Installing the Passenger-Side Running Board on My Ford Transit

I finished the passenger-side running board on my Ford Transit and filmed the work from the first ramp introduction to the view along the completed step. The project brought me underneath the lower trim, around the mounting points and back outside to see how the board lined up with the doors. At the end of this recording, the driver side was still to do.

The photographs and clips follow that one side of the van. They show the board laid out before mounting, the trim clips I loosened for access, the prepared holes and studs, and the bracket attached underneath. The finished result was the part I was most pleased to walk around and show.

Watch My Running-Board Project

Introducing the Ramps and Laying Out the Work

I began with four molded ramps standing against the wall. In the opening recording I introduced them beside my 2023 Ford Transit 250 and explained that I was using them for this work on the van. The photographs show their tread faces and the raised ends before the view changes to the van in the work area.

My passenger-side setup photograph is a useful starting point for the rest of the story. The long black board is still on the pavement, parallel to the van. Separate mounting pieces and yellow cordless tools are spread beside it, with the creeper seat nearby. The lower trim is already black, so the board and the area it would sit below are visible together before anything is attached.

That overall photograph helps make sense of the closer views later. The board starts as a separate piece alongside the body; the next recordings move underneath to the places where its brackets connect. Keeping those stages together makes the change easier to follow than a finished side view alone.

Loosening the Lower Trim Clips

Under the passenger side, I started by loosening the plastic clips along the lower trim. In the recording I explained that the instructions I was following called for loosening the trim rather than taking it off. That appealed to me because I had already coated the trim with bedliner.

I tried working a flathead tool into the gap, then used my fingers as the clip began to move. The camera was close to the underside of the van, so this part of the film is much tighter than the setup photograph. It shows the small access space around the trim and the retainer rather than the whole side of the vehicle.

Trying to demonstrate that while holding the camera made it awkward. I said I would need two hands to continue. That is where this part of my recording leaves the trim-access work, before the next view of the prepared mounting points.

The Prepared Mounting Points

When I returned to the camera underneath the van, the mounting points were ready to show. I pointed out a factory hole, the inserted fastener and its retainer, then moved to the holes and clips nearby. I also showed the factory studs used by the bracket.

I talked through the holes I had drilled, with the holes already present in the recording. The useful detail in this passage is their position beside the retained trim and the other mounting points. The film then moves forward to the bracket attached in that area.

This was the transition from gaining access to seeing how the board would be held. In the earlier photograph, the mounting pieces were on the pavement. Here, the camera is underneath the body and close enough to distinguish the studs, the fastener and the clips I was describing.

The Bracket Attached Beneath the Passenger Side

The following recording shows the black mounting bracket in place. I moved the camera along its upper plate, where the studs, washers and nuts are visible, then around the other connection points behind the trim. The board is now connected to the bracket rather than lying separately beside the van.

I followed the bracket down toward its connection with the board. That change of camera angle is useful: one view shows the attachment at the van, while the next follows the hardware toward the underside of the step. The full film preserves that movement between the two.

Putting the prepared-point view beside the attached-bracket view is the clearest process comparison in my photographs. The same area goes from exposed points to a visible bracket and board connection. It is a record of the arrangement I showed on this passenger side.

The Passenger-Side Result

Back outside, I walked along the finished running board. I was very happy with how it looked against the van. To my eye, its dark textured finish matched the bedliner on the lower trim so well that I no longer felt I needed to coat it to get the appearance I wanted.

I also pointed out where the board ended. My Transit is the extended version, and the board does not run all the way to the rear tire. What I liked was how it lined up with the doors. The wider view puts that length and position in context with the whole passenger side.

The Project Sequence at a Glance

My Takeaway From This Stage of the Build

The best part of keeping the process footage is being able to connect the finished appearance with what was underneath it. The setup photograph shows the long board as a separate part; the close-ups show the access and mounting area; the final walkaround shows how the step sits against the doors and black lower trim.

My reaction was about the result I could see. I liked the finish and the way the board lined up with the doors, even though it stopped short of the rear tire on my extended van. I ended the recording pleased with the completed passenger side and still needing to do the driver side.

The black coating has its own sequence of preparation, spraying and roller correction in my RAPTOR trim-and-hood story. The Method wheel-and-tire project records another change visible in these views. Follow those projects, or return to my build diary for the wider conversion record.