I figured that mopar wanted the oil pick up firm against the bottom of the pan so it would be fixed on both ends, then it would not be free to vibrate and potentially crack the pick up tube.
This from a different thread but makes sense. Mopar probably just wanted them to be snug in there so they didn't bounce around and deform or crack or rattle against the pan.
Whether or not a "not touching the pan" pickup is my problem remains to be seen. But it is one of the first things I'm going to look at.
