With a 20 inch step up into the front cab it was not going to work out too well over time. I decided to add some Carr hoop steps to the front of the van. As installed these steps are at about 10 inches to the top of the step effectively splitting the distance in half that you have to step up into the cab. The install is fairly straight forward and amounts to figuring out the position where you want the steps located and drilling some holes to mount nutserts into. While that sounds easy, it’s slightly more complicated as the area you are working in is quite confined and requires some specialized tools to fit. Mainly I used an air powered angle drill to get the holes located and drilled and then an improvised flat plate and bolt to install the nutserts into the location where my normal squeezer tool would not fit. The most fun part was when the bolt sheered off level with the half installed nutsert. After rejoicing in my good fortune for a bit, I got out the “easy out” screw removal tool and was able to extract the end of the bolt and continue the install. In the end it all worked out fine.
The steps are very tight to the side of the van and do not stick out very far. They are within the wheel arches so I don’t expect any problems with hitting them on things. 
