A week on holiday with my elderly parents in the car has highlighted a problem that didn't exist with my RRS's - my 5ft tall (short??) 82 year old mother has a lot of problems getting into the FFRR even at access height due to the smaller rear door aperture of the FFRR. I HATE side steps on Range and Land Rovers (except on Defenders!) but if I am to be an older person's taxi driver then I'm going to have to consider a set just for mother to get in and out of the car as both of them will soon be at the age when they have to hand back their licences.

So, fixed or deployable (motorised)? tubular or conventional. Have been warned off the deployable/ remote control ones because if you need to call out the AA/ LRA they have problems jacking up cars with deployable steps and claim they have to recover the car back to a dealership to remove the entire mechanism due to risk of damage if they try to jack the car up without removing them. 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

If moneys no object then I'd choose motorised.

They remove easily with just 4 bolts. They do have to be removed to jack up the car which is a pain if you've a flat on the motorway etc.

While side bars look good I don't think they'd suffice for the elderly to use safely.

Fixed is probably the best way forward in your case. TDV8 HST Sport **Current**

4.4 V8 Autobiography and 22" wheels **Gone**

keep one of these in the boot
 2002 td6 vogue, 06 supercharged facelift

What a crate idea!

Ah come on! I think your MILKING that!!

Darren we resorted to using something very similar to that, a plastic fish box we found on a beach, it was a little lower and a lot wider and just about right for the job but not very elegant  2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

The side tubes are NO good as steps Tim, you can't get enough foothold and of course they are round and probably slippery when wet.

I think your only choice is fixed side steps, get them from Powerful UK via eBay for about £275 and easy enough to fit at home.

Might need to ring them and check they fit the 2010MY Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

RE: Jacking Points

You can always lift using the workshop jacking points. The RAC should be using these anyway as these are the ones LR recommend for use with hydraulic jacks

The side jacking points are hopeless and if you've ever used them you'll know you have to lift the car 5 times higher than direct at axle point die to the articulation.


L322 Front Jacking Point by d86cfv, on Flickr

L322 Rear Jacking Point by d86cfv, on Flickr 

Hello,

I have the deployable side steps on my new vehicle and therefore have no use for an electrically powered step that may well help you.

I bought it with the intention of my partner's elderly Nan to use, but commitments prevented my having enough time to do the work, so I can't comment on it's operation.

As I remember, the unit has an articulating lever system and a footplate of substantial build in the order of 18" square. The attached cabling looks of good quality and is approximately 16mm'
I believe that the footplate folds well out of the way in normal running and is driven into the user position by activation of a switch.
Since the vehicle battery is on the nearside, this should make any additional wiring or routing quite a simple task.
If you summon up the old brain cells it ought to be possible to have it only operable with the nearside rear door open, rather than any or no doors at all.

I'm away aboard ship at the moment, but should be back home in a little under a fortnight and may be able to send details.

Regards,

Bosun It's no mistake that Man's best friend can't talk!

darrenmax wrote:

keep one of these in the boot