Mitag3
Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2015
- Posts
- 46
- Reaction score
- 11
- Location
- Eastern Nebraska
- Ram Year
- 2014 Ram 1500 Express
- Engine
- Hemi 5.7
I've been lurking around here reading for a while now researching the various projects and things I wanted to do with my truck so I figured I'd post a little about what I've done and hopefully be able to answer any questions to make someone else's projects go a little easier.
So winter 2015, literally the day before a big snow storm (whew), I traded in my Charger Daytona for this 2014 Ram 1500 QC 4X4 Express with less that 7k miles on it. I was a little worried I wouldn't end up using it as a truck but I started doing some side jobs with it and then incorporated some hobbies. I've always liked building things and the wife and I love to go on hiking/camping trips. Unfortunately we usually end up having a great time doing some cool things and then realize we never took a single picture of any of it, so I don't have much to show.
I started with the usual and picked up an Intune I2 tuner and then put in a Flowmaster Super 44 muffler leaving the resonators in place. Very happy with this, sounds amazing under hard throttle, doesn't drone, and doesn't wake the entire block up when I start the truck.
Next were the front tow hooks and light bar. I happened to find a light bar local that fit perfectly between the tow hooks while still being out of the way. Flipped the front license plate bracket to raise the plate up a couple inches and then bent and welded some strips of steel plate to mount the light in place. The tow hooks were a fairly easy install. I was (well, am) a little bummed because I cut far too much of the valence out to install them. I cut the width of the hooks not thinking about the fact they could hook through the opening and it could have been 2" smaller on either side; live and learn.
(not a great shot I know, but I was happy to see my craigslist purchase wasn't total crap lol)
e
Next stop was lift kit. After scouring through the forums here with budget and potential use of the truck led me to the Bilstein 5100 series shocks for the front. I set them at 2.1 for 2 reasons, first I was seeing a lot of people talking about potential long term ball joint issues at 2.8 and second because I did not want to also spend the money on rear spacers. I'm happy with this height, VERY happy with the shocks, and the stance looks about level to me (maybe a smidge tall in the front).
(more to come on the LED work lights)
Shortly after my wife informs me that I need to pick something up for her. Like a dummy...I mean good husband, I drive 2 hours away to pick up a 1972 (or 1971, no one really seems to know) Winnebago Indian 18' double axle bumper pull camper. Best guess on weight was 3500-4000 lbs from the previous owner who had a single axle version of this as well. Checked tire pressures on the camper and 1 tire showed a little low, nothing to worry about. Could not locate a standard date of manufacture on the tire, but they all looked great so I wasn't too concerned. Everything is super solid on the inside with no apparent water damage so I hook up and head down the road to get an adapter for the trailer plug. One mile later I'm in the O'Reilley's parking lot with 1 brake light working, 1 turn signal, 2 marker lights, no tow mirrors, and now one fairly flat tire. Cherry on top, it's also getting dark... quickly. Long story short I got it home with loads of mental stress but no real issues. Replaced all 4 tires (weather checked all the way through the sidewalls, which didn't show until after I drove on them), replaced the plug and fixed a bad ground causing the lighting issues.
Pulls like a DREAM, don't know how much help the Bilsteins are overall but the platform is very stable, and of course the Hemi couldn't care less that the camper is back there.
I am often hooking this up and backing it into places in the dead of night so I decided to mount the LED work lights under the back of the Ram. Found a good spot at the end of the bumper hitch bar and welded some angle iron in for a mount. Couldn't be happier with how they turned out.
This last picture doesn't do much justice, but they literally glare off the camper. Wired them in to the reverse light wiring, didn't bother with a dedicated switch.
Lastly I needed to widen my driveway out a few feet to park it on the side of the house and still be able to get in and out of it. Opted to do it myself (regret) and started sourcing material. Found someone getting rid of dirt for free so I got a trailer for that and made a few trips. Went to pick up some rock from a landscaping place who told me "Oh yeah that ole' Ram will hold a ton of rock in the bed no problem!" After thinking a moment about how they are still in business and haven't crushed someones truck yet I opted to make 2 trips. 1,000 lbs of rock in the bed left about 2" of rear travel before bump stop contact and rode great. Then I went to menards, which is only about 2 miles from my house and got lazy. Opted to just grab it all in one trip since I was close, and according to their website listed weights with me in the truck probably had 2200-2300 lbs in it. Rode oddly well on the way home for being on the bump stops the whole way.
Anywho, thats where I'm at now. Will probably get a cheapo license plate mounted backup camera soon. Had some air bags and a beefy rear sway bar bookmarked I was looking at getting if I needed some stability in the rear. Anyone else go that route with a similar setup and think it's worth it?
So winter 2015, literally the day before a big snow storm (whew), I traded in my Charger Daytona for this 2014 Ram 1500 QC 4X4 Express with less that 7k miles on it. I was a little worried I wouldn't end up using it as a truck but I started doing some side jobs with it and then incorporated some hobbies. I've always liked building things and the wife and I love to go on hiking/camping trips. Unfortunately we usually end up having a great time doing some cool things and then realize we never took a single picture of any of it, so I don't have much to show.
I started with the usual and picked up an Intune I2 tuner and then put in a Flowmaster Super 44 muffler leaving the resonators in place. Very happy with this, sounds amazing under hard throttle, doesn't drone, and doesn't wake the entire block up when I start the truck.
Next were the front tow hooks and light bar. I happened to find a light bar local that fit perfectly between the tow hooks while still being out of the way. Flipped the front license plate bracket to raise the plate up a couple inches and then bent and welded some strips of steel plate to mount the light in place. The tow hooks were a fairly easy install. I was (well, am) a little bummed because I cut far too much of the valence out to install them. I cut the width of the hooks not thinking about the fact they could hook through the opening and it could have been 2" smaller on either side; live and learn.
(not a great shot I know, but I was happy to see my craigslist purchase wasn't total crap lol)
e
Next stop was lift kit. After scouring through the forums here with budget and potential use of the truck led me to the Bilstein 5100 series shocks for the front. I set them at 2.1 for 2 reasons, first I was seeing a lot of people talking about potential long term ball joint issues at 2.8 and second because I did not want to also spend the money on rear spacers. I'm happy with this height, VERY happy with the shocks, and the stance looks about level to me (maybe a smidge tall in the front).
(more to come on the LED work lights)
Shortly after my wife informs me that I need to pick something up for her. Like a dummy...I mean good husband, I drive 2 hours away to pick up a 1972 (or 1971, no one really seems to know) Winnebago Indian 18' double axle bumper pull camper. Best guess on weight was 3500-4000 lbs from the previous owner who had a single axle version of this as well. Checked tire pressures on the camper and 1 tire showed a little low, nothing to worry about. Could not locate a standard date of manufacture on the tire, but they all looked great so I wasn't too concerned. Everything is super solid on the inside with no apparent water damage so I hook up and head down the road to get an adapter for the trailer plug. One mile later I'm in the O'Reilley's parking lot with 1 brake light working, 1 turn signal, 2 marker lights, no tow mirrors, and now one fairly flat tire. Cherry on top, it's also getting dark... quickly. Long story short I got it home with loads of mental stress but no real issues. Replaced all 4 tires (weather checked all the way through the sidewalls, which didn't show until after I drove on them), replaced the plug and fixed a bad ground causing the lighting issues.
Pulls like a DREAM, don't know how much help the Bilsteins are overall but the platform is very stable, and of course the Hemi couldn't care less that the camper is back there.
I am often hooking this up and backing it into places in the dead of night so I decided to mount the LED work lights under the back of the Ram. Found a good spot at the end of the bumper hitch bar and welded some angle iron in for a mount. Couldn't be happier with how they turned out.
This last picture doesn't do much justice, but they literally glare off the camper. Wired them in to the reverse light wiring, didn't bother with a dedicated switch.
Lastly I needed to widen my driveway out a few feet to park it on the side of the house and still be able to get in and out of it. Opted to do it myself (regret) and started sourcing material. Found someone getting rid of dirt for free so I got a trailer for that and made a few trips. Went to pick up some rock from a landscaping place who told me "Oh yeah that ole' Ram will hold a ton of rock in the bed no problem!" After thinking a moment about how they are still in business and haven't crushed someones truck yet I opted to make 2 trips. 1,000 lbs of rock in the bed left about 2" of rear travel before bump stop contact and rode great. Then I went to menards, which is only about 2 miles from my house and got lazy. Opted to just grab it all in one trip since I was close, and according to their website listed weights with me in the truck probably had 2200-2300 lbs in it. Rode oddly well on the way home for being on the bump stops the whole way.
Anywho, thats where I'm at now. Will probably get a cheapo license plate mounted backup camera soon. Had some air bags and a beefy rear sway bar bookmarked I was looking at getting if I needed some stability in the rear. Anyone else go that route with a similar setup and think it's worth it?
