Double Cab OEM Step Mounting Question

ember1205 · March 19, 2015

I have a set of OEM assist steps that I bought as take-offs. They're complete with all hardware, but I have a mounting question...

And I believe this only applies to the Double Cab vehicles...

The center mount is a two-piece bracket. And, the "upper piece" is different from one side of the truck to the other. One of these pieces has a bent tab in it and the other does not.

If you installed your own boards, can you tell me which side of the truck the bracket with the tab goes on?

newdude · March 19, 2015

The rear step pad is shorter than the front step pad, so looking that them on the ground, the board with the mounts on the right, long pad first and then short pad is driver side, and the one with the mounts on the left side, long pad first, then short pad is passenger side.

However...you are describing a two piece bracket? Do you have the box by any chance? Any pictures of the mount?

ember1205 · March 19, 2015

"Which board on which side" is easy. And, which bracket where on the board is easy. The center bracket on each board is not the full bracket that goes up to attach to the underside of the truck. It comes up to the very bottom of the body and there's an additional piece to the bracket that mounts ABOVE the piece of body with a large bolt holding the two together and "sandwiching" the body in between.

My question is in reference to those two half brackets, specifically the piece that mounts above the body line.

These brackets are NOT the same as the ones used on standard cabs and crew cabs from what I can tell. It appears that they are only used as the center bracket on the Double Cab models.

newdude · March 19, 2015

4 inch or 6 inch board?

ember1205 · March 19, 2015

6" Rectangular. 22805440 is the part number for the steps in question.

newdude · March 19, 2015

Cracked open a box of that part # at work.

Front bracket (front of driver door)

Middle bracket

.

Back bracket

All three brackets are the same on both boards, no split mounts.

Did the set you get come off of an HD truck by chance that was a Duramax truck? The only boards that come to mind that have a special brakcet of any kind are Duramax trucks because of the DEF tank on the drivers side.

ember1205 · March 19, 2015

They were identified as Dealer Take-Offs and being part number 22805440. That specific part number is associated ONLY to gas engine model double cabs trucks, and that model number was shown on a couple of the brackets in the photos that were available. No specific year, make, or model of truck was actually listed.

To the best of my knowledge, these will absolutely fit, but I can't make heads or tails of which of the special upper brackets is supposed to go on which side of the truck.

I may mount them "to the best of my ability" and get the seller to provide me with the proper middle brackets and swap them out later on. I don't understand why only one of these has the hang tab on it when seemingly it would be usable on either side of the cab.

ember1205 · March 20, 2015

So, I managed to get them mounted. But, they feel "squishy" to me, and I'm betting that it's because the center position of each of them has, essentially, an inferior level of stiffness being provided by the bracket.

The split brackets have nothing holding them to the backside of the rocker panel and the brunt of the weight must be carried by the front and rear position brackets.

I'm currently trying to find out what the seller is willing to offer me to fix this. I need two additional brackets, two additional plastic covers, and four additional clip and bolt combos in order to remove the brackets that are on there (the split ones) and mount the steps correctly.

Anyone have access to the full parts catalog and could at least get me part numbers and list prices for those items?

ember1205 · March 20, 2015

I talked to my local dealer this morning. The mounting hardware is not available for individual purchase - it can only be acquired as part of a complete kit.

I have to work out a return with the seller.

newdude · March 20, 2015

Can you take a picture of this split bracket?

22799286 ($29 each) is the bracket part # and you may need 22913037 ($47 each) the plastic cover for the bracket.

newdude · March 20, 2015

double post

ember1205 · March 20, 2015

I could get photos, but not easily (at least not today).

I know exactly what parts I need: Two brackets, two sleeves, four clips, four bolts. Based on your numbers, I'm looking at about $170 (list price) to buy the pieces I need. I seriously doubt the seller is going to want to comp me that amount based on what I paid, and my local dealer has already told me they talked with GM Accessories folks and determined that there is no way to buy the brackets and other pieces individually - so where would I go to get them?

Here's a related question in my mind:

Why does GM sell everything as a complete kit instead of offering the boards in their various forms and then hardware in various forms? That way, you could buy a complete hardware kit for a Double Cab Gas, regardless of whether you had chrome or black steps.

ember1205 · March 21, 2015

Thanks much to 15HDriver for helping me get a lot of good information that I needed.

Summing up to now: I bought what was advertised as a 22805440 (GM Part number) set of steps that were "Dealer Take-Offs" and had all of the hardware. What I actually GOT was a 22820409 (GM Part Number) set of steps. The person selling them was going by what the dealer / person that he bought them off of told him. Using information from 15HDriver along with the photos I originally worked from, I have concluded the following is the most likely scenario:

A GM 1500 truck (2014-2015) landed on the dealer's lot, NON diesel model. They wanted to add a set of steps to it, or maybe even had a deal lined up where the potential buyer had wanted them, and didn't have the correct kit available in the parts department. Or, maybe they even ordered that kit for whatever reason and were just looking for a way to sell them.

The person that put them on most likely had ZERO experience with the diesel kit and what its differences are, and did "what he thought made sense" to mount them. This meant that he put the two half bracket pieces (that actually belong in the middle and front position on the passenger side) in the center position of each step and bolted them on.

When the dealer took them off, and the guy I bought them from ended up with them, that's how they were configured. The seller didn't know that they were actually packaged for a diesel, and the dealer certainly didn't understand it either.

The down side in all of it is that there was actually a single bolt and clip missing from the pile of hardware, and I believe that this would have made a pretty significant difference in the overall strength when mounting these. I used the configuration that was show to me to mount them (half brackets in the mid position, one per step). They went on, and they were "ok". But they certainly weren't rock solid like I believe they should have been.

Now that I understand how this exact bracket system is SUPPOSED to mount, and the fact that the body on my gas model truck is identical to the diesel model, it makes me believe that I should be able to use the diesel truck's mounting system and achieve a very solid set of steps. I just need to obtain that missing clip and bolt and re-mount them using the configuration that was spelled out for a diesel truck and see what the results are.

I know for fact that the driver's side step will feel more solid because I will be using a full bracket instead of a half bracket. It's just the passenger side that I'm concerned about. If anyone has a Double Cab (important because the Crew Cab uses four brackets per side, not three) Diesel (important because it will have two half brackets on the passenger side while a gas model will have all full brackets on both sides) with the OEM 6" steps, I would love to hear how solid your passenger side step is.

ember1205 · March 30, 2015

I wanted to update this thread for anyone that comes across it looking for this sort of information...

I worked out a deal with the seller to refund me part of my purchase cost and I used that money to purchase a couple of additional bolts / body clips. I mounted the steps to my truck as if it were a diesel (the split brackets in the front and center position on the passenger side) and all is well.

The driver's side step is very solid and the passenger side step is almost as solid. Since my step will get used 100% percent of the time and the passenger step will get used about 5% of the time, this is perfectly fine with me.

In the end, I made out exceptionally well on the deal financially, having spent far less than half of what a new set would have cost me from my local dealer (close to list price) and maybe about half of what I could have gotten them for as a new set on eBay. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Thank you again, 15HDriver, for the information - invaluable to me in this process.