brandonjansen - 2012 Ram 3500 Laramie Limited Build Thread

I did a quick hand polish on my driveshaft almost two years ago now but I figured it was time to pull it out again, clean it up, and really get it shining. I had a free saturday last weekend so it was time to give the underside of the truck some love.

Step 1: Washed with SOS pads
Step 2: Machine polished with a yellow cutting pad.
Step 3: Hand polished with Adam's Metal Polish 1 and 2.
Step 4: Sealed with Poorboys Wheel Sealant
Step 5: Paint the U-joints and yokes black



Before/after:


Yeah I'd say it came out alright



I wanted to give the underside of the truck a good cleanup as well. So I got under there with my wash mitt, scrub brush, and Fantastik and went to down. I definitely got soaked and dirty doing it but well worth it. Once it was all cleaned up and dried off it was time to dress it up. I got some Adam's Undercarriage Spray a couple months ago that I've been waiting to use and finally did now that I cleaned it up properly. Once again I am amazed by the quality of their products. A number of items under my truck are getting weathered from being driven through the winters up here; the differentials being one of the more noticeable things. I sprayed the Undercarriage Spray on the differentials, suspension components, wheel wells, etc and everything looks nice and black again. Very happy with the results.

This picture was right after I sprayed it in the front wheel well. The glossiness goes away once it dries. It stays as more of a satin finish and does a great job at repelling water so far.

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One of the other little items that's been on my list for a long time that I haven't got around to is getting my front side windows tinted. Part of it was because I was nervous about run-ins with the cops and partially because I didn't have any connections to shops to get it done. After seeing a handful of vehicles around here lately with dark tint I decided to bite the bullet and just get it done. I got a connection through a local car club to get it done at a shop for $60. I figure even if I do get caught and need to pull it off I'm not losing much.
I went with an 18% tint to match the OEM tint on the back windows. I'm very happy with the results and don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Looks so much better and keeps the interior of the truck quite a bit cooler. I also notice that I don't need to wear sunglasses as often with the limited light in the cab.





I may end up getting the windshield done at either 50% or 35% down the road but I want to see how it is driving at night with the tint before I make that call.​

Next on the list was a full exterior detail. I've been meaning to do this for months but haven't had the time with other projects and the business of life. But this past long weekend finally gave me a couple of days to get it done.

Overall my paint was in really good shape compared to most vehicles so it's not like I was working with anything too crazy. There were a few areas with really bad scratches: one from where someone decided it was a good idea to write on my truck and run their hands all down it when it was covered in dirt and mud last winter after an offroading trip, the second from where something got caught in my wash mitt a couple months ago and I didn't notice right away. The rest was just basic wear and tear from whether, washing, etc.

Step 1: Hand wash
Step 2: Clay barred with Adam's Polishes Visco Clay Bar
Step 3: Machine polished with a Flex VRG3401, orange cutting pad, and Jax Wax Perfect Polish
Step 4: Fill in rock chips/scratches on the rocker panels and front bumper with color match paint
Step 5: Machine sealed with a grey sealing pad and Adam's Liquid Paint Sealant
Step 6: Hand waxed with Adam's Americana Paste Wax
Step 7: Glass polished and sealed with Adam's Glass Sealant
Step 8: Plastic and rubber dressed with Jax Wax Super Blue

I haven't had a chance to take any great pictures yet as I just finished up around 8:30 last night. I ended up putting +/- 20 hours into it this weekend so I was pretty beat by that point and running out of sunlight to take any good pictures. So at the moment iPhone pictures is all you get but they're still pretty decent.

Polishing progress


The end result









Of course it rained on me already this morning so unfortunately I didn't get to drive a ridiculously clean truck for very long. But the plus side is that the water/dirt just beads right off of it now and I can see a few areas where the Glass Sealant didn't cover evenly. So a few things to touch up and clean up again.
Next on the list will be giving the Forces a quick hand polish again as they're looking a little tarnished from washing etc.​

I finally pulled the trigger on a 5" exhaust system for the truck after having the idea in my head for a number of months. I decided to go with a 5" Flo Pro system with a muffler for a few reasons:



One of the big things I wanted to take care of when replacing the exhaust is making it look nicer than my old system. I couldn't stand looking under the truck or in the wheel well and seeing a dirty, rusty looking pipe so it was time to do something about that. I debated ceramic coating it but the cost was simply too high so I decided to give powder coating a try. I was skeptical of how the powder would stand up the the heat but I've seen a few guys on the forum do it so it was worth a shot. Not to mention that I got it done for free where my brother works so it literally cost me nothing. We were going to try a chrome powder coat on it but the painter advised against that as it needed to be clear coated then and he didn't think that would stand up. So I went with a metallic silver to tie in with the rest of the truck. Very happy with how it turned out.



Of course no exhaust system would be complete without a tip so I ordered a 5x7x15 Flo Pro tip along with the kit. Very happy with the size and proportions of it as well.

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Install was very straightforward as it was just a matter of removing my old 4" Flo Pro kit and installing the new 5" kit. The two things that took us the most time was getting the first section of pipe up onto the downpipe and the clamp around it, and then deciding if we were going to axle dump it or bring it out the side; everything else went as smooth as butter. I decided to go with the axle dump this time around the change up the look slightly and just give the back end of the truck a cleaner look. So far I'm extremely happy with that decision as I love how it looks every time I walk up to the truck.



I haven't taken any further back pictures yet to show how it looks but once I have some I'll post them up.​

Overall I'm very happy with the choice all around. The sound and volume is exactly what I wanted; quiet inside the cab, quieter outside, but still gets loud when you want it to. The look of the bigger pipe and tip suits the truck much better as well. Surprisingly the truck feels slightly different to drive with it as well. It feels slightly peppier and more responsive with the new exhaust; as though the turbo is spooling quicker. And the turbo is definitely louder as well. I want to give it some more time to make sure it stays that way but as of right now it's liking the bigger pipe no doubt.​

After 2 years of running an 8" lift and 37x13.5 MT's my stock track bar had finally reached the end of it's life. For the last few months it really started degrading very quickly which lead to sloppy steering and a lot of jerking in the steering wheel when going over bumps. A adjustable track bar was something that was always on my list after doing the lift but I figured I'd wait until the stock one kicked the bucket before replacing it.

I've been really impressed with all the products I've seen from Thuren Fabrication and figured they were the right choice to go with for my setup. A very high quality product that will bolt right up with no issues at all. Plus down the road I can see myself upgrading to a Thuren drag link and tie rod and it will be nice to have all matching parts under the truck.
I ordered directly from Thuren Fabrication as they're only one state away from Canada and had the best price I could find (mainly because of the cheaper shipping cost). Plus I figured if I did have any issues I'd rather be dealing with them directly. First thing I noticed out of the box was how beefy and heavy the Thuren track bar is. There's definitely no cut corners with that piece and it will be more than strong enough for anything I throw at the truck. The rod end that they manufacture is great as well; very beefy and solid.​

With the stock track bar and lift my front differential was about 1" further to the drivers side of the truck than the passenger side (from it being too short). This is something I definitely wanted to fix with the new bar. So it was in and out a few times while I adjusted the length to get the front diff centered properly (within 1/8" at least). Once it was to the right length I took it back out one more time, tightened up the jamb nut as much as I could, and then reinstalled everything and torqued it to spec.
After that I had a bit of messing around to do with the drag link to get the steering wheel centered again and that was it.

Stock track bar VS Thuren Fabrication adjustable track bar:


Installed:
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The track bar has done everything I expected it to. Obviously centering the front differential was a given but it tightened up the steering to better than stock. It's far more responsive again, no play going over bumps, and is simply a whole lot nicer to drive again. I'm sure the front track being in line with the rear track helps that out a bit as well. Very happy with my decision to go with the Thuren bar and I will continue to recommend them.​