Anyone ever had these? Do they work well and are they durable? Do they have problems when mud and snow/ice get on them?

Friends had them on their Expedition (factory). They live in the country. After about a year they quit working.

I know a couple guys that have added them to their trucks and I haven't heard any complaints but I haven't really asked. I looked into adding them to my truck when I bought it last year but they're a little pricey and I was worried they might not hold up.

From what I've read and heard, AMP Research boards are the only way to go. They're cheaper than factory and are better built than the other aftermarket options.

To me, they're just something else to go wrong. I put on full lengh nerfs that reach to the rear wheel well. On my Dodge 2500, I need them to stand on to get to the front of the bed.

I may get the regular ones, but with my last truck they seemed to help me get stuck in snow and were in the way when digging out. But my wife has a hard time getting into the pick-up now so I do need to do something I guess.

I have factory running boards on my tacoma. They help keeping your truck from getting dinged when people open their doors and keep stones from hitting the sides.

The AMP steps are popular here. The do freeze up or down quite a bit though.

Yes, I agree with you their. My last pick-up was 17 years old and didn't have any rock chips on the sides.

I have a Trekstep under my rear buimper. It helps a lot. However, I have to lube it regularly. Ice and mud clog up the works making it hard to get down. It wouldn't be at all useful for a door step because you can't get it up once you're inside and it would be very difficult to get it down before you get out.

That's what I was afraid of.

Ya. I'm just north of you. I imagine our weather and winters are similar.

All depends on your truck and needs, but, if you want a step for your wife and don't want it eating up ground clearance. Maybe consider rockrails/rocksliders? They usually tuck up pretty tight to the body, offer much better protection to your doors and rockers, but many of them still do decent as a step.

Within the last week on a melty/slushy day I saw an f-150 driving around with 1 auto board hanging down. IMO, they’re not made for lots of miles of gravel/dust, mud, or snow/slush/ice.

Agree.
I have fixed factory running boards on my GMC Sierra 2500HD- essential for most people to get in and out of my truck easily, and they definitely protect the sides from rock dings and door-opening idiots in little cars. I can see the retractables freezing up in slushy, sub-freezing road conditions, making them useless for a while.

I used fixed running boards on several trucks, but never liked the way they picked up and carried crap around. Have gone to full length oval tube steps on my last couple of trucks, much better. They have a flattened step section under each door, same height as running boards, and don't load up with ice/slush/road salt/sand/gravel/...

As I mentioned before, I have 4" oval nerf bars on my Ram 2500. They make good steps, protect from door dings, and don't pickup all kinds of road crud. I have a 4 door, long bed. I got the kind that go back to the rear wheel wells for easy access to the front of the bed. They're very easy to install, too.

I have factory tubular "steps" on my Nissan Frontier. It's just another way to transfer mud to your pants leg, in my opinion. The 5' tall wife loves them, though, and they have kept stones from chipping paint. I just wanted mud flaps, as the Nissans throw mud all over themselves going down a muddy road, and that's what they came up with. To be fair, they keep quite a bit of mud off the truck as well, but so would rubber flaps behind the front tires.

Ah well, the wife's happy, that's important to me. As for powered running boards, all I think of is Missouri's gravel roads, and I think they'd kill powered boards inside of a week. Mud is a powerful killer of contraptions like that.

They seem to be made for "town trucks" that don't get off paved roads much, if ever. I think Nissan makes a good little truck, but due to "styling", they throw mud all over themselves, maybe so they can look tougher in the sales catalogs.

That would be my concern as well

My F-150 Platinum has them and they work the vast majority of the time. The battery is getting low and I've had them not go up a few times because of that. Lots of people comment about them, but with the standard size 20's on the truck, it isn't a big deal to get in or out if they didn't go up or down. I do need to hose out the hinges if I get gravel in them. That and a spray of lube is all that they have needed so far. They do carry some mud from the front tires, but overall I like them though that truck doesn't go off road stump jumping like my old ones back in my youth and it doesn't see much winter back home in the garage.

They work fine as long as you don't drive in ice, snow, and salt.

I had a 150 Platuim too, they worked, but are not designed for longevity. Got rid of the Platinum as soon as the warrantee expired. 10 adjustment power seat died, center console bust, hung in 2nd gear underload and the tech was not upgradable. Got a plain Jane 250 Lariat diesel never going back to Platinum fords.....wife may.....not me tho

Or sand they don’t do sand either very long or well!