A powered running board assembly has a deck and at least two hinges
extending from the deck for mounting longitudinally the deck to an
underside of a vehicle. Each hinge has a mounting bracket configured to
mount to the underside of the vehicle. A pair of links pivotally extends
between the deck and mounting bracket. The deck is movable between a
retracted position and an extended position. A motor assembly operably
engages at least one of the hinges to drive the deck between the
retracted and extended positions. The motor assembly extends
substantially longitudinally. The motor assembly has a gear train and
clutch assembly enabling the motor assembly to drive relative to the deck
movement when the deck movement is prevented, and enabling manual deck
movement when the motor assembly is not energized.