Does anyone have any experience with motorized running boards?
I have finally have rejoined the ranks of truck owners for the first time since I sold my deteriorating 95 Ram 1500 9 years ago. Told myself I'd get another truck to replace it sooner or later not imagining almost 10 years would go by before I had another in my driveway.
Ordered a 2500, got a decent deal with a Friend and Family code shared by a member here (thanks Rich!), and despite supply shortages and line shut downs reported in the news almost daily, it arrived early, about 8 weeks after ordering it.
I love the truck, but am having one problem. Despite being tall and thinking the 2500 I got into at the dealership before placing my order was easily accessible without running boards, I find getting into my new monster to be a bit tough.
So I'm shopping for running boards. I don't like a lot of "bling" on trucks and wanted to keep the truck clean looking, therefore I'm not a huge fan of how running boards look. I found that there are motorized ones available on the market that are hidden most of the time except when you open the door to get in or out. They are also an option or standard on one of the highest trim level Rams. The aftermarket retractables are about a grand more expensive than good quality aftermarket fixed running boards. All things being equal I could probably talk myself into the extra cost.
But I am concerned about reliability. The motors appear to be exposed on the bottom of the truck somewhere without much protection from the elements.
Does anyone have any experience with powered running boards? I might just go with fixed because it's one less thing to break. But the retractable lighted steps sure are cool!

Nice truck. Our 2019 has the factory motorized running boards. No problems with them so far. That's all I got.

Hey Guitar, do you know if the factory ones have one, or two motors per side?
When I went to a truck accessories store over the weekend, the guy told me two motors is a $300 option on these boards.
I’m not sure what the benefit is, redundancy if one motor fails?
Do your trucks motors with the factory boards look exposed to road grime and water splashed while driving?

I put the AMP research power boards on my 2015 PowerWagon when new. 6 years on them. No real issues with the boards their selves. I am in the woods a lot and heavy mud and snow can bind them up. I clean and lube them often and 2 years ago I cleaned the motor gear boxes. Single motor on mine. I like them.

Honestly, I haven't even looked under the truck, still under warranty. I'll take a look tomorrow if I remember.

One would be led to believe a two motor running board would have a motor at the front of the board and a motor at the back of the running board. I would think it would go a long way toward reducing a bind caused by long linkage that would be required with a single motor. Where the motors are located in relation to each other would probably answer a lot of questions, but I would be rather doubtful a two motor unit could function if one motor failed.

Given the OP's location, I would suspect motorized running boards would be a pretty high maintenance item. Probably pretty nice if you don't mind the keep up time and effort.

I don't know what I'd go with. In a way two motor seems like it would be better because it's less work on the motor. But then it's twice the parts to go bad and they might also make the motors smaller because of it.

If I was buying them I'd go with whatever is the best price and rating and if they die a few years down the road and can't be fixed I'd replace them if I still wanted them.

I would think the dual motor steps are mainly for the extended cabs and the single motor for the regular cab.

I told the guy my vehicle is a crew cab, and he gave me a price for with one motor, and quoted an additional $300 for two.
I haven’t found any reference yet to dual motors in my online searches.
I believe these have a 5 year warranty. The store I went to is owned by a friend of a friend, and his brother is another friend of mine. The whole family are hard core Mopar guys.
So if I have problems later I think he’d stand behind them, at least not blow me off.
I have some issues with my legs and feet from a bad accident years ago, which is another consideration. I believe the retractable steps are lower than fixed running boards. And being retracted most of the time, if it snows or is icy, they should be sheltered and dry when I approach to enter the truck and they extend when I open the door.
Putting my foot on an icy step and having it slip as I shift weight on it could make for a really bad day!
I intend to keep this truck a number of years, likely at least 10, and I realize my lower extremities aren’t going to improve as I get into my 60s. I do think these steps will make egress and exiting the truck better for me, and less danger of slipping.
One interesting point I found in an online post on boards, is that many truck owners like fixed running boards as they protect from getting dings from careless clods parked next to you in parking lots.
However, it was mentioned there is an over ride switch available for the retractable ones, if you want to leave them extended when you park.

Two motors vs 1 could sound like a beefier system but how much torque do ya really need to swing a piece of aluminum tubing? Granted, more when they're frozen to the bottom of the truck under 3" of slush. (unless ya pay up for the heated boards?) Also raises the issue of keeping them in sync. A bigger motor at one end with drive cables to the other end sounds like less potential for problems.

My other thought here is that with 1001 electronic potential gremlins already built in, what's one more? Not saying don't research it, just saying maybe pay attention to how far down the rabbit hole you go. In the case of the aftermarket automatic one: they'd have to tap in to the body harness to do their thing - how does the warranty dept feel about that?

Some installations tap into the wiring, but others plug into the OBD.
On trucks boards I saw a few posters who’d installed these steps refer to a “plug and play” option which I assume is plugged into the OBD.

They have just one actuator at the front. I assume it has a position sensor in it. They are in the open but appear to be well sealed.

Ok, thanks for checking.
This video is a pretty good review of the difference between the single and multi motor option. Also shows how it’s wired in.

Did this guy actually say that an advantage to retractable boards is that ya won't high center the truck on them when off road?? I always thought the big problem with stepping over rocks was smashing and bending the side steps. The smart switch over ride is potentially slick while generally annoying but makes me wonder what the board does if ya forget to push it when opening the door to see how stuck ya are. As in: board tries to travel 6" but only has 2" of clearance. Likely some sort of torque limiting built in but stripping the plastic gear box seems possible. see also: the blend door motor problems FCAs are known for.

I sort of ignored his talking about high centering. I’m not planning to do any rock climbing with my truck. That’s certainly not a factor I’m considering in my decision.
He did mention the switch being nice to have in order to keep the boards retracted while putting the truck on a lift.
I did notice the steps have a function where you can put a bit of weight on them with your foot when shutting the door to keep them from retracting. I’m interested in being able to do that in parking lots to use the steps as a guard to protect against parking lot clods. You’d need to play with both side steps though to guard the whole truck which seems like a chore I’d skip doing in the passenger side when making a quick stop at a store. The over ride switch wouldn’t help either with that.
I still don’t see what big benefit there is to multiple motors.

There are some good points in having two motors. When a person never lubes the linkage they get tight. In freezing rain and slush they get stiff. The system is weight and drag sensitive so if there is to much weight or they bind the system stops. Otherwise it would be hard on the motor and who knows what else. Having two motors would help extend and retract in those conditions. In some ways I wish I had two motors. In my 6 years I have had to keep after them. My conditions are horrible at my camp. I clean off 2 inches of mud and clean the hinges when I get there. And yes there is that much mud slop that gets on them even when retracted. You are in a milder less severe environment than I am so you will be fine.

We do get salt and grime here, so staying on top of cleaning and lubing is not something I should take for granted.

The ad on the aftermarket retractable running boards looks like they use electric window motors to do the work, so two would probably be a bit easier to maintain, should be a lot less linkage to bind up in harsh conditions.

As far as protection from parking lot idiots, I have to wonder if the retractable boards, when lowered, may be too low to be very effective for that. On a lot of modern car doors, the bottom of the doors curve in a lot, and most of the back doors have the wheel cutout on the outside edge. If no part of the running board makes contact with the idiot's car door before it can cause damage to the side of the truck, it won't offer much protection. The standard issue running boards are 3" to 4" higher (maybe more) then the retractable boards in the down position, that puts the running board at a better position to catch the idiot's car door. It may be such a thing that the retractable board in the retracted position (up) extends out far enough past the rockers to be pretty effective when in the up position.
Food for thought. Gene

I was going to say that too it seems that the boards wound be too low to help with any parking lot idiots.

Clearly he doesn't either. Overall I'd say a well made vid and comprehensive review.

Are door dings even a thing with late model soda can thick metal? If they are, isn't parking over there an easier fix?