they do serve a purpose...
I stand taller than 3'4" so I don't need step bars to get into my seat. They add dirt to my pant cuffs and generally useless as hell. I will step onto them to get in just so I don't get dirt on my dress pants.
So why do I keep them? I found that they protect the lower sections on the doors from getting rock blasted. Yes, the T4R has mud flaps, but the step bars work veyr, veyr well in keeping the gravel and sand from being flung up and chipping the paint off.
After I come back from traveling on dirt and gravel roads, fire trails, or mud and debris tracks I hose out under the step bars and flush out all sorts of hard gravelly gunk. Gunk that would have splattered onto hte lower sides and pitted the doors like I had on my Tahoe.
So.........I keep them.