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The factory JK Rubicon rock rails really are not bad in most respects. They keep the bottom edge of the pinch weld from getting too banged up when you slide over an occasional rock, and they are solidly mounted to the body in nine spots, which helps them to distribute the load evenly if you do get hung up on something.
They do have some drawbacks, however. The fit against the body isn’t perfect, and tiny rocks always seem to wedge themselves in the seam. And for me, corrosion was starting to bubble up from under the coating, but considering they’ve been in service for nearly a decade you can’t really fault them for that. The rails also don’t extend out past the rocker, so diagonal protection against nasty stuff is minimal, and they aren’t functional as a side step at all.
Kargo Master's Rocker Walker Side Steps are available for both two- and four-door Wranglers, and have a pretty solid feature set.
For starters, they are a very solid walking platform as indicated by their name. This makes tasks like washing the roof of your Jeep or strapping things to a rack a whole lot easier. Also, since they are flat across the top with a raised dimpled traction surface, it will be easier to walk to the front bumper without touching the ground if I get hung up in some deep mud or a water crossing.
A lot of side steps, while nice to look at, aren’t very trail functional (and can actually be a detriment), but Kargo Master’s Rocker Walker Side Steps are solidly made with smooth transitions on the underside, giving it a very low profile when you have to slide over obstacles. Additionally, they are attached to the frame using three mounting points per side, but do not require any substantial drilling or modification to your Jeep. The bottom of the rockers are smooth, and extend all the way over to the body mount locations.
Procedure:
Start by removing the factory rocker rails, if equipped. If not, you can skip the first few steps.
These factory rails are held on by three 13mm bolts into the frame per side, and six 10mm bolts through the pinch weld.
The body mount bolts must also be removed using an 18mm socket. These are long bolts with a very fine thread pitch, so don’t be surprised if they take a little while.
With those out of the way, the inner support can be bolted right back onto the Jeep with the supplied carriage bolts, flat washers and nylon lock nuts.
Fully tighten these bolts, as they are not required for adjustment and will not be visible with the rockers installed.
One hole per side had to be slightly cleaned up with a ⅜” drill bit to allow the bolt to pass through easily.
With the supports bolted in place, rest the outer rockers on top.
They will stay put while you install the six 5/16” carriage bolts, lock and flat washers. Don’t tighten these yet.
Also reinstall the three body mount bolts, but do not fully tighten them.
Snugly install two support brackets per side to the underside of the steps using button head bolts, lock and flat washers. Thread one of the provided M8 bolts into the weldnut tab that the original rails were bolted to on each bracket.
With everything loosely installed, set the desired gap between the side step and body, there is a good amount of adjustment possible for a tight fit.
Tighten the button head bolts on the top of the step from the outside-in with an Allen wrench.
Tighten body mount bolts under the Jeep, and the button head and M8 bolts on the support bracket.
Lastly, install the four 1/2“ button head bolts, flat and lock washers on the two outer corners of the rocker steps.
I’ve already used these on three boating trips when loading canoes and kayaks to the roof, and they’ve made it much easier than trying to balance on the door sills. I haven’t smacked any rocks with them yet, but they’re definitely ready to slide right over them.
