taking It Easy The First Time Around 2011 Ford F250 - bestop Powerboards Led Light - Photo 34193336

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<strong>13. </strong>One thing that sets Bestop’s PowerBoards apart from other retracting steps is the LED light that you can find on each hinge of the Powerboards. The added light really helps out in pitch black environments.

<strong>01. </strong>It didn’t take us long to get the first modification on. The truck was at our office for about a week before an Airaid MXP Series air intake kit showed up. Since Airaid recommends their oiled filters (over the SynthaMax non-oiled filter) for the harshest off-road conditions, so we took the advice and stuck with an oiled air filter.

<strong>02. </strong>There were holes in the plastic for adding all the necessary sensors to the air intake tube.

<strong>03. </strong>The Airaid air intake fits into place without any holes drilled, nor any other necessary modifications necessary. It also cleans up the engine bay a little and gives a nicer look under the hood.

<strong>04. </strong>To improve our truck’s ground clearance, we picked up a Daystar leveling combo kit. The problem with coil spacers is that all too often the shocks are not long enough to accommodate the extra couple inches of height. That’s why Daystar includes its Scorpion shocks with the combo kit. The Scorpion shocks are a little bit longer to compensate for the extra height.

<strong>05. </strong>While we were stopping by to check out the undercarriage of our truck, we convinced South Bay Truck in Hawthorne, California, to pop in our Daystar spacers and shocks, since all it took was loosening the brake lines, removing the stock shocks, and using a spreader to give us the extra inch needed to pop in the coil spacers.

<strong>06. </strong>With the spacers in place and the Scorpion shocks on, we had two inches more lift and we’ve been told that’s enough to accommodate 35-inch tires. Maybe we’ll try those next month.

<strong>07. </strong>A benefit to leaving the stock wheels and tires on after adding the leveling kit was that we could get an honest feel of the difference the spacers and shocks made, without bigger tires being involved. The added ground clearance was only given to the front, but even that made worlds of difference when trying to get through some harsher off-road trails. The ride didn’t really change too much with the added height, but the Scorpion shocks seemed to help a little over freeway expansion gaps.

<strong>08. </strong>Even with a trailer loading down the back of the truck, the front end isn’t freakishly tall with the Daystar leveling kit on the front.

<strong>09. </strong>Speaking of towing with trailers, we’ve created a new game: Trying to hook up trailers without ever looking back, with no one giving directions. It’s possible with the reverse camera built into the tailgate of the Super Duty (which displays on the stereo’s monitor) but it is still a tad tricky getting it perfectly lined up.

<strong>10. </strong>And this was about the time that the driver’s side running board suffered. Yes, it was definitely time to ditch the stock running boards.

<strong>11. </strong>The Bestop Powerboards were an excellent answer to needing ground clearance while still wanting a step in. Signature Performance in Costa Mesa, California, is one of Bestop’s authorized installation shops that guarantees a perfect fitment, so it was a natural to head to Signature to have our PowerBoards put on.

<strong>12. </strong> Signature’s head technician, Josh Thurman, first removed the stock running boards, and then added the PowerBoard’s hinges. Thurman tells us that almost all new truck PowerBoard applications require no drilling at all and the hinges bolt right into existing holes on the body.

<strong>13. </strong>One thing that sets Bestop’s PowerBoards apart from other retracting steps is the LED light that you can find on each hinge of the Powerboards. The added light really helps out in pitch black environments.

<strong>14. </strong>Signature Performance added the wiring under the hood and to the electric motors that mount directly on the hinges. On a Super Duty, you only have to remove the door sill plate to access the door’s wiring harness. The retracting steps get their signal to open or close from the vehicle’s existing sensors.

<strong>15. </strong>When retracted, the PowerBoard steps tuck in so far under the body that it’s almost impossible to see them on our Super Duty.

<strong>16. </strong>With the Powerboards on, we definitely had more ground clearance, and we still had a step to help get into the truck.