Personal preference, but 98% of the members on here will instruct you to take them off or risk looking like you're driving a mom-mobile. Personally, I like them for a number of reasons and can't find too much that I dislike about them being on my truck.
Pro's:
- They are fantastic for keeping rocks, mud, sand and silt off of your paint whenever you're driving. Those who remove their running boards get plenty of rock rash on their rocker panels.
- I have a wife that is 5'2" (and is also 5 months pregnant) and a 5 year old daughter. They both thoroughly appreciate having the running boards to help get up into the vehicle.
- Keeping mud, sand, silt, snow, etc... off of the side of the car also means that less of it finds its way onto your pants legs when you're getting in and out.
- I think it helps balance out the appearance of the truck, making its body height seem more in balance with the length.
- Lastly, with just a 1" lift (highlander springs), I've never rubbed them on rocks even when on fairly difficult trails for a mostly stock rig. I've crossed the continental divide on a bunch of old mining roads and have never hung them up on rocks. This includes running Tomichi Pass, Hancock Pass, Old Monarch Pass (this is essentially a gravel road), and Tin Cup Pass in Colorado. Tomichi, Hancock and Tincup Pass all have hairy sections with somewhat significant boulder fields, and I've never been limited by my decision to keep the running boards.
CONS:
- If you're doing more serious trails, they don't provide body protection in the rocks.
- A large number of people on here feel that their manhood is challenged if they're driving a vehicle that in any way resembles a grocery getter. I find this to be more of a flaw in the security of their self image than I do a flaw with the vehicle.
When we were in Colorado over the summer, a large number of Jeep guys sneered and scoffed when I was asking about the aforementioned trails and tried to get info about them (primarily if they were still snow covered and if they were on fire during this last firestorm season they were having in Colorado). I would constantly hear, "you're planning on doing those trails in THAT?" While nodding towards my truck. Also heard was, "you know, it gets pretty hairy on those trails. You sure your rig is up to that?" We'll, being Jeep guys, they tend to disregard anything that can run greater than 100k without engine replacements, but my truck never even broke a sweat on those trails. I watched some of their scoffs turn into bewilderment as I knifed up some of those climbs.
