Powered running boards from AMP - Incoming?

[mabowden]

I sent AMP Research a feeler email as they are one of the big producers of aftermarket powered running boards. I would love to have powered running boards on the truck, and they are about 15 minutes away from me so I wanted to contact them in case they needed anything to get this part going.

This was their response:
Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, we do not have a firm release at this moment as many factors play a part in getting the part to launch. Please keep checking back as we are constantly updating the website with new and future product releases. Have a nice day!

Now, it could be a canned response, but it also could mean they're working on it depending on how you read it.

Regardless, I was excited about the email. I bet they would sell quite a few in year one.

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[Dark-Fx]

I'd think you'd still lose quite a bit of ground clearance with those, even when retracted.

 

[NY_Rob]

They may need a test vehicle for measurements and fitment... you're only 15min away... just saying

 

[mabowden]

They may need a test vehicle for measurements and fitment... you're only 15min away... just saying

I offered . The fact that they didn't say yes gives me more hope. We've got a million R1Ts in OC at this point. Even this morning I saw a truck with 4 of them heading to a service center.

 

[mabowden]

I'd think you'd still lose quite a bit of ground clearance with those, even when retracted.

I'm more concerned with getting in and out a bit easier than losing a bit of ground clearance. I highly doubt I'll ever put the R1T's ground clearance in offroad mode truly to the test...

 

[NY_Rob]

I offered . The fact that they didn't say yes gives me more hope. We've got a million R1Ts in OC at this point. Even this morning I saw a truck with 4 of them heading to a service center.

BTW... take at the last sentence of my updated signature ?

 

[dilmorecg]

When I emailed them in Nov they said its not something they are working on. The response you got is more encouraging though.

 

[mabowden]

When I emailed them in Nov they said its not something they are working on. The response you got is more encouraging though.

I think hopefully they heard from enough people. I've been in about every 1/2 ton truck from the OEs, and the rivian is the hardest to get in out of the lot. I bet they'd sell a bunch assuming they don't mess with efficiency too much.

 

[MooreND23]

Had powered boards on my ram and they were critical to getting in and out. That said, the knee mode really drops this thing, my 5 and 6 year olds don’t seem to have a problem too much, nor does my 5’4” wife.

 

[mabowden]

Had powered boards on my ram and they were critical to getting in and out. That said, the knee mode really drops this thing, my 5 and 6 year olds don’t seem to have a problem too much, nor does my 5’4” wife.

I've got a nagging feeling that using kneel mode all the time will cause excess wear on the suspension components- what are your thoughts?

 

[racekarl]

I've got a nagging feeling that using kneel mode all the time will cause excess wear on the suspension components- what are your thoughts?

There have been cars with this feature for years, so hopefully if it really were an issue it would be well understood by now. It's hard to see how a slow lower and raise would be harder on suspension components than the normal use they get driving down the road.

 

[MooreND23]

Hard to say but with independent air suspension at all 4 motors and drive modes that already adjust automatically I imagine they are built to last and cannot imagine this being a probably any time in the near future but certainly could be wrong. Truthfully though I’m just not a person that drives a car without using the basic features it is designed with for fear those same features would wear it out. Faith or being naive, who knows. My ram had same air suspension and I used the crap out of it, it was fine.
So far no issue with mine aside from in the cold/snow at the mountain, makes interesting noises then!

 

[mabowden]

Looks like this was discussed already here: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/kneel-mode-suspension-wear-life.10376/

I've left it off for fear of overusing suspension components, but I will turn it on today to see how I like it. I agree, might as well use it so that if it does cause wear at least it is still under warranty for some time

 

[xyskis]

I have AMP Research Powersteps on my sprinter and love them; there are body cavities under the van that allow for placement of motors above the plane of the structural members beneath the van and the steps tuck nicely against the body minimizing any potential ground clearance issues. This would not be the case for Rivian without some modifications to the vehicle or how AR motors are designed.

With regards to "Here at AMP Research, we are continuously developing products for new applications. Please keep an eye on the website for any future new vehicle release updates," this is a canned response that ends all of their email communications. I literally copied and pasted that info when I was asking about compatibility with the '23 Sprinters and they said "not compatible" (even though it was) and to be on the lookout on their website.

They are a company that is incredibly risk/liability averse from the CSRs and their engineers are difficult to get ahold of.

 

[moosehead]

I reached out to Amp about Rivian product development many months ago and heard diddly squat.

Agree with @mabowden, this feels like they are at least working on it.

Keep pinging them, the Amp Powersteps are spectacular. We've run ours for 8 years in snow and ice and dirt with zero issues. They tuck up under most vehicles with nominal ground clearance issues but most certainly are not protective slider type boards at all.

Will be interesting to see how Amp wires the function to coincide with door open and close. In other vehicles they either tap directly into the door switch wires along the door frame/kick plates, or also have an OBD plug in that is pretty slick.

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