Installing a lift is usually the first mod anyone performs on a 4×4. The extra height helps clear larger tires and adds valuable ground clearance. Of course, a vehicle gets harder to get into as it gets taller. That fact is just fundamental physics, and there is no getting around it. Even the most vertically gifted among us can have trouble getting into a rig with a sizeable lift and bigger tires.

A set of steps is the solution to loading the wee people into your rig. The problem is that low-hanging steps can rob some of the clearance you just worked so hard to get. Steps that are higher take away less clearance, but don’t help much in ingress and egress. This can leave people of shorter stature stranded on the sides of your lifted rig.

AMP Research solved this dilemma by creating the PowerStep electric running board. Simple in operation and ingenious in design, the PowerStep lowers into place when the doors of the vehicle open. Closing the doors makes the steps retract out of the way maximizing clearance. Now you can have both steps and clearance in one package.

The PowerStep XL is an evolution of the original and built with lifted trucks in mind. Its highly textured, powder-coated step offers plenty of grip and extends a full 3 inches lower than the original PowerStep. The rest of the steps use rugged using die-cast components made in the USA and aircraft-grade aluminum. LED lights illuminate the steps making them easy to use in the dark. A five-year/60,000-mile warranty backs the PowerStep XLs. They are now available for the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator and the Jeep JL.