Rust on my Nerf bars, remove and paint or start shopping?

[JAsh1967]

Not long after I got the Jeep (so early 2022) I bought a set of N-Fab Nerf RS side-steps (my wife is short, even a stock Gladiator is tall for her!) and mounted them.

Well, as you can see in the pictures, they rusted in spots and not where one would expect, were road debris gets kicked up. I've reached out to N-Fab support, but I don't recall who I bought them through and don't have a copy of any receipt, so I'm not holding my breath that they'll warranty cover these (and, i don't entirely blame them if they don't.)

Are my only real options to steel wool / wire brush off the rust (so far, it seems to be all surface rust,) and paint over the spots, or to shop for new side steps, possibly in aluminum to avoid the rust problem (although seeing this post Side step finish repair from November tells me those are not without headaches) ?

Sponsored

 

[JsnJcksn]

I also had a set of these, and the price point indicates what you receive. 18 months in, rust took over most of the weld areas and junctions where the coating was not applied well. I cleaned them up numerous times before scrapping them for a JCR setup. Yours are worse than mine were as the tubing surface away from welds stayed rust-free on mine.

For reference, two winters WV, but I am on the west side of the state in the Ohio Valley. Mild winters with maybe 6-8 salt applications on the roads.

 

[BUZZHEAD]

Had the same ones ,same rust issue.
I sanded and painted mine with por 15.
Then sold them .

 

[JAsh1967]

@JsnJcksn Yeah, I was afraid I was going to hear something like that...
2 Michigan winters so far, and where I work they almost re-pave the parking lots with salt in the winter, they put down so much.

I think in the spring (unless N-Fab has mercy on me) I'll clean up the rust and as long as it's mostly surface rust, hit the bars with some Rust-Oleum to try to get a couple more years out of these.

 

[Bantam]

Ditch ‘em. The picture of the hole is from the “better” of the 2 bars. The other side was much worse. Think I got about 2 winters out of them.

 

[Lunentucker]

https://realtruck.com/p/n-fab-nerf-step-rs/

I'd let this play out. The Gladiator isn't five years old anywhere, so why would you need a receipt?

• Backed by a limited lifetime warranty with 5 years on the finish

 

[JAsh1967]

https://realtruck.com/p/n-fab-nerf-step-rs/

I'd let this play out. The Gladiator isn't five years old anywhere, so why would you need a receipt?

• Backed by a limited lifetime warranty with 5 years on the finish

I'm going to, I would expect them to cover them, but one never knows if they're going to be sticklers for "thou must have all of the required paperwork, even if it makes no sense."

The annoying part is, I'm pretty sure I bought them direct from N-Fab, but I can't even find a charge on any of the credit cards it might've been around the time I would've gotten them...

 

[Lunentucker]

I'm going to, I would expect them to cover them, but one never knows if they're going to be sticklers for "thou must have all of the required paperwork, even if it makes no sense."

The annoying part is, I'm pretty sure I bought them direct from N-Fab, but I can't even find a charge on any of the credit cards it might've been around the time I would've gotten them...

From a few previous posts of others who have had issues, they are a stand-up company.
I have the painted stainless version, but mine were on the pre-owned vehicle when I bought it.
If they do want to replace them for you, and they're cool with it, upgrade to the stainless version and pay the difference.

 

[JAsh1967]

I'm not saying they won't honor the warranty, until they contact me and we chat, I'll presume the best.

 

[Jteakus]

If they are structurally sound, and you want to keep them find a good powder coater and have them refinished.

 

[Empty Pockets]

My NFabs are going strong after 4 years (Atlanta area- no snow or salt in that time). If they ever do break down, I’ll wire wheel the hell out of them and spray with aerosol bed liner. Same for my eBay Rubi-steel front bumper.

 

[saintpauljeff]

Not long after I got the Jeep (so early 2022) I bought a set of N-Fab Nerf RS side-steps (my wife is short, even a stock Gladiator is tall for her!) and mounted them.

Well, as you can see in the pictures, they rusted in spots and not where one would expect, were road debris gets kicked up. I've reached out to N-Fab support, but I don't recall who I bought them through and don't have a copy of any receipt, so I'm not holding my breath that they'll warranty cover these (and, i don't entirely blame them if they don't.)

Are my only real options to steel wool / wire brush off the rust (so far, it seems to be all surface rust,) and paint over the spots, or to shop for new side steps, possibly in aluminum to avoid the rust problem (although seeing this post Side step finish repair from November tells me those are not without headaches) ?

NFab did process a warranty claim for my Predator Pro aluminum steps (in fact they told me to toss the old ones instead of shipping them back). Will the newer ones hold up to Minnesota winter better? Doubtful. But at least I'll defer the same issue on the new steps a couple years. Once warranty claims are no longer an option I'm thinking I'd like to try the Line-X idea for protection.

I originally had the same problem you have- rust on regular steel steps -and I aborted their use since I couldn't figure out how to refinish. Tried sanding and repainting and I couldn't prevent the rust from returning. I switched to the Predator Pro since I didn't want to worry about rust.

 

[JAsh1967]

If they are structurally sound, and you want to keep them find a good powder coater and have them refinished.

I called a local powder-coater about that. The cost to have them re-coated would've been more than just buying a new set outright. ?

 

[Jteakus]

Yea, and then there's that.

 

[Erievon]

What someone said earlier is a really good point, no JT is older then 5 years, so they can't be out of warranty. The only thing I would worry about is if they claim since you have no receipt how do they know you're the original purchaser (is warranty transferable) or are they genuine, not a knock off. Hopefully they don't go that way, but those would be my only two thoughts on why they might resist.

If for some reason they don't cover them, I'd sand them down and hit them with either steel-it or Por15. You've already purchased them, if you've got time to refinish them yourself why drop the money twice.

Sponsored