AMP Research Powerstep Long Term Review and Warranty

One of the first mods I did on my Toyota Tundra was to get AMP Research Powersteps.  I’ve had them for a little over 2 years and they have worked flawlessly…until recently.  I was working on my truck and when I closed my door, I heard a crunching noise and the step motor still running.  When I got out, I found chunks of metal on the ground.  The AMP Research Powerstep had just chewed through a gear and my driver side step was permanently down.

AMP Research Powersteps are not cheap, and I always had worried a little about this happening.  I’ve seen other trucks that had their steps stuck down and it looks like crap.  Fortunately, the AMP Research Powerstep comes with a 5-year warranty.  After emailing AMP Research, the sent me the broken gear replacement within a couple of days.  You can find AMP Research contact info here: http://www.amp-research.com/support/tech-support/

Broken Gear

The part that broke is the shaft that goes through the steps that the motor uses to lift and lower the steps.  It’s exposed to air and had the potential to get rocks and debris in it, but I’m pretty good about cleaning the extension arms.  You can see there is some grit in the photos, but most of the dirt from sticking to the spray on grease that I use.  Regardless, the shaft end broke into pieces and needed to be replaced.

AMP Research Powerstep Removal

I could easily see the broken gear, but I needed to take the side step arm off to get to the shaft.  The steps are right behind the front tire and as a result, are constantly being bombarded with sand and road grime.  As can be seen below, the step sits in a groove on the arm with sand in it.  After loosening the screws that held it on, it was still stuck on.  I used a dead blow hammer to tap it lose.  With the step out of the way, it was 2 bolts to disconnect the drive motor, and 2 bolts to take the arm off.

Broken Shaft

You can clearly see the end of the shaft shattered off.  It was easy to get the shaft out of the arm, one retaining plate and the shaft slid right out.  AMP supplied the new shaft on warranty.

Shaft Replacement

In order to help this from happening again, I greased up the new shaft before I reassembled the arm.  Overall it took me about an hour to replace the whole thing while taking my time.

AMP Research Powerstep Long Term Review

This was the first problem I had with owning these steps for almost 3 years.  I hit them with the power washer and grease up the arms every couple of months.  If you have the mechanical ability to install the steps, this fix is a cakewalk.