WTH are these?

[Gren71]

while I was under the new ram putting on some steps I noticed these things… I have no idea what they are. Are they a leftover from the assembly line or something? Theyre on both sides under where the front doors. I can’t see any wires or anything connected to them.

 

[kdoublep]

Emergency skateboard wheels?

 

[Rock Crawler]

Mass dampers. They are supposed to minimize vibrations.

 

[Eighty]

And to follow on, those are passive dampers. They used to have active dampers, but then Covid hit and they switched to passive dampers (and apparently never switched back).

 

[Gren71]

Mass dampers. They are supposed to minimize vibrations.

Ha! Neat, i love learning something new

RAMs Vibrate To Stay Smooth While Saving Fuel. Here’s Why - AEC

Did you know that our RAM 1500 DT models use small modules that send vibrations into their frame to make it quieter? Why you ask? To save fuel! Okay, that sounds very complicated, but it’s actually pretty clever – let’s explain. With a growing niche in the European market and the all-time...

www.aecsolutions.com

 

[Eighty]

That article describes the active dampers. It’s not clear to me exactly how the passive dampers do anything special, except maybe absorb some vibrations. I have a truck without MDS, and mine has them as well.

 

[Scap]

Truck nuts

 

[Gren71]

That article describes the active dampers. It’s not clear to me exactly how the passive dampers do anything special, except maybe absorb some vibrations. I have a truck without MDS, and mine has them as well.

Ye, it was just the first article i found that talked about the whole idea of them. Brand new concept to me from the jeep world…this whole “smooth ride” thing is fantastic lol

 

[barrak]

I was just looking at them this morning while lubing my power running boards. I thought they were meant as stoppers/dampeners for the boards when/after retracting!!

 

[Darksteel165]

Where exactly are those on your truck lol?
I want to see if I have the active ones.

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

Where exactly are those on your truck lol?
I want to see if I have the active ones.

He said he was installing running boards and from the picture it’s placed on the frame closer to the front. I believe I see the lower control arm in the picture.

 

[Gren71]

He said he was installing running boards and from the picture it’s placed on the frame closer to the front. I believe I see the lower control arm in the picture.

Correct.

@Darksteel165 theyre bolted to the frame on both sides nearest the front LCA mounts. I HATE rust so the color bugs me arleady...but i dont know enough about the whole system and process of how they work (yet) and im just going to assume that painting the surface would change the harmonics or some such

 

[Bt10]

Hmmm - placeholder till I get home tomorrow.

Looks like active units on mine, see year/trim/options in sig line.

 

[Scram1500]

It's sacrificial metal, like zinc plates on a ship. Almost sounds right

My 2017 4th Gen had these, there's a rubber bushing inside that isolates you from the frame vibration while the weight absorbs it. Modern steel frames don't flex like the old days and can end up vibrating like a guitar string. My pre covid 2020 5th gen has the whirly jigs

 

[barrak]

The plot thickens. I only have the yellow bumper on the passenger side. It is not touching the retracted side steps.



On the driver side, I have a powered contraption.

 

[Gren71]

The plot thickens. I only have the yellow bumper on the passenger side. It is not touching the retracted side steps.

View attachment 173155

On the driver side, I have a powered contraption.
View attachment 173156

View attachment 173157

maybe the difference is that I have the standard gas tank and you have the venti?

 

[Eighty]

Just going to set the record straight on mine. I don't have the big rubber dampers on either side. I have electronic modules both left and right (I just checked). I could have sworn I saw them a while back - must have been another truck I'm thinking about.

 

[Eighty]

So apparently I'm learning something today too. I decided to analyze all the 2024 build sheets (so far) to see what they say regarding damping. Here are the results.

Looks like, with a few unicorn exceptions:

• Pentastar gets nothing
• 5.7L Hemi gets a Passive Tuned Mass Damper
• 6.2L SRT gets Adaptive Damping

 

[barrak]

So apparently I'm learning something today too. I decided to analyze all the 2024 build sheets (so far) to see what they say regarding damping. Here are the results.

Looks like, with a few unicorn exceptions:

• Pentastar gets nothing
• 5.7L Hemi gets a Passive Tuned Mass Damper
• 6.2L SRT gets Adaptive Damping

View attachment 173159

Just checked my build sheet and it does list PASSIVE TUNED MASS DAMPER.

 

[barrak]

maybe the difference is that I have the standard gas tank and you have the venti?

Checked again and it seems to be a plastic junction box. One of the outgoing bundles powers the driver side motor of the deployable side boards.