2017 Jeep Wrangler Westin HDX Drop Steps-JK Review & Install

This is my review and installation of the Jeep Wrangler westin HDX 2017 drop steps fitting all two-door and four-door 2007 and up J ks. Today, we're gonna talk through the installation of these steps which is a very simple one-out-of-three-wrench install. Anybody can do this in their driveway in about an hour, but we'll talk more about the installation in just a second.

2017 Jeep Wrangler Westin HDX

We're also going to talk through the construction and a few of the features of these steps. A side step will make it a lot easier for you and your passengers to get out of your lifted or even stock height JK. And this side step has a little bit of a different look than some of the others on the market.

This integrates a piece that goes all the way from wheel well to wheel well that helps to cover up the slightly unfinished look of the drilled out pinch seam on your factory JK, but it also integrates these steps with a non-slip stepping pad. So this is really a dual purpose piece, but one of those purposes is not protection. This is not going to be a piece that you can take off-road, drop the jeep off of a ledge onto this rocker, and have it protect the jeep. This will crush under the weight of the vehicle.

This is absolutely a step and a bit of a visual mod to cover that pinch seam but it is not protection, and that's okay. This isn't priced like protection. This is priced like a step. So if you're looking for a very clean step that covers that pinch seam that is a little bit different from some of the other steps that are on the market that isn't a very old-school round tubular side step, I think that this is going to be a pretty nice option.

This is going to be a steel side step that's covered in a textured black powder coat finish and as I said before, this does a really nice job of integrating the step with the piece that's going to cover up that pinch seam that a lot of us don't like to see. Right out of the factory, the pinch seam, in my opinion, looks a little bit unfinished. It does have a few holes drilled in it and just doesn't give a very finished look to the side of the jeep.

So this upper section here will do a nice job of covering that pinch seam area while the steps are very cleanly integrated into that top piece. The way that these mount on the jeep make them a very solid connection for a step but again, these aren't going to offer protection. And they do have a removable riveted stepping pad, and the rivets that are in there do give you a lot of grip.

So even if you're getting into the jeep on a day where your shoes are muddy or rainyor maybe there's some snow, you're still going to get a good grip. This stepping pad is actually a separate piece from the rest of the step over top. It's bolted on, and it is removable.

So if you wanted to, you could get a little bit creative and possibly color-match that or color-change it if you wanted a bit of a different look. As I said before, this is a one-out-of-three-wrench install that you can get done in your driveway in right about an hour. Westin includes both steps and all of the mounting hardware that you need.

Now, those mounting brackets are going to attach to that pinch seam and also the underside of the tub regardless of what year or what body style of jeep you have. These are going to bolt right up without the need to drill or cut anything.

Installation Step by Step of 2017 Jeep Wrangler Westin HDX

The first step of the install is actually attaching those brackets to the pinch seam in the underside of the tub, and then it's a simple matter of bolting your step onto that new bracket. All you'll need is your traditional hand tools, and you can get this job done. As I said, these aren't going to offer a lot of off-road protection, but that's okay because these are priced like a step and not like armor. Armor is usually going to be more expensive because it is going to be bulkier, beefier stronger, and if it does have a step built into it, it's not usually as useful of a step as this is.

This is gonna give you a very useful step, and it's going to give you that aesthetic mod of having a cleaner look from the profile view of the jeep by covering up that pinch seam, and that's gonna do it all for right around $ 400 which I think is a pretty good price. This is going to give you a unique look. This isn't a piece that you can get from a lot of the other companies out there.

And if you like the look, I think it's well-built, easy to install, and overall, worth the cost. So if you're looking for a unique side step that will also help to cover up that unfinished pinch seam, I think this is going to be a fairly priced option. So that's my review of the westin HDX drop steps fitting all 2007 and up Jks.