iRIDElow's 2012 Ram 2500 megacab build

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Hey guys well I finally decided to join the forum. Ive been in process of building my truck for the last 6 months or so and I wanted to give a mass update on my truck and catch anyone that is curious about it up to date. So attached is many posts from one of my other threads on another forum.

I purchased a 2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Megacab w/ 12k miles. I had been looking for a loaded all white megacab for some time and I was just about to give up. I looked all over Houston to try and find the truck I wanted. Right when I was about to give up and buy an F250 pulling out of my neighborhood about to hit the freeway a white dodge truck caught my eye in a mini cooper/BMW dealer. That truck ended up being everything I was looking for (minus the ranch hand bumper on the front). I ended up trading my lifted new body style Yukon in for it and couldnt be more happy.

Here is the truck the day I bought it
ram2500_zps293e78f0.jpg

The plan for this truck right away was to install a large lift, wide wheels, large tires, stereo, paint/graphics, Interior, and some motor work.

The first day I had the truck I ended up ordering the H&S Egr/ Egr cooler Delete (which was a nightmare wouldnt recommend this kit to my worst enemy), 5" aluminized flo-pro exhaust, and the Race me programmer. after getting all that installed I went from averaging 11.5 MPG to 15.8 MPG so I was pretty happy with that.
photo1_zpsf438226f.jpg
photo4_zps74ebf4ff.jpg
photo5_zps3522d0f8.jpg

During the process of getting the motor mods taken care of I had located a set of paintable front/rear bumpers (grille/mirrors were already color matched). So I had a good friend of mine body work/prep and paint my front and rear bumpers, and installed those on the truck.
photo4_zps3fe75859.jpg
photo5_zpsa8a773e3.jpg
ram2_zpsb3f067f5.jpg

Once I was finished with the front and rear bumper I got a wild hair to color match my headlight housings. I removed the headlights, baked them, peeled them apart, prepped and painted the housing, and reassembled and installed them. I decided to leave the amber reflector out which I didnt care for.
photo1_zpsc0cd5361.jpg

Now that I got the truck semi looking how I wanted it, It was time to start the fun part...the suspension. The initial plan was to go really big with this truck but after checking prices on kits and how crazy the prices got for anything larger than an 8" kit I decided that I would take and 8" kit and make it larger. I chose the Mcgaughy's 8" long arm kit, with a 3" front spacer, and that kit has a 6" block in the rear so I purchased the Thuren lift shackle for the back to give it that extra bit of lift. The goal was to run a 40" tall tire. I had heard of a small group of people that accomplished this but couldnt find much information on what they did. So after doing as much research as I could I felt pretty confident in the route I wanted to take while also knowing that I may run into issues and when I got there I would figure it out. so everyone keep in mind there will be kinks that need worked and this will be trial and error for others down the road. Along with the macgaughys 8" kit, 3" front spacer, and thuren lift shackle, I ordered the BDS dual front shock mount, BDS Rear dual shock mount, BDS front dual 9500 steering stabilizer, BDS front adjustable trac bar, BDS rear ladder bars (traction bars), Fox 2.0 shocks all the way around (10 shocks total), and the BDS carrier bearing drop that the mcgaughys kit did not include. I am still debating on ordering the BDS leaf springs but with this entire process being a trial and error I figured I would make that decision after and if I am not pleased with the ride quality/ towing capability I can change them after the fact. I ordered my Mcgaughy's kit Raw (no powder coat) since I am a very detailed kind of person and I want everything to match my truck. The additional parts from BDS came coated so I didnt have a choice. I wanted everything on the truck to either be white or chrome, but I am not a fan of chrome since it tends to bubble, flake, and rust after a short period of time in my experience. So with that beign said I found a powder coater that had a good reputation and he offered a chrome'ish looking powdercoat. Once I received the lift, and the additional parts they were seperated by what I wanted white, and what I wanted chrome. The picture with the link bars, springs, etc that have the blue band around them will be coated white. The other picture that is mostly different brackets, and small objects will be coated in the chrome looking powder coat.
photo2_zpsbdde1536.jpg
photo3_zps07a8f9e3.jpg

I dropped all of those parts off yesterday to my powder coater and due to the size and amount of parts/ my pickyness on quality he asked me to give him a week for the turn around. In the mean time I will start tearing the truck apart to remove the leaf springs, and front sway bar so I can drop those off and have them coated as well.

As far as my wheel choice I went with a set of 22x12 American force Shift SS8, and I have a set of Nitto Mud grapplers (40X15.5x22) on order which should be in this weekend or early next week. (since these pictures, the ranch hand bumper was removed for the facorty color matched bumpers)
photo3_zps0932b9d8.jpg
photo2_zpsfb8bcb5e.jpg
photo2_zps073aea48.jpg
photo1_zpsc832c1ad.jpg
photo3_zps121723e5.jpg

I also installed a set of Amp research powersteps but I forgot to snap a picture. so Ill get one here shortly and post it up. I forgot to point out that in the parts currently at the powder coater im having the stock Tow hooks getting powder coated, along with the 50" LED light bar roof brackets and a set of CJC offroad brackets for a 30" light bar in the bumper between the tow hooks.

This thread will continuously get updated as I make some progress. Please comment and let me know what you think, I hope everyone likes the direction the truck is going and if you do not...oh well hahaha
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
This morning I dropped off my leaf springs, front sway bar, and some odd and end parts to finish off everything the poweder coater is waiting on. come wednesday everything should be rolling in and the fun should begin.

leafspringsandswaybar_zps525159a1.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Here all 10 of the shocks that will be needed
photo_zps0bb4004e.jpg

Looks like it will be to late in the day to pick up all my powder coated parts but I should have them all tomorrow for sure. Ill leave you guys with a teaser. Sorry for the bad cell phone pictures but that is all I got. better pics to come tomorrow.
photo3_zps6919cadf.jpg
photo2_zpsa624df4a.jpg
photo1_zps0f8e1070.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
again Ill be picking everything up today but for now I have a few crappy cell phone pictures from the coater.

Heres some of the white
photo3_zpsb806087d.jpg
photo2_zpsf92b779b.jpg
photo1_zps6c42e230.jpg

Got everything back from the powder coater yesterday. I started semi late and things started off being stubborn. This morning we should make some real progress. The leaf springs did not end up getting powder coated because the factory ones have a band on end end that my coater didn't want to forcefully remove. Which was ok since i was up in the air on going with aftermarket leafs later on.

image_zpsf143e47a.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Well this truck was a PITA. Every single issue that could have gone wrong went wrong, took longer than it should have, etc. The lift it self is very basic just problem after problem.....BUT the lift is on and I wanted to post just a few pictures. Today once I get home I will be finishing up a bunch of loose ends, and going over everything again. The only thing left to install is the front dual shock mounts in the wheel wells, and the rear ladder bars. I wanted to wait until it was 100% until I post the final pictures.
photo3_zps5006c74d.jpg
photo2_zpsf60115ca.jpg
photo1_zps24ea25a4.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Well after my troubles with the adjustable trac bar, I sent it to a friend who runs a machine shop. He got it done in an hour or so and I got it installed last night. I finished most of the front end minus a couple odd and end things but for the most part it's pretty close to being done. I still have to connect the shock that runs in the factory location, install the front dual shock mount, steering stabilizer, rear trac bars, and install the index ring. I don't drive this truck very often so I'm taking my sweet time and trying to get everything perfect.

Here are a few pictures as of now
imagejpg1_zpsace1e1bd.jpg
imagejpg2_zps3fd2fa18.jpg
imagejpg4_zps8a53416c-1.jpg
imagejpg3_zps9f40330c.jpg
imagejpg5_zps9be7e104.jpg
 

sbuko213

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2014
Posts
589
Reaction score
121
Location
Hendertucky, NV
Ram Year
2019
Engine
6.7 HO
Damn dude this is a mean looking build. Can't wait to see the results.

Correction: Hot damn that's mean.
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Washed the truck this weekend, didnt get around to polishing the wheels but you get the picture haha
photo1_zpsc3c108e4.jpg
photo2_zps03298983.jpg
photo3_zpsc796954c.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Well yesterday I received my T-rex billet grille in the mail. Figured I had nothing else to do so I would go ahead and start cutting away. The pictures are as far as I got last night. I got the stock grille cut out and trimmed to accept the new billet grille. When I get home from work Im going to get it mounted in the housing and get it installed.



photo4_zpsc9d1df73.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Well this weekend looks like I'm gonna try and get some stuff done
(1) 50" single row light bar
(2) 40" single row light bars
(1) 30" single row light bar
674ED26B-2581-424A-BAC9-CF943F9219B7_zpsbkh78odd.jpg

And then the Edge insight CTS w/ the pillar mount and EGT probe
4FB6C0A4-3E85-4600-AB48-DB3D40C2BAB8_zps1rfcoeah.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Well I finally got around to getting the Edge Insight CTS installed, along with the EAS EGT probe. All in all this thing is great. Having the option to monitor just about anyhting on the truck is really nice. Super easy to install. The EGT probe threaded right into the block off plate from the H&S delete kit. Everything went as smooth as could be expected. Install time was roughly 1 hour.
photo4_zpsabd7fbf8.jpg

I also got my 30" light bar installed in the bumper this weekend but I didnt get a chance to snap any photos. I started working on the 50" for the roof also. more updates to follow shortly.
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Here is pictures of my 50" bar and my 30" bars installed. I still have (2) 40" bars to get mounted so once I get those installed Ill take some/better pictures
photo1_zpsc2ec566d.jpg
photo2_zpse9a4d4e2.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Well the guys over at EBC brakes have hopped on and offered to help with this project like they have a couple of my other builds. They provided a set of drilled and slotted rotors for the entire truck, along with a set of pads that they felt would help with the stopping of the truck. The only problem was that they sent me stuff for a 1500 instead of a 2500. so I am waiting on the correct rotors. Once I get them installed ill get some more pictures.
photo2_zps81aebd00.jpg

I also went ahead and picked up the lockpick for the truck so I can have control over all the factory navigation control, inputs, and cameras, etc.
photo1_zps9106433e.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
Sorry guys ive been away for the last few months. My beautiful 5 yr. old daughter just lost her battle with cancer so I have been spending some much needed time with family. Put a lot of things in perspective for me and I just needed to get my head right. not much has changed since the last time i posted except I got a few nice quality photos of the truck. progress will start back up here shortly.
photo1_zps5920a4f4.jpg
photo2_zpseca207f7.jpg
photo3_zps98b11ce1.jpg
photo_zps1fe430e8.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
well im starting to get back on the truck. Its been raining for about the last week down here so I havent made it outside in the last few days but things are starting to move forward again. Got my AirDog II 165 and the install kit yesterday.
photo4_zps094c0e3e.jpg

I also received my ARP head studs so in the near future I plan on getting them installed.
photo4_zpsa0a56a5e.jpg
 
OP
OP
iRIDElow

iRIDElow

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
75
Reaction score
10
Location
Houston Texas
Ram Year
2012
Engine
6.7 Ltr. Cummins
I did end up getting another 40" light bar mounted under the truck. it hangs just below the bumper valance. Its been raining here off and on for about a month so I will get some better pictures here soon.
photo4_zps3279f61c.jpg

I ended up getting my front and rear 4.56 gears in but I havent got them installed yet. I also got a K&N skyhawk intake system that should be in later today or tomorrow.
IMG_0174_zpsafd88558.jpg
 
Top