runs from battery area, down along the top of the right frame rail, then over across the cross member, along the top of the cross member to the left frame rail?

Well, guess what the 4xe doesn't have available to run a cable over........
I can't find a spot to cross the harness over to the left.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Got an answer in the 4xe section of the Wrangler forums - that's the wrong cross-over spot. Farther back is the spot I want.
I was in a hurry and didn't look back far enough.
I'd have figured that out while actually running the cable, of course, but not I know.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Got an answer in the 4xe section of the Wrangler forums - that's the wrong cross-over spot. Farther back is the spot I want.
I was in a hurry and didn't look back far enough.
I'd have figured that out while actually running the cable, of course, but not I know.

Yep. Not a skid cross member. Upper frame Cross member mostly even with the rear access hole to feed the sensor wires up.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Well, back to my original fear - the guy on the Wrangler forum was wrong.
There is NO OTHER CROSS MEMBER behind the one I showed. This IS the one he said was right behind the front seats. This IS the only cross member under there.
Behind this one is NOTHING but open space. No more cross members.
So I'm screwed on getting wires OVER a cross member.
People seem to forget - I'm talking a 4xe and the big batteries are there and this has a very different belly than a typical Wrangler. It has skid plates to protect the batteries because they hang down low. And those skid plates are attached to the top of the cross member I need to go across.
My one and only choice is to try to feed the entire harness up through the hole in the floor, across the top of the floor, and back down the left side.
Or - run the wires on the front or rear of that cross member exposing them to damage.
I see no choice.
4xe - it's not a typical Jeep. Very different Jeep. It has skid plates no other Wrangler or Gladiator has.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I’m looking at an undercarriage diagram of the JLUR 4xE. I genuinely think I can help with this. I left you a message.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I have her Jeep all torn apart, in the middle of installation and found out that the wiring harness doesn't work on these. He said RSE has a different harness for the 4xe. The guy on the Wrangler forum said his installer had a problem and RSE had to send out a different harness
My problem is now I'm SCREWED because this Jeep is going to take us to Florida this coming week - I have basically Monday and Tuesday to be DONE with it and RSE is close on weekends and things take about 5 days to get here from there (UPS keeps delaying deliveries these days and this stuff took a week - a full 7 days - to get here. Doesn't help that they didn't ship for 2 days.)
I see no choice looking UNDER this vehicle but to try to cross it all over inside the Jeep, on top of the floor.
Even if I did make it across, the 2.0 exhaust is tight close to the left side of the little cross member, and access is blocked on the right side due to the battery skid plates.
I'm outside where cell service doesn't really work.......

I will likely physically mount the steps but my wife will be pissed now... and I'm not happy either because I TOLD RSE it was a 2023 4xe - I said it over and over in our conversations "just to be sure, this is a 4xe and it all works, correct?" and I heard yes yes yes.

 

[Spaceguy]

I had the AMP XL running boards installed on my 21 Gladiator Mojave. They work well. The top of the step is about 12 inches above the ground.

at the end of Dec, I traded for a 23 Wrangler 4xe. Go Rhino now has powered steps. Those were available and I bought them. Realtruck had a good price. I had them installed. They have a separate wiring harness that connects at the battery. They use the magnets sensors on the doors. The steps are about 11 inches high from the ground.

I must add, the install instructions were not great, and Go Rhino did not have tech support available when we called. The left side connectors were wired backwards. You could see the red and black wires were reversed, at a connector. My installer was able to correct for this and fixed it.

hope this helps!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I’m looking at an undercarriage diagram of the JLUR 4xE. I genuinely think I can help with this. I left you a message.

Well, it's figured out. The "cross member" they refer to isn't one I traditionally call or think of as a cross member as it's not engine supporting, it's not transmission supporting, and it's clean up against the floor.
In the case of the 4xe, you can only see a very short section of it if you lay under the Jeep and look up at the drive shaft - then you can see just a short bit of it. Otherwise, it's packed up in there and it took Jerry some time and effort to get the cables fished up there. Then on the driver side, there's the battery coolant lines in the way - two big metal pipes that snake across up there and semi-obscure the access to the floor plug on the driver side.
The steps are on and the harness fished through - hopefully the hardest part is done but running that cable INSIDE the Jeep would have taken a lot less time and effort. Hope Jerry's fingers survive! No blood anywhere........
The passenger side door sensor wires in the harness are going to have to be stretched. I may well end up having to put some extra wire in there and extend their harness. It reaches for the back door ok, but it doesn't quite make it to the right front door striker area.
But then I have not stretched and strapped the harness under the Jeep either - I might find an extra 1/2" somewhere.
Their harness is BARELY and I mean BARELY long enough. The ground wire is stretched tight, it's pulled as hard as I can pull to get the wires to the hole in the floor.
Compared to the snow plow harness that had an extra 2 feet of cable - they really scrimped on their wiring harness. Especially trying to get around things in the 4xe.
No wonder one of the guys on the Wrangler forum said his installer ran into trouble and they sent him a different harness.
With all the extra cables and coolant lines around the battery and that "cross member" they have you use - it's literally a stretch to make things fit.
Soldering gun and heat shrink on stand-by when I rest and tackle the door sensors.
BTW - no need to remove the front pinch weld area bolt on the right side - they had to shorted the right step a bit to clear that new frame bracket so you can leave that front bolt in on the right side.
And - you have to remove the 4xe rear seat trim to get the rocker/sill area trim loose on these.
There's some differences we discovered........... but IMO, the biggest one is they need a bit more cable to reach things - especially on a 4xe. There's a lot more "stuff" in the way,
Frankly, their wiring harness is a pain in the ass - and I've wired more vehicles than I can count over the decades. Ground wire stretched, and the door sensor wires for the front doors won't quite reach. More cable, please!

 

[WILDHOBO]

Well, it's figured out. The "cross member" they refer to isn't one I traditionally call or think of as a cross member as it's not engine supporting, it's not transmission supporting, and it's clean up against the floor.
In the case of the 4xe, you can only see a very short section of it if you lay under the Jeep and look up at the drive shaft - then you can see just a short bit of it. Otherwise, it's packed up in there and it took Jerry some time and effort to get the cables fished up there. Then on the driver side, there's the battery coolant lines in the way - two big metal pipes that snake across up there and semi-obscure the access to the floor plug on the driver side.
The steps are on and the harness fished through - hopefully the hardest part is done but running that cable INSIDE the Jeep would have taken a lot less time and effort. Hope Jerry's fingers survive! No blood anywhere........
The passenger side door sensor wires in the harness are going to have to be stretched. I may well end up having to put some extra wire in there and extend their harness. It reaches for the back door ok, but it doesn't quite make it to the right front door striker area.
But then I have not stretched and strapped the harness under the Jeep either - I might find an extra 1/2" somewhere.
Their harness is BARELY and I mean BARELY long enough. The ground wire is stretched tight, it's pulled as hard as I can pull to get the wires to the hole in the floor.
Compared to the snow plow harness that had an extra 2 feet of cable - they really scrimped on their wiring harness. Especially trying to get around things in the 4xe.
No wonder one of the guys on the Wrangler forum said his installer ran into trouble and they sent him a different harness.
With all the extra cables and coolant lines around the battery and that "cross member" they have you use - it's literally a stretch to make things fit.
Soldering gun and heat shrink on stand-by when I rest and tackle the door sensors.
BTW - no need to remove the front pinch weld area bolt on the right side - they had to shorted the right step a bit to clear that new frame bracket so you can leave that front bolt in on the right side.
And - you have to remove the 4xe rear seat trim to get the rocker/sill area trim loose on these.
There's some differences we discovered........... but IMO, the biggest one is they need a bit more cable to reach things - especially on a 4xe. There's a lot more "stuff" in the way,
Frankly, their wiring harness is a pain in the ass - and I've wired more vehicles than I can count over the decades. Ground wire stretched, and the door sensor wires for the front doors won't quite reach. More cable, please!

Yep. Above the driveshaft. The sensor wires for both front and rear should go on the b pillar. There should be just enough. It won’t look like it, but there is, since you can just mount them lower. That skid you were referring to isn’t for the batteries, but other electric propulsion components. The batteries are in the cabin under the rear seat.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yep. Above the driveshaft. The sensor wires for both front and rear should go on the b pillar. There should be just enough. It won’t look like it, but there is, since you can just mount them lower. That skid you were referring to isn’t for the batteries, but other electric propulsion components. The batteries are in the cabin under the rear seat.

I am going to need to add wire for the front door switches. I tried and tried, and it's just pulling the wires too hard. I don't want them running up across things diagonally - want to follow the factory wiring as much as possible and allow some slack. I HATE tight wiring. I'm going to even need to add a couple of inches to the ground cable in the engine bay - it's pulled tight to get the wires to where I want them (body ground on fender)
Positive is at the N3 terminal of the PDC since these don't have an aux battery and PCR. That way nothing goes to the battery and no dealer can look and say "yeah, but........." if I have electrical issues. Plus, in the future if I replace a battery or do anything else, there won't be any excess wires on the battery - only factory wires. A very clean install that way.

Huge shoutout to Jerry for his invaluable help with this project. No way I could do such things these days - not in less than 2 or 3 days. The wiring from left to right was his fishing expedition, and these steps are HEAVY! My wife's Jeep is damage-free, not a ding or nick or scratch on it.

 

[chorky]

I am going to need to add wire for the front door switches. I tried and tried, and it's just pulling the wires too hard. I don't want them running up across things diagonally - want to follow the factory wiring as much as possible and allow some slack. I HATE tight wiring. I'm going to even need to add a couple of inches to the ground cable in the engine bay - it's pulled tight to get the wires to where I want them (body ground on fender)
Positive is at the N3 terminal of the PDC since these don't have an aux battery and PCR. That way nothing goes to the battery and no dealer can look and say "yeah, but........." if I have electrical issues. Plus, in the future if I replace a battery or do anything else, there won't be any excess wires on the battery - only factory wires. A very clean install that way.

Huge shoutout to Jerry for his invaluable help with this project. No way I could do such things these days - not in less than 2 or 3 days. The wiring from left to right was his fishing expedition, and these steps are HEAVY! My wife's Jeep is damage-free, not a ding or nick or scratch on it.

Yeah aren't those things like 175 pounds each or something? But I hear they work good on rocks - realizing you don't do that....

Post up some pics and performance info after your Florida trip. I am really excited to hear how it goes!

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