My First Ram 2017 Ram 1500 Night Edition

y0rascal · Feb 23, 2017

Hi guys im a new member and new proud Ram 1500 sport Night Edition owner.

I've always been a ford guy but with the new aluminum frame and lack of tehcnology, got me looking at the Rams and i went ahead with it, cant beat the lifetime warranty(which I have yet to by) and the technology uconnect system.

Pictures to come, however I bought a white night (storm trooper) edition ram with 4x4 has everything including spray in bed liner, except for sunroof, 32 gallon tank, rear window defrost, and no tonneau cover

My question is what are some good mods to do not too invasive dont want to void any warranty, I see lots of members get the Deezee assist tailgate lift, I am considering one of those. Also those 50 Cal bullet antenna look pretty cool too.

I am need of Tonneau cover and have a hard time deciding between hard top like ARE or Leer, and the BakFlip/Gator(black) tops.

What do you guys like and why? I'm considering canvas looking tops due to the ease of using the full bed without removing the top but the concerns of water leaks and long term durability has me worried.

Also my truck came with the chrome/ silver side step, I wanted the black side step but noticed the black ones are shorter and cheaper looking, has anyone tried painting or powder coating these long silver ones?

What do you guys recommend and why? also is the Mopar cold air intake worth it?

Thanks alot guys and look forward to being more active on the forums.

mohemipar · Feb 23, 2017

Congrats on the new truck. Sounds like a nice one. The new Mopars always look great with the storm trooper look. Much better than the other brands that try to pull it off IMO. UConnect 8.4 is by far the superior system to Ford’s even after their recent update.

As far as mods, I would say consider going with a cat back right out of the shoot. In my book it is a must on the Hemi and really brings out its potential of sounding great. I have a Magnaflow with 5 inch tips. The MF has 0 drone at any RPM and has a deep moderate sound under mild accelleration. It gets very loud at WOT and sounds great. My second choice would be MBRP, those sound real mean. There are a few good options out there to look into depending on what youre looking for. You could also go with a muffler swap. I wanted the fit and finish of a full cat back. I also have the Mopar intake you mentioned (installed AFTER cat back). I got a great deal on it and I like the OE manufacturer look. If not Mopar, look into S&B. The benefits or lack thereof with a CAI have been beaten to death, but I thought it made the truck feel a tad more responsive and most definitely louder at WOT. Im sure the cat back helps with that.

Then you are talking tuners, lifts, tires. All that fun stuff.

Couple pics from over a year ago now.

Harley Harrold · Feb 23, 2017

bubbagumpshrimp · Feb 23, 2017

Welcome.

As far as a first mod...go get a bed cover. I went with an Undercover Flex. It's a solid (as opposed to soft vinyl) tri-fold, and you can open it up all the way and prop it open (or just remove it). It's convenient and secure...as are the similar options out there. ex. BakFlip.

I've hosed mine off and driven it on the interstate in heavy rain and I haven't noticed any water get it. The same could be said for the el cheapo $300 Extang cover I had on my F-150 though. I have to wonder how much of the complaining about various bed covers leaking is due to people screwing up the install.

If you don't leave stuff in the bed often, I guess it's not a big rush...but if you're like me and want to use the bed (I've got golf clubs, tools, and other stuff back there)...you'll want some way to make sure that your stuff won't easily walk off.

RumRunner · Feb 23, 2017

Welcome from Boston.

joeygster · Feb 23, 2017

Welcome to the forum.

little dan 28 · Feb 23, 2017

Welcome, I looking at one, ended up with a 14 white on black outdoorsman, you will be happy

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

shibby927 · Feb 24, 2017

Easy cheap mods off the top of my head:

1. Tailgate Assist
2. Stubby Antenna or modify your stock antenna
3. Tonneau Cover
4. Spray-in Bedliner, or Bedrug (Depends on your preference)
5. Exhaust (Mufflex or Carven are very popular and you can install them yourself)
6. Swap in LED lights and get rid of all of the halogen bulbs.
7. 60" LED Tailgate Bar
8. Cold Air Intake
9. Debadging
10. Third Brake Light Fix (Not really a mod, but a fix for an issue with leaking third brake lights which is fairly common on the 4th Gen RAM trucks) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wdLv0SWoAs
11. All Weather Floor Mats
12. Cabin Air Filter Mod (SUPER EASY) http://www.ramforum.com/f75/cabin_air_filter_mod-12200/
13. Bug Deflector
14. Vent Visors

As far as tonneau covers go, there are a ton of options out there. Access makes some nice roll up tonneau covers, I had one on my 2011 and loved it. Some brands are pricier than others, but I've found you get what you pay for. I have a Lund Genesis on my current truck, so far no issues, and it gets the job done. Not quite as nice as the Access equivalent, but close enough in my opinion.

I don't currently have a CAI but having owned these in the past get one that is enclosed. I had an open Mopar CAI on my 2015 Charger and that thing was constantly sucking up dead bugs, sticks, dirt, etc... S&B seems to have a pretty good reputation, their CAI for the RAMs looks very nice in my opinion.

Side Steps you could probably get yours powder coated for relatively cheap, but honestly I'd sell your chrome ones and buy a nice set of black ones if that's the route you want to go. Westin makes a set called the HDX Drop Steps that I recently saw on another member's truck and I personally think those look awesome.

If you want to do exhaust I'd recommend Carven or Mufflex. They make simple kits that slide right in in place of the stock muffler. They do not void your warranty in any way. Carven makes a Competitor series which is pretty loud, and a Progressive series which is a bit quieter if you don't want so much drone. Mufflex is the same thing, they use Magnaflow mufflers for their kits. You can get the DOD14M, DOD18M, or the DOD24M. The 14 is the loudest and most aggressive, the 24 is the most mellow of the bunch. I personally have the DOD14M on my truck and absolutely love it!

[YT]dRXFWYqZIw8[/YT]

Welcome to RF! You need to post some pics of that bad boy!

Drummin4jc · Feb 25, 2017

Welcome to the forum!

Glad to have ya!

Adam

Jarhead57 · Feb 25, 2017

Welcome to the group :favorites13:

whetrick1 · Feb 25, 2017

Welcome to the forum from LA (Lower Alabama)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

6.7BigBetty · Feb 25, 2017

y0rascal said:
I am need of Tonneau cover and have a hard time deciding between hard top like ARE or Leer, and the BakFlip/Gator(black) tops.

What do you guys like and why? I'm considering canvas looking tops due to the ease of using the full bed without removing the top but the concerns of water leaks and long term durability has me worried.

Also my truck came with the chrome/ silver side step, I wanted the black side step but noticed the black ones are shorter and cheaper looking, has anyone tried painting or powder coating these long silver ones?

.

Congrats on the new Ram! You need to throw some pics up!

I went with the BakFlip G2. Like most covers, there are good and bad about them. The functionality works for me. Although I thought you could just fold back one section and it would stay, but thats not the case. But it is pretty waterproof. I loaded the bed for a family trip to the mountains and had no problems. Since the tailgate locks, I had no issues with security.

And I happen to know someone selling some nice black OEM Ram steps :happy107:

y0rascal · Mar 3, 2017

Thanks for the info, my post was moved and have been trying to locate it, tried to post pics using my phone, however was having a hard time, any recommendations?

Thanks for the info, tail gate assist is done stubby antenna is done already have factory spray in liner, now looking at tonneau covers.

shibby927 said:
Easy cheap mods off the top of my head:

1. Tailgate Assist
2. Stubby Antenna or modify your stock antenna
3. Tonneau Cover
4. Spray-in Bedliner, or Bedrug (Depends on your preference)
5. Exhaust (Mufflex or Carven are very popular and you can install them yourself)
6. Swap in LED lights and get rid of all of the halogen bulbs.
7. 60" LED Tailgate Bar
8. Cold Air Intake
9. Debadging
10. Third Brake Light Fix (Not really a mod, but a fix for an issue with leaking third brake lights which is fairly common on the 4th Gen RAM trucks) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wdLv0SWoAs
11. All Weather Floor Mats
12. Cabin Air Filter Mod (SUPER EASY) http://www.ramforum.com/f75/cabin_air_filter_mod-12200/
13. Bug Deflector
14. Vent Visors

As far as tonneau covers go, there are a ton of options out there. Access makes some nice roll up tonneau covers, I had one on my 2011 and loved it. Some brands are pricier than others, but I've found you get what you pay for. I have a Lund Genesis on my current truck, so far no issues, and it gets the job done. Not quite as nice as the Access equivalent, but close enough in my opinion.

I don't currently have a CAI but having owned these in the past get one that is enclosed. I had an open Mopar CAI on my 2015 Charger and that thing was constantly sucking up dead bugs, sticks, dirt, etc... S&B seems to have a pretty good reputation, their CAI for the RAMs looks very nice in my opinion.

Side Steps you could probably get yours powder coated for relatively cheap, but honestly I'd sell your chrome ones and buy a nice set of black ones if that's the route you want to go. Westin makes a set called the HDX Drop Steps that I recently saw on another member's truck and I personally think those look awesome.

If you want to do exhaust I'd recommend Carven or Mufflex. They make simple kits that slide right in in place of the stock muffler. They do not void your warranty in any way. Carven makes a Competitor series which is pretty loud, and a Progressive series which is a bit quieter if you don't want so much drone. Mufflex is the same thing, they use Magnaflow mufflers for their kits. You can get the DOD14M, DOD18M, or the DOD24M. The 14 is the loudest and most aggressive, the 24 is the most mellow of the bunch. I personally have the DOD14M on my truck and absolutely love it!

[YT]dRXFWYqZIw8[/YT]

Welcome to RF! You need to post some pics of that bad boy!

CMil527 · Mar 3, 2017

Congrats and welcome!!

DrkRam · May 14, 2017

do a zone 4 inch lift. Im doing that on my new 2017 night edition in a few weeks.

N1ck · May 14, 2017

Welcome, how is this thread nearly 3 pages long without any pics!!

1ATony · May 16, 2017

Welcome to the site

Tony

My First Ram 2017 Ram 1500 Night Edition

y0rascal

Member

mohemipar

Senior Member

Harley Harrold

USAF Ret. 36+ years service

bubbagumpshrimp

Senior Member

RumRunner

Senior Member

joeygster

Senior Member

little dan 28

Member

shibby927

Senior Member

Drummin4jc

WWG1WGA!

Jarhead57

Senior Member

whetrick1

Senior Member

6.7BigBetty

Junior Member

y0rascal

Member

CMil527

Senior Member

DrkRam

Member

N1ck

Senior Member

1ATony

Senior Member

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