AMP Power Steps Wiring

I have a 2021 1794 Tundra CrewCab .... I am installing a set of AMP Power Steps and am having trouble with the wiring. The white and blue activation wires are tough to get up thru the floor on the driver side so I thought I would wire just the Passenger side. I found the Tan and Green wires as advertised. I hooked the white wire to the Tan wire and the blue wire to the green wire. Led lights come on when you open the door but the steps do not move. Only working on the one side for now. Any ideas anyone?

 

Came across this thread doing a search. Did you get this figured out? If not, I can probably help.

 

Thank you for contacting me ... Yes, I did get it figured out .... Thanks again!
Ted

 

Good deal. I spent three days trying to get these damn things installed. Was way more of a PITA than it should've been. Finally got 'er done though.

 

I really like the Amp Research fold up step concept, but I hear a lot of complaints about the wiring solutions being way more complicated than it should be. Does Amp Research (or any other manufacturer) offer an easy solution to wiring these steps to the Tundra electrical system? The installation quote alone from my local off road shop was $400. That seems a bit excessive. I wouldn’t be intimidated by mounting the steps, the drive assembly, and routing the wire, but once the wire gets inside the cab, my hands get a little shaky, if you know what I mean.

 

The Bestop NX steps are plug and play (no splicing) but they require a wireless magnetic sensors on each door.

 

Thanks Saltyhero13. I like the concept, but honestly, the reviews on their product are pretty abysmal.

 

I've haven't had them long enough to experience any of the issues described in the reviews. As far as fit and finish they look identical to the AMPs.

 

Thanks Saltyhero13. It would be great to see a member here post a review of your steps at the 2-3 years of ownership point. Again, many thanks.

 

I don't think many know they are available for the Tundra or that they are compatible up to 2021s

 

I think you are right. Maybe you could do a YouTube review. Prolly’ make some $

 

AMP sells a version that is plug and play. You just plug into the OBDII port and I think it has a pass through port on the back so you can plug in a scanner without removing the AMP plug. That version was about $100 more than the hard wire version when I installed on my then new 2017 DC. I installed the hard wire version.....called AMP with a question and they were very helpful. If you have concerns, do the plug & play version.

EDIT: Perhaps that Plug & Play version only goes up through the 2017 model year....

https://www.amp-research.com/produc...ay-07-17-toyota-tundra-double-and-crewmax-cab

 

Having just installed them on my 2020 Tundra, I feel confident that I could walk you through it very easily (phone would be best). In my opinion, the installation instructions could be a lot better but I have definitely seen worse and am aware that there's a fine line between not enough detail and too much detail.

Specific to the wiring, there are only four wires that need to be connected (one for each door). Accessing the wires you need to tap into is not difficult. The problem is that the instructions are not very clear about the exact wires you are looking for. But, once you know that, it's as simple as disconnecting the multi-pin connector for each wiring bundle, making the connections, then reconnecting the connectors. I chose to solder my connections because I destroyed one of the Posi-Taps and it was just easier for me to strip and use solder. But you could definitely use Posi-Taps or T-Taps just the same.

Like I said, the installation really isn't bad if you have proper guidance. I'm more than willing to help anyone looking to do this themselves, just send me a PM with your phone number and I'll walk you through it. As for the "plug-and-play" option, I was not aware that there was one for the 2020/2021 trucks. And honestly, given that it's only four wires, I don't know that I would even recommend going that route if it adds a cost to the project (someone said $100 extra). Hope that helps some.

 

The shop is selling the steps for $1399 + tax, and $400 labor to install. Turning wrenches isn’t a problem for me, but E-lech-tristy... that is still a little bit of smoke & mirrors for me. I have an understanding of volts, amps, ohms, what a resistor, transformer, and rectifiers function is.... But it’s one thing to read about it, and another matter entirely to grab a blade and cut into your new truck’s wiring harness.

Gives me the shivers thinking about it.

But then again, I really would like to learn some of the craft

 

Personally I think Pois-Taps make most aftermarket integration as easy as plug and play once you've identified what wires you need to splice.

 

Yeah, the hard part is just getting enough access to the wire to be able to get the Posi-Tap in there. And then, they are kinda bulky and take up space. Solder winds up being more streamlined. But yeah, either way, as long as you get the right wire, it should work fine. I ran into a few other issues though, which is why I say it would be best to walk someone through it over the phone. Ideally, AMP Research would do that! lol

In this photo, you can see where I tapped the wrong damn wire at first. Went back and soldered to the correct one.

 

Look at the Posi-Taps he recommended. Step 14 of the AMP instructions. These require no soldering. The only other area is tapping battery power:

https://www.amp-research.com/images/ePIM/original/AMPIS-75137.pdf

Looking at the instructions I would be willing to bet these are rebranded Bestops ( or where ever they sourced these). The boards, motors, and lights are the same (Bestop lights are mounted on the arms so no drilling). Even the brake cable support in step 1 is the same.

 

The positive and negative connections are extremely easy and don't require tapping any wires. That's why I didn't mention them in my earlier post. You just put the positive ring terminal on the battery and the negative ring terminal on the ground wire coming off the battery. Easiest part of the install.

Oh, I should also note that I decided not to screw with installing the lights. I find that they look weird when activated (color temp doesn't match the other lights on the truck) and are unnecessary. I just left the wiring in place and ziptied it to the frame.

The photos of Bestop steps I'm seeing online look slightly different but who knows.

 

I have no dog in the fight nor do I care how folks spend their money. Bestop sure as frak isn't paying me to endorse their product. I went with them because it was half the price for the same product. Time will tell if they share the same quality.

Thumbing through the instructions (AMP vs Bestop) I can say with 100% certainty these are the same product (they probably share 90% or more of the same parts) just rebranded. Compare the parts in the AMP instructions to these instructions. The wired nonNX versions share more parts (third set of instructions).:

https://www.amp-research.com/images/ePIM/original/AMPIS-75137.pdf

https://assets.bestop.com/files/_bestop/3/8/2/75637_is.pdf

https://assets.bestop.com/files/_bestop/2/5/3/75136_is.pdf

You can see the instructions even share many of the same diagrams and verbiage. With exception of a few parts (like the controller) I think its clear these are rebranded. The only difference I see is the light mounting and the controller. Its possible AMP sourced a better controller and motor but I doubt it and I doubt any of those differences are worth 2X the price. Now the biggest difference I see is the warranty AMP has a 5 year while BESTOP had a 3 year.

Here is a reddit thread showing the AMPs deploying:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ToyotaTundra/comments/kekiu1/2021_limited_amp_research/

here are some pics posted of the Bestops:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/bestop-powerboard-electric-steps-anyone.78323/page-2#post-2022380

 

I agree. I love the Posi-Taps. I was impressed so I bought some to have on hand. Not cheap but really work well in tight spaces. Nice that AMP includes them in their install pkg. It's really about identifying the correct wires.
https://www.posi-products.com/

 

I agree that the wiring is the most difficult part but all you have to do is identify the correct wires. AMP includes the posi-tap connectors which make the wiring tap in easy. If you have a question or need some hand holding, you just call their tech support.

 

I believe 2017 was the last year for the OBD plug and play version. OBD changed on the ‘18 and up trucks. Too bad for I have the plug and play and was super easy to install

 

I actually had a bunch of other problems with mine too. Brackets were a pain to install and position properly, attaching boards to the brackets was a ROYAL pain, female screw holes in the truck body got buggered at one point, could not easily fine tune the positioning of the boards, hex bolts were a size I didn't have a very good wrench for, the list goes on.

All in all, now that I have everything installed properly, I'm pleased with the final product. But a set of simple running boards (or maybe even rock sliders) would have been a hell of a lot easier to put on. That having been said, I like the fact that these basically disappear when not deployed and they serve the purpose of helping the wife and kids get into and out of the truck.

Maybe in the future, AMP will re-do their instructions to be more detailed and specific. At $1,300/set, it would sure be nice of them to do.

 

My 2017 went smoothly. It took some time and I think I did it over two days. As I said, the only questionable part was figuring out which wires to tap in to. Once I contacted AMP tech support, they confirmed my choice and then it was easy after that. They have been operating flawlessly over three years. I do spray the hinges with silicone every 6 months or so.

 

This thread is pretty old… I ordered the Amp Research XL Powersteps back in March (may have even been Feb?), and am still awaiting delivery. Very frustrating. What’s going on over at A.R. that they are so back-logged? Anybody?

 

I bought my boards in mid-March and had them in about a week.
I did not buy them direct from AMP and went with one of their dealers. I doubt the resellers stock them, though, and they're all drop-shipped from AMP.

 

My supplier now related that Amp Research is telling them July 29th before they’ll have a shipment, which they can then send out to me. This is the third time the shipping date has been pushed into the future. To say this is frustrating doesn’t quite cover it. Does anyone know if ANYBODY has these in stock, on the shelf, ready (and I mean ready now) to ship?

thanks,

 

I ordered from 4WP, looks like they have them in stock as long as you don't want plug and play:

$1,600 AMP PowerStep Running Boards (Black) - 75137-01A

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/amp-powerstep-running-boards-black-75137-01a/_/R-BGQD-75137-01A

Mine work except the driver door sensor is not working since I haven't found the correct wire to connect to yet. If anyone has any tips on that it would be appreciated.

 

Scratch that, tried some more and found the right wire.

 

I finally got the steps delivered on July 6th. Assembly went ok. Running the wires up thru the floorboard and up to the battery was no problem. But actually connecting the wiring to the correct truck electrical supply wire….I was totally clueless. I had a guy at a local garage do the actual connection yesterday, July 14th.

I ordered these back in February or March. Four months to finally get them on the truck. FedEx ground lost the first package, and took two weeks to get the 2nd package to my driveway. A real PITA overall, but I do like the steps. When I can get round to it, I’ll replace the step tread light(s), as they are a weird blue tint, and almost useless, but just barely better than no light(s) for the job.