Ford Power Running board STUCK  WHY!!! This is why and what to do about it. Also covers Navigators.
Channel: OldFartHacks
Date: 2023-02-26

So you open your door and the running board comes down on your truck. The wife, who needs it to get into the truck climbs in and closed the door. Meanwhile, the running board stays down because it can and you take off. Next thing you know, the running board gets broken off in the car wash. 

So, how do you fix this problem. What I show you in this video is the reason this happens and also I give you the method to fix it. Now to the details.

The board sticks down because the plastic lining in the 16 bushings that are used with each board have worn out, sticking the plastic to the pivot pins in the process. Dry rusty steel on steel does not move well. Such Fun!

The fix is to replace those bushings with new ones and clean the pins. A simple job, assuming that you have a press and a source of heat, the pins are a press fit into the two moving bodies. 

So then, where do you get the Unobtainium bushings, Ford doesn't sell the sets. Well they are available from a couple of people, this company on EBay is one source. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Running-Board-Motor-Bracket-bearings-F-150-Expedition-Set-of-18-702009-/273190081533

I also recommend that you use a molybdenum disulfide and graphite lube. In fact this should be shot into the joints on a regular basis. I don't have a specific brand, but Dupont is one of many companies that make this, as is the company Dri Slide. 

Another source is: https://bearing-solutions.isostatic.com/item/flange-bearings/tu-steel-backed-ptfe-lined-flange-bearings-metric/702009

As I said, I intend to try over the next few days to use my toy lathe to carve a set of these out of bronze, this should be "interesting" to say the least. 

If that works, I will post a video of the success. If it fails, well I may well also post that video. Time will tell.

P.S. As you are taking these apart and putting them back together, make sure that you appease Vulcanus, else he will toast your bumpers. I forgot to throw him a virgin and now I have unvulcanized rubber bumpers on one of the arms. OOPS

Have fun all of you out there in Cyberland.

Please ask any questions you have in the comments section, I do usually answer.