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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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