VANGUARD VGPDB-1919BK Black Powdercoat Classic Double Layer Hitch Step installed

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Have been looking at products to "up armor" the rear of my truck. Was dissatisfied with the fit of the "Go Rhino" bar. Trying the "VANGUARD VGPDB-1919BK Black Powdercoat Classic Double Layer Hitch Step" now. The included anti-rattle clip did not fit (same problem I had with the other bar), but used a U-bracket to prevent it from rattling. I'm torn on it. It seems better than the other product, but still not in love with it. Will probably keep until I have time to try something else.

Link to product and photos below.

Hitch step: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DG2N6Z2

U-shape anti-rattle bracket: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KZ25Y26

Wish these were about an inch longer:

View from camera:

Thoughts or suggestions?

Sponsored

 

[R1Thor]

It's been said before, but bears repeating for anyone else who isn't educated on this: this type of modification comes with risks.

Yes, in a scenario where a minor, slow-speed bump could result in a fender bender, this may* prevent any real damage.

HOWEVER, in any serious collision, ALL OF THE FORCE is going to transfer into the body. As the chassis and frame are intentionally ONE from a structural standpoint, once you allow a ton of mass to decelerate directly into your frame, you're going to incur structural damage that will likely result in a total loss of your vehicle.

The entire purpose for crash and crumple zones are to be sacrificial areas that 1- greatly reduce transfer of force into critical areas and 2- allow for decelration.

Notwithstanding, transferring this force directly into the body of your vehicle can also result in higher likelihood of bodily injury (a la whiplash or worse).

To wit: it's highly recommended (in any manual you read) to remove your hitch if you're not using it for this very reason.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

It's been said before, but bears repeating for anyone else who isn't educated on this: this type of modification comes with risks.

Yes, in a scenario where a minor, slow-speed bump could result in a fender bender, this may* prevent any real damage.

HOWEVER, in any serious collision, ALL OF THE FORCE is going to transfer into the body. As the chassis and frame are intentionally ONE from a structural standpoint, once you allow a ton of mass to decelerate directly into your frame, you're going to incur structural damage that will likely result in a total loss of your vehicle.

The entire purpose for crash and crumple zones are to be sacrificial areas that 1- greatly reduce transfer of force into critical areas and 2- allow for decelration.

Notwithstanding, transferring this force directly into the body of your vehicle can also result in higher likelihood of bodily injury (a la whiplash or worse).

To wit: it's highly recommended (in any manual you read) to remove your hitch if you're not using it for this very reason.

? Makes no sense to turn repairable body damage into something much worse.

 

[Rickmc]

It's been said before, but bears repeating for anyone else who isn't educated on this: this type of modification comes with risks.

Yes, in a scenario where a minor, slow-speed bump could result in a fender bender, this may* prevent any real damage.

HOWEVER, in any serious collision, ALL OF THE FORCE is going to transfer into the body. As the chassis and frame are intentionally ONE from a structural standpoint, once you allow a ton of mass to decelerate directly into your frame, you're going to incur structural damage that will likely result in a total loss of your vehicle.

The entire purpose for crash and crumple zones are to be sacrificial areas that 1- greatly reduce transfer of force into critical areas and 2- allow for decelration.

Notwithstanding, transferring this force directly into the body of your vehicle can also result in higher likelihood of bodily injury (a la whiplash or worse).

To wit: it's highly recommended (in any manual you read) to remove your hitch if you're not using it for this very reason.

Totally disagree with you.

If you think about the mechanics of it, unless someone hits you with a reinforced tank, their bumper or grill or plastic front end etc will also crumple when that step doesn't budge due to it being attached to the frame. Thus, THIER car will crumple the 6 inches until the rest of their front end meets the Rivian bumper. At that point, you scrubbed off a small amount of the kinetic energy but then the rest will just work the way it was intended, bumper to bumper, crush zone to crush zone.

Now, ram it with a sherman tank and sure, you can envision transfering ALL the kinetic energy to the frame. Short of that, it's better to have something to stop a 5 mph tap into having your vehicle out of service for months. 2 to 3 weeks in the parking lot of a service center, then transferred to a neighboring body shop, then 2-4 weeks at the body shop, then back to Service center. Delivered back to the owner, who sees it was shoddy wor, then the process of having it back to the service center and start over.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

HOWEVER, in any serious collision, ALL OF THE FORCE is going to transfer into the body.

Not here to debate, but how would this be any different than, say, someone who's put running boards on the side of their truck? In that case, wouldn't a side impact do exactly the same as you're describing here? E.g., "transfer the full impact to the frame" as opposed to staving in the doors, etc., first?

 

[iansriv]

I think this calls for a test!

 

[mikysee]

Another thing to consider is that these hitch steps are much weaker than the frame and hitch and will bend/break before the frame does. If you get hit hard enough to damage the frame, than with or without this, your frame will get damaged.

 

[R1Thor]

Totally disagree with you.

If you think about the mechanics of it, unless someone hits you with a reinforced tank, their bumper or grill or plastic front end etc will also crumple when that step doesn't budge due to it being attached to the frame. Thus, THIER car will crumple the 6 inches until the rest of their front end meets the Rivian bumper. At that point, you scrubbed off a small amount of the kinetic energy but then the rest will just work the way it was intended, bumper to bumper, crush zone to crush zone.

Now, ram it with a sherman tank and sure, you can envision transfering ALL the kinetic energy to the frame. Short of that, it's better to have something to stop a 5 mph tap into having your vehicle out of service for months. 2 to 3 weeks in the parking lot of a service center, then transferred to a neighboring body shop, then 2-4 weeks at the body shop, then back to Service center. Delivered back to the owner, who sees it was shoddy wor, then the process of having it back to the service center and start over.

GREAT! You do you, my friend.

Not here to debate, but how would this be any different than, say, someone who's put running boards on the side of their truck? In that case, wouldn't a side impact do exactly the same as you're describing here? E.g., "transfer the full impact to the frame" as opposed to staving in the doors, etc., first?

Not here to debate, then proceed to debate? OK, I'm game:


So, you both made a bunch of assumptions. Let's look at them individually:

"If you think about the mechanics of it, unless someone hits you with a reinforced tank, their bumper or grill or plastic front end etc will also crumple when that step doesn't budge due to it being attached to the frame. Thus, THIER car will crumple the 6 inches until the rest of their front end meets the Rivian bumper. At that point, you scrubbed off a small amount of the kinetic energy but then the rest will just work the way it was intended, bumper to bumper, crush zone to crush zone."

I conceded within my initial statement that a 'fender bender' might be averted. IN a scenario where that car is in a full on collision with you, you're going to eventually find their engine block, frame, mounts, or their own firewall is going to contact this point of the hitch.

"OK, but then it'll probably destroy the truck anyway, so, you're wrong R1Thor!"

Sure, but there's a nice area in the middle of that curve that Engineers have accounted for--that is a crumple zone meeting a crumple zone. You've removed one of them, now what?

Let's look at this in totality:
" someone who's put running boards on the side of their truck"

Running boards have MULTIPLE mounting points along the side of the frame. This is a wide area, so now you have distributed force; forces which the truck needs to maintain anyway just in order to maintain the integrity of keeping its shape. You want to extrapolate that to a point load that's designed to be primarily in tension?


Several things here, gents.
1- the hitch is not designed for impact. Period. It's primary job is to haul a trailer. That is it'll have a calibrated amount of moment applied (ala torque, shear, and a bit of torsional load) and that is why there's a spec we call 'tongue weight' that considers all of that within the dynamics if driving. This is also why the hitch receiver is required (by law and standards) to be installed behind and under the active rear bumper of vehicles they're installed on.

2- materials: different parts of a vehicle are designed with different types of materials for their sole purpose. Notwithstanding, the bracketry, reinforcements, types of welds, and manufacturing methodology are chosen based on the intention of the parts, assemblies, and overall utility.

3- Forces act differently depending on how they're applied. Distributed load is going to DISTRIBUTE force, while a point load will focus force into one area. Then you're also going to compare, say--rock crawling sliders who see a momentary recursive force, but primarily static-ish force (slow speeds, easy impetus of force), versus a COLLISION which is ALL SHOCK FORCE. Shock force is, at a MINIMUM 8x static force. So, if you see a sign that says "I can withstand 5000lbs-f" it means if you slowly imparted a weight acting normal to the construction of that member. It does not mean slamming a 5000lb-m projectile into that point, at which case, depending on the speed of travel, amount of deceleration, and so forth, feel free to multiply that by 10-50x+. You think your hitch can take 25 tons of force through 2.5 inches box tubing? (go ahead and tell me that the bumper can't take that, and I'll remind you that I'm comparing point load to distributed force and increasing the insane amount of acceleration--deceleration in this case).

4- It's really easy to use Google, friends. This was one of the top results from "accidents with a hitch" https://kfblaw.com/trailer-hitch/ --the law, and insurance is going to eat your lunch if you want to play games with whether or not you should accessorize your rear end, versus allowing for crumple zones to do their job. Obviously, this will likely vary (by luck and by state/local statutes and the mood and knowledge of the police officer on the scene), but it seems there's already precedence regarding whether or not someone can sue you for injuries if you created a less-safe condition for those around you (Oh, no! What do you mean this isn't just about ME?!)

5- Sure, the accessory in this case may be weak enough to become a failure point. How much do you want to bet that $120 Amazon accessory was NOT engineered for collisions? I bet at least my years salary, because the amount of cost associated with that type of Engineering is a minimum of $100k (that's just the Engineering and testing--to say nothing of the DOT certifications, and NHTSA lab costs, which I'd guesstimate are minimum $50k more). By the time they amortized that into the cost of this accessory, it'd be much more expensive purchase for you.

6- this may come as a surprise to you, but your bumpers have active dampeners built into them. Once they are triggered, they require replacement. There's a reason for that. Goes back to force of impact absorption and incurring intentional deceleration.

7- This company (seems to) get it: https://sparebumper.com/ --you'll see in their literature them looking at accessories and explaining they're not Engineered for force absorption--their's purportedly is. I guess my point here is, I'm not just spreading a unique idea here--there are others who are aware this is an issue.



Look, end of the day, this is YOUR Vehicle, and I'm NOT an enforcement officer of any type. Do what you want. Analyze your risk tolerance. If YOU decide this makes sense to you, go right ahead and ignore this random dude on the internet. I won't tell you what to do. I'll just tell you that I wouldn't use any accessories of this nature if I were you. AND, I make a point to uninstall my hitch (and any other hitch-mounted accessories) when I'm not actively towing anything.

On the flip side, there are absolutely scenarios where this is a better choice, and there are probably some stories out there of an accessory like this saving someone. I'm sure it happens, because we cannot possibly postulate every possible scenario. I'd just prefer to see real statistics and real Engineering dictating probable outcomes, not supposition.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Not here to debate, then proceed to debate? OK, I'm game:

It was a legitimate question. Since I've never seen this issue raised on any of the hundreds of threads about running boards. But you're free to take it however you want. ?


I see this topic has raised some passion in you. I'm glad to see people so passionate about these trucks. That said, I can only "do me", as the saying goes. I've been in an ungodly-stupid number of accidents. None of them my fault. Rear-ended four times (one time I wasn't even in the vehicle, it was just sitting in a parking lot. Other times have been by idiots not stopping in stop-and-go traffic). And four head-on accidents with deer. When my old Chevy Colorado was rear-ended in a parking lot without any added protection, I needed a new tailgate and tail light. When it was rear-ended after adding the step-bumper (and tail light guards), all I needed was a new step bumper.

Likewise, when I hit a deer at 60 mph on I95 with my old Blazer, the deer punched through the plastic grill, radiator, fan, fan shroud, and ended up on the hood. $4000 worth of damage. Cop said if I'd have been driving any smaller of a vehicle, it probably would have slid through the windshield. It's a scary thing to be driving along and all of a sudden find a deer on the hood of your car (it had jumped over a retaining wall and was in mid-jump). And in the next accident after adding a brush guard? Deer bounced off at 60mph, broke a small section of the guard and knocked out a headlight bulb, but died on the side of 66 while I was free to continue on my way with minimal damage.

Is all this anecdotal? Absolutely. As you mention in your last paragraph. I can only say in my experience, the vehicle fared much better after adding additional brush guards / step bumpers / taillight guards / etc. I could pull pictures from all these accidents, but am really not that invested in the discussion.

Guess it's similar to the big steel bumpers used on cars in the 1970's. Occupants of the vehicle might be reduced to paste by the non-collapsible steering column but the car would survive just fine, haha. ?

Notable exceptions with deer aside, the congestion in my region has increased exponentially and the majority of accidents are low-speed "fender benders". End of the day, I don't care if my step bumper (or hitch, etc.) punches through the front six inches of plastic on someone else's car, if they're the ones hitting me and it stops their vehicle from making full contact.

4- It's really easy to use Google, friends. This was one of the top results from "accidents with a hitch" https://kfblaw.com/trailer-hitch/

Being condescending is not really going to win you any fans. Also, they're ambulance chasers. I would pretty much discredit anything from a law firm. Again, just my opinion. ?


TL;DR. This one includes "energy absorbers". That's what I really want. Need to look into this product more:

Drive safe out there, y'all!

 

[Rickmc]

It was a legitimate question. Since I've never seen this issue raised on any of the hundreds of threads about running boards. But you're free to take it however you want. ?


I see this topic has raised some passion in you. I'm glad to see people so passionate about these trucks. That said, I can only "do me", as the saying goes. I've been in an ungodly-stupid number of accidents. None of them my fault. Rear-ended four times (one time I wasn't even in the vehicle, it was just sitting in a parking lot. Other times have been by idiots not stopping in stop-and-go traffic). And four head-on accidents with deer. When my old Chevy Colorado was rear-ended in a parking lot without any added protection, I needed a new tailgate and tail light. When it was rear-ended after adding the step-bumper (and tail light guards), all I needed was a new step bumper.

Likewise, when I hit a deer at 60 mph on I95 with my old Blazer, the deer punched through the plastic grill, radiator, fan, fan shroud, and ended up on the hood. $4000 worth of damage. Cop said if I'd have been driving any smaller of a vehicle, it probably would have slid through the windshield. It's a scary thing to be driving along and all of a sudden find a deer on the hood of your car (it had jumped over a retaining wall and was in mid-jump). And in the next accident after adding a brush guard? Deer bounced off at 60mph, broke a small section of the guard and knocked out a headlight bulb, but died on the side of 66 while I was free to continue on my way with minimal damage.

Is all this anecdotal? Absolutely. As you mention in your last paragraph. I can only say in my experience, the vehicle fared much better after adding additional brush guards / step bumpers / taillight guards / etc. I could pull pictures from all these accidents, but am really not that invested in the discussion.

Guess it's similar to the big steel bumpers used on cars in the 1970's. Occupants of the vehicle might be reduced to paste by the non-collapsible steering column but the car would survive just fine, haha. ?

Notable exceptions with deer aside, the congestion in my region has increased exponentially and the majority of accidents are low-speed "fender benders". End of the day, I don't care if my step bumper (or hitch, etc.) punches through the front six inches of plastic on someone else's car, if they're the ones hitting me and it stops their vehicle from making full contact.


Being condescending is not really going to win you any fans. Also, they're ambulance chasers. I would pretty much discredit anything from a law firm. Again, just my opinion. ?


TL;DR. This one includes "energy absorbers". That's what I really want. Need to look into this product more:

Drive safe out there, y'all!

Some internet know - it - alls must exert their opinion upon you rather than just moving on.

This is the one I put on mine in hopes of deflecting lower front end cars under the truck for small taps. Think civic or corvette.

Another upside is I have an attachment point ready to pull me out or to pull others out of a stuck position

I like that your's provides a wider impact area where as mine will probably punch right through a grill/radiator and then still get bumper to bumper collision.

 

[R1Thor]

Some internet know - it - alls must exert their opinion upon you rather than just moving on.

I understand that's a sleight against me.

I'm not professing to have any special information anyone here can't find for themselves.

Also to note: I do have a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I might have a few ideas about how physics works.

But whatever, take it how you see it. I only offered my 2 cents for exactly 2 reasons:
1- OP literally finished their post with " Thoughts or suggestions? "
2- Anyone who DOESN'T understand the risks can come to a post like this go "ooh, great idea!" without understanding potential repercussions, and end up in a bad place. At least now they can make a (somewhat, maybe arguably) better informed decision.

Your condescension is duly noted and not appreciated. Maybe you should take your own advice and just 'move on.'

 

[Dark-Fx]

I wouldn't use a product like this because it reduces departure angle and adds something to get hung up on. Already the most likely thing on the truck to drag the ground.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I wouldn't use a product like this because it reduces departure angle and adds something to get hung up on.

Point taken and duly noted. "Departure angle" is not something that figures into my lifestyle due to spending most of my time behind the wheel here:

But definitely a valid point for people who get to go off-roading or have fun with their trucks. ?

 

[NY_Rob]

Another thing to consider is that these hitch steps are much weaker than the frame and hitch and will bend/break before the frame does. If you get hit hard enough to damage the frame, than with or without this, your frame will get damaged.

Agreed... especially considering this whole product weighs only 15lbs according to Amazon.
When you consider the leverage out at the extreme edge of the tubes.. it will take very little force to bend it into the vehicle body.

Sponsored