There’s a set of Predator side rails on facebook for 35 bucks but they have some rust.. My last truck had a rusty hitch so I took it off, wire brushed all the rust off with a wire wheel and drill. Then I primed it and painted it with primer and paint that was meant to go over rusty metal. The hitch rusted after 1 year..

Is there a way to permanantly get rid of rust on these running boards or should I not waste my time?

I thought the Toyota predator steps were aluminum? Are they OEM?

He says they came from dealer.. but upon closer inspection they aren’t preditors.

After cleaning them up, then use naval jelly to remove any residual rust. Finally, use a zinc rich primer, sometimes called a cold galvanizing primer. That should kept them from ever rusting again. Amazon.com : zinc rich primer

Living in the rust belt - as you do - I think I'm qualified to answer your questions. The biggest problems you will have are 1) removing / neutralizing the existing rust and 2) protecting the steel from future rust.

As has already been said, products like Naval Jelly should remove most of the external rust. (They won't remove the inevitable internal rust though.) There are a number of rust neutralizers that claim to neutralize rust and I'd be tempted to try one of them after removing as much as you can. Then you need to properly prep, prime and paint the surface.

That brings me to the big rub - the place tube steps live. Let's face it, they take a beating from road debris kicked up by the front tires. What this leads to is a constant media blasting of any finish you attempt to apply. Short of sprayed on bed liner, I doubt anything is really going to hold up in that environment.

If you want my 2 cents, attempting to repair and repaint rusted existing steps is a money pit.

Just pitch them and buy some aluminum predator steps, unless you need real sliders, which will be steel and will rust eventually. I just installed my (steel) Gobi rack knowing it will eventually rust somewhere. I wish it were aluminum and I know I COULD have bought an aluminum rack, but I bought what I wanted instead.

listen to this advice. you can get aluminum sliders as well - check out Greenlane offroad in BC Canada they sell aluminum sliders

Yeah, it’s not worth my time. Thanks guys. I’ll wait for some aluminum running boards. I hate living in the rust belt. Can’t keep anything metal for longer then 10 years before it turns to dust.

I happen to have a set of OEM Toyota running boards with all mounting hardware taken off at 300 miles if you're interested. I'm not sure how far away you are though. PM me if interested.

Don't get the Predator steps from Toyota, the warranty is better if bought direct from N-Fab. I think a bit cheaper too. The black powdercoat on my Toyota Predator steps failed after 3 years. Had them re-done for $250, finish is far better than factory.

Don’t know about the warranty on each, but the N-fabs are $567 and out of stock and the Toyota predator steps are $493 with free shipping at Heartland Toyota (just did a random search).
My Toyota predator steps are 3 years old and look like new. If the powder coat failed in 3 years, must have been a bad batch or something.

I just bought this recently, APS iArmor Aluminum Side Steps Armor Compatible with Toyota 4Runner 2010-2016 Trail & 17-21 TRD Off-Road & 2014-2021 SR5 (Nerf Bars Side Steps Side Bars), Running Boards - Amazon Canada

something to recommend