Dodge Running Board

The "Discontinued? Not Anymore" 2004 Dodge Running Board Trim 🎯

The customer had lost the passenger-side trim off his running board. Months of searching online turned up nothing — the part was discontinued years ago, no aftermarket replacement existed, and the only lead was the surviving driver-side trim still on the truck. He brought it in to see if it could be reverse-engineered. It could.

🟩 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞

▸ 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 — The surviving driver-side trim was measured and rebuilt in SolidWorks, with no factory drawings or CAD file to work from.

▸ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 — A PLA prototype surfaced dimensional errors and a design flaw baked into the first model, instead of finding out after committing to a full-length run.

▸ 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝘀 — A series of cross-section test prints verified full contour compliance before any material was committed to the complete part.

▸ 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗚 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 — When the customer questioned PETG's flexibility, a cross-section sample was bent by hand right there to show exactly how it would perform in service.

▸ 𝗔 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝘁, 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗼𝗳-𝗮-𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱 — After correcting the geometry, the full-length PETG part fit perfectly — a replacement for a piece that simply no longer exists.

🟩 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦

Reverse-engineered in SolidWorks · PLA prototype · PETG final part · custom one-off design

Got a part that's discontinued with no replacement in sight? This is exactly the kind of problem I like to solve. 🎯