Slee Slider Steps and KDSS - Part 1
Slee Slider Steps, and KDSS – Part 1
Another one of the key elements for the 4Runner is protection. Protection from things that spontaneously jump out of the ground at you. Rocker panel protection was my first concern. So last March I called my friend Christo Slee at Slee Offroad to have him send me a set of his really good looking slider steps. I love the way these look. They are formed and welded components that look like they could be a factory option. They look low key, and are pretty much bomb proof. There was just one hitch.
The Issue
Christo informed me that they designed these Slider Steps based on a 5th Gen 4Runner Trail that did not have the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS). The componentry for this electronically managed hydraulic sway bar control happens to be mounted on the outside of the drivers side frame rail. His bracketing works out great on the models without this, but not on the KDSS fitted vehicles. We discussed the barriers to mounting the steps. The passenger side step will mount right up to the frame, no problem. The driver side frame bracket would need some adjustment, and neither of us knew what was really entailed in doing this. So Christo sent me a set, and we decided to see what it would take. Life got in the way. ExPo and a month and a half in South Africa to be precise. I received the steps in March and I finally got to the project in late August. Here is what we did.
Components
![Slee Steps parts.JPG Slee Steps parts.JPG](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/133/133742-c61dd373bd7bfd77a731bc13b49d4b13.jpg)
The kit that Slee sent me is very well made. 3/16” steel construction, powder coated in black semi gloss with separate anti slip treads. There is a main frame mounted bracket, 3 outriggers per step, and the main step itself with 2 treads per step. There are 59 sets of bolt/washer/nylock per step. These aren’t going anywhere once installed, and it is Slee quality.
Passenger Step Fitment
The passenger step was pretty straight forward. Good thing, as there are no instructions provided. The one trick to this side of the install was the 3 riv nuts that needed to be installed on the bottom of the frame. You need to match up the bracket to the frame to find the right holes, then drill out the holes the holes to fit the hardware. I ran one of the bolts in and out of the other threaded spots on the frame to clear the threads prior to mounting the bracket. The bracket and outriggers bolted right up. The step was a bit trickier though, as the slots for the hardware are now buried up between the outrigger and the step. I had to resort to the old trick of masking tape on the back end of a box wrench to align the nuts inside the outriggers. I think longer bolts clear through the step mounting and outrigger would have been a lot less frustrating. I mounted up this step first to get some experience with the product, to hopefully help with the driver side install.
![PS Bracket Mounted.JPG PS Bracket Mounted.JPG](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/133/133744-fd8138ed765f5635e83bc79c99582a4b.jpg)
![PS Outriggers Mounted.JPG PS Outriggers Mounted.JPG](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/133/133745-42f62870a0037afc9fb6fc78a7f00531.jpg)