blackbetty14
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Posts
- 2,701
- Reaction score
- 1,425
- Location
- CT
- Ram Year
- 2024
- Engine
- Hemi 5.7 VVT/Etorque
I had a front end incident with a tonno cover at 70mph on the highway which caused damage to the front end of my 18 Laramie. Among other damage The grill was broken, AGS frame cracked and then I started getting the check engine light. Code read AGS performance error. I pulled the AGS and checked slats and none popped out and decided to check the motor. The arm spun with little to no resistance and of course some noise inside the motor housing which likely stripped out the gears inside the housing. I pulled it apart and the arm was fine as well as the splined housing where the arm goes into the motor. So what stripped was inside the motor housing and that is impossible to
Open.
So my quest went on to delete the AGS which is cheaper than replacing and I don’t really want or need it. You can’t buy the motor separate except for one place on Amazon and eBay. All the eBay/Amazon AGS assemblies are WITHOUT MOTORS so be mindful of that when thinking you’re getting a great deal for $150. The motor alone cost me $160 or $170 after tax and it’s a no name brand. Dealer offer completely assembly for something like $800-1200. Thought about AlFAOBD but no one has done it for the AGS so I said $crew it and just got the motor and decided to delete all the slats and make my own stop to Mimick the arm travel.
At first I just drilled out the first mounting hole and put a bolt through it but then I looked at the travel of the stock setup and it’s maybe 3/4 of the travel of the stock system. I tried to contact Jason on FB to get his bracket and he actually just got back to me today but my bracket was completed weeks ago. I didn’t like the idea of pulling the arm to reclock and have it contact on the plastic side where it wasn’t designed to contact and stop. I decided to make my own bracket from sheet metal (strongman galvanized construction plate from HD) I had laying around. I made a paper template and cut it out utalizing the top two holes (same as Jason’s design). But that’s where our similarities stop. Mine slides into the stock motor housing and uses the plastic ribs as a reinforcement and to locate the bracket securely. The bolts just hold it in place. Then I welded a small tab from the same steel at the exact position to keep the arm stopping at the exact point the OEM slats stopped it. This was the hardest part but if you wanted you could have kept it as part of the steel plate and folded up a piece to create the same stop and not have to do any welding. I have a few welders so this was easier for me. I threw a couple of coats of salt rated roll bar epoxy paint on it and threw it in the truck in the stock location (minus the slats and all that) I like the stock location as it keeps the motor shielded from water and debris unless you hit something hard enough. This is a bolt on solution that doesn’t require removing the motor casing and reclocking the arm. Drill out the two holes and use 1.25-1.5” SS 8-32 machine screws with washers, nuts and red loctite.
Either way it works great and no more check engine light! When you get the AGS performance trouble code you lose functionality of the remote start at minimum. Right now it’s cold and winter in CT so this wasn’t an option which is why I moved so fast on this. I hope this helps some people and provide a different way to solve the same problem.
Open.
So my quest went on to delete the AGS which is cheaper than replacing and I don’t really want or need it. You can’t buy the motor separate except for one place on Amazon and eBay. All the eBay/Amazon AGS assemblies are WITHOUT MOTORS so be mindful of that when thinking you’re getting a great deal for $150. The motor alone cost me $160 or $170 after tax and it’s a no name brand. Dealer offer completely assembly for something like $800-1200. Thought about AlFAOBD but no one has done it for the AGS so I said $crew it and just got the motor and decided to delete all the slats and make my own stop to Mimick the arm travel.
At first I just drilled out the first mounting hole and put a bolt through it but then I looked at the travel of the stock setup and it’s maybe 3/4 of the travel of the stock system. I tried to contact Jason on FB to get his bracket and he actually just got back to me today but my bracket was completed weeks ago. I didn’t like the idea of pulling the arm to reclock and have it contact on the plastic side where it wasn’t designed to contact and stop. I decided to make my own bracket from sheet metal (strongman galvanized construction plate from HD) I had laying around. I made a paper template and cut it out utalizing the top two holes (same as Jason’s design). But that’s where our similarities stop. Mine slides into the stock motor housing and uses the plastic ribs as a reinforcement and to locate the bracket securely. The bolts just hold it in place. Then I welded a small tab from the same steel at the exact position to keep the arm stopping at the exact point the OEM slats stopped it. This was the hardest part but if you wanted you could have kept it as part of the steel plate and folded up a piece to create the same stop and not have to do any welding. I have a few welders so this was easier for me. I threw a couple of coats of salt rated roll bar epoxy paint on it and threw it in the truck in the stock location (minus the slats and all that) I like the stock location as it keeps the motor shielded from water and debris unless you hit something hard enough. This is a bolt on solution that doesn’t require removing the motor casing and reclocking the arm. Drill out the two holes and use 1.25-1.5” SS 8-32 machine screws with washers, nuts and red loctite.
Either way it works great and no more check engine light! When you get the AGS performance trouble code you lose functionality of the remote start at minimum. Right now it’s cold and winter in CT so this wasn’t an option which is why I moved so fast on this. I hope this helps some people and provide a different way to solve the same problem.
