G'men,
I had my Speedster in a local car show last weekend and a man observed that he thought that the raised edge on the step plate on the running board was used to scrape mud from shoes or boots before climbing in.
He pointed out that the raised portion is too close to the body for it to be used for that, and if you turned it around, the scraped-off mud would be deposited on the step pad. Additionally, you'd probably trip over the high part.
I had no answer for him - What are the facts?
Thanx,
Bob
It's to keep your toe from banging the splash shield. Best I can do!!!
Mike
I always understood that the back plate was a "toe plate," as I was told by old heads, to keep your booted foot from damaging the paint, or denting, the splash apron.
That's the poop I got and I'm living with it.
Joe R.
I've seen early step plates from the teens & twenties where the raised portion was toward the outer edge of the running board. They were not as tall as the modern repops but I was also told these were for scraping off the shoes. My guess is that at some point someone decided mud scraping wasn't as necessary as protecting the splash apron finish.