Ford's innovations with the F150 over the last 40 years have come as a mixture of form and function. These innovations have made the truck more dependable and adaptive to a wide variety of uses. Factory running boards and step bars are examples of those innovations that provide a mixture of both form and function. The boards or bars provide extra protection for the lower portion of the doors, while giving you an intermediate step between the ground and the F150's floor. If your F150 didn't leave the factory with running boards or step bars, you can install Nerf bars in about an hour.
Brace the F150 Super Crew's right-front wheel with two wheel chocks to prevent the truck from rolling.
Lift the left side of the truck with a floor jack until you can place two jack stands, adjusted to their full height, under the left frame rail. Lower the F150 onto the two jack stands with the floor jack.
Position two more jack stands along the driver's side of the F150. Lift the left Nerf bar onto these jack stands, with the mounting brackets aligned with the factory-drilled mounting holes in the F150's left frame rail.
Slide the Nerf bar mounting bolts through the Nerf bar mounting brackets and through the F150's left frame rail. Slip the lock washers onto the ends of the bolts and then tighten the retaining nuts onto the bolts with the socket set to secure the Nerf bar to the truck's frame. Note that some Nerf bars may come with a rubber insulator to sit between the mounting bracket and frame; if yours do, make sure to place the insulator between the bar and frame before inserting the bolt.
Lift the F150 off the jack stands, using the floor jack. Move all four jack stands away from the truck. Lower the F150 to the ground.
Repeat Steps 1 through 5 on the opposite side to install the right Nerf bar.
Re-tighten all the Nerf bar mounting nuts when done. When tightening, torque the nuts until the lock washers flatten out, then turn the nut 1/2-turn further.
