Make Your Bed: Ram patents tailgate-mounted side step

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With the Detroit Truck Wars showing no sign of slowing down, R&D attention has turned to the ubiquitous cargo box in order to get a leg up on the competition (pun firmly intended, you’ll see in a sec). If the latest patent from Stellantis is any indication, bright minds are hard at work trying to suss a retractable side step for use on Ram pickups. The eagle eyes at American car outlet Motor Authority were the first to spot this new patent from Auburn Hills.

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It appears this step-type feature could swing downwards from the sides of the tailgate, instead of from the centre portion itself. Think of a folding knife being deployed from a sheath on the side of a tailgate and you’ve got the general idea.

Benefits of this idea include creating a step which does not block the trailer hitch and, assuming there’s one on each side of the tailgate, that can provide a helping lift on either side of the truck. No extendable handle is shown, though grabbing onto the edge of the box near the tail light is easy enough in this example. It seems as if the actual ‘step’ part of this contraption is flipped out with the toe of one’s workboot.

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It’s worth noting that nothing in the patent guarantees this feature will ever show up on Ram trucks; many patents are secured by automakers in order to simply protect an idea, one which may never see the light of day. Alert readers will notice the truck in this drawing has taillights unlike any full-size Ram on sale currently, though patent illustrators often add generic backgrounds to the specifics of their work.

Seeking to differentiate themselves in distinctive ways, truck-makers are burning plenty of development dollars researching new methods of utilizing – and accessing – the cargo box. After all, that open space is the entire reason for trucks in the first place. Generator outlets, ample tie-downs, and handy quick-open buttons are all part and parcel of the selling proposition at some brands.

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Even the lowly tailgate, once just a simple piece of hinged metal intended to keep cargo from spilling onto the roadway, has been the recipient of much attention recently. Ford hammers measuring notches and C-clamp spaces into theirs, while GM recently introduced a covered and waterproof cubby in the ‘gate of its new Colorado. This is to say nothing of the ‘barn doors’ at Ram or the Multiflex origami at GM.

Deployable steps, of course, were arguably pioneered by Ford a decade ago when the so-called ‘Man Step’ first became available. Its competitors initially tried to make a mockery of the feature but soon learned that customers liked the feature a great deal, thankyouverymuch. It didn’t take long for them to come up with their own variations on the theme.