Featuring Premium Parts from
by Don Renyer
Torque Contributor
One of the most common early modifications a Jeep owner makes is lifting their vehicle and adding larger tires. While this improves both its off-road capabilities as well as visual appeal, the added ride height can create the need for another accessory. Simply put, for those who are vertically challenged (e.g. short people), how do they easily get in and out of the Jeep?
This is the predicament we found ourselves in when we added 1.75” and 33” tires to my wife’s 2016 JKU.
Enter the Quadratec QRC Side Armor with Step.
This functional, affordable design adds side protection from rock strikes and other obstacles you may encounter on the trail, while offering a no-skid textured surface to step on while getting in or out of the Jeep.
With that step integrated into the dual tube design, you don’t have to worry about it protruding down and out like some other products, which tend to get hung up on larger rocks. Add that step integration to its matte black, powder-coated finish and bolt-on design, and we were enticed to pull the trigger on this set.
The QRC Side Armor with Step was in stock upon ordering and arrived swiftly in a massive box more than six feet long and weighing a solid 80-90 pounds. The pieces themselves were bubble wrapped and set in Styrofoam which kept them from getting so much as a scratch in the shipping process.
As someone who regularly receives damaged boxes, I was impressed. Also inside the box were the necessary hardware and full-color instructions (though the installation was so straightforward I didn’t even read them).
The bolt-on installation on this product is a breeze and can be completed entirely by one person, though it is a tad bit awkward to hold the lengthy side armor in place while getting the bolts set. I shrugged off my wife’s attempts to help me, insisting I was more than capable of installing it by myself, and managed to get it bolted on without dropping it on my face.
In hindsight, I should have taken her offer or used a jack stand to hold one end in place while I worked on bolting the opposite end to the frame of the Jeep.
After bolting everything in place, I tested both the side armor’s structural integrity as well as the Jeep’s suspension by jumping on the steps and rocking it back and forth. To my satisfaction, the new modification was rock solid, and I didn’t hear even a single squeak, creak, or groan as I repeatedly brought my full weight to bear on the steps.
Fully satisfied with installation and quality, it was time for the ultimate test — my wife’s approval. With her blessing on the new ease of access to her Jeep, we had a winner.
This is typically the point in a review where you’ve received the initial first impression with a promise to follow up later after usage to let you know how it’s holding up. Well, fortunately you won’t have to wait.
Fast forward a few months, and the QRC Side Armor with Steps have held up admirably. My Jeep is a daily driver and these steps get put to use countless times. They’ve made it significantly easier for the entire family to climb in and out of the Jeep including our youngest who is 11 years old. She treats both of our Jeeps like jungle gyms on wheels and climbs all over the steps, bumpers, roof racks, etc.
Now, let’s talk about off-road performance.
Though we have traveled all over the country in our Jeeps, from Glacier National Park to Moab, Utah, our home base is in Florida. For those of you not familiar with the Florida off-road scene, it is primarily sandy trails, muddy holes, the occasional fallen pine tree across the trail and water crossings. We don’t have a great deal of elevation change or rock outcroppings save for the rare off-road park.
I preface all this in the spirit of transparency as I cannot say I have slid along any large rocks or boulders with this side armor (though I am quite confident in their ability to take the hit). We haven’t taken any major trips since putting the armor on, but with a little luck, that’ll change this summer (fingers crossed!).
What we have done with this side armor is bounce it down miles and miles of trails while coating it with mud. The textured steps certainly help keep your footing when mud has splattered alongside the Jeep as well as covering the steps. The bouncing has also loosened the limb risers on the Jeep, but when I checked the side armor bolts, I found them just as tight as the day they were installed.
