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Good Evening,
I recently acquired a 2015 Lariat with the box steps. It is winter, and we haven't had a lot of days over 32 degrees, but my question is - are they electrical? It seems they don't want to move at all. I think this is a know issue with these and the power rocker boards. Could I put a whole bunch of penetrating oil (like PB Blaster) on the hinges? Just was curious. Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.
They have little has struts that make them function. Disconnect the struts then wire brush all the hinges, spray them with penetrating oil and see of you can get them to move. Once they move, spray them some more and move them back and forth until they move freely. Once they move freely, spray with white lithium lube. If the struts still have good pressure, reconnect them to see if they will function properly. If not, replace them.
I live in the mountains of western MT on a dirt road. My 2016 had the power running boards as well as the bed side steps. I had no use for the bedside steps and like you noticed they stopped working so I removed them and tossed them in the garbage. The power running boards followed the same path. When the truck was about 4 years old I started noticing the running boards struggling and a few times they would get stuck in the extended position. Most times they would retract after the truck started moving, like they had a different gear if the truck started moving. Then over the last couple years they would just get stuck while extended and never come back in. Then every time leaving from a stop or of course opening and closing a door you'd hear the step motor run for 5 seconds to no avail. I like how the truck looks with the steps retracted but the near daily maintenance in the winter is simply not worth it. It's a poor design so I removed them and had regular running boards installed.