Black Lava - 98 2500 V10 Build

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Jahloha

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Aloha!

Excited to learn, share, and be part of the Ram owners ohana.

I have always loved 1st and 2nd Gen Rams (my other truck is a 1970 Chevy C20 - mid resto), so I finally found a sweet deal and am joining the group to help me as I grow with the vehicle.

Introducing what will soon be known as Black Lava (build name), its a 1998 2500 8L V10 Club Cab with 4.10 and 133K miles. I was fortunate enough to buy it for what I consider a pretty smokin' deal of $3100. Out here in the islands a V10 is not really the most desirable DD haha, but I live/work/play in a small radius so all good on the MPG.

Will use this thread for my build's documentation. My initial plan will be a 10 day project timeline to get the truck to where I want it to be. Most likely not 10 consecutive days, but want to dedicate ten days and get it done. As we all know documenting is key, so my build thread will show how that process goes.

Here's a quick list of action items I am targeting to complete in those 10 days:

ENGINE/TRANS/MECHANICAL
- Service rear end (possible LSD problem) and trans flush
- General service: plugs, wires, filters, oil, battery, belts, hoses, etc.
- AC charge, currently dead

BODY/PAINT
- 2" leveling kit. Will most likely go wit Bilstiens or a Daystar/Pro Comp product
- Minor ding repair on one silver dollar size dent in front panel
- Poly brush entire body to remove clear coat, degrease, spray body in black Raptor Liner (now you are seeing the reason for the name Black Lava)

INTERIOR
- Remove factory Infinity system and upgrade to JVC products (head unit,speakers,tweeters)
- Install Viper alarm system
- Go to Wet Okole's Hawaii office and order custom seat covers (if you haven't heard of Wet Okole, I highly recommend them)
- Weathertech all-weather mats (front/back)

WHEELS/TIRES
- 18"x9" Fuel Mavericks. These have a -12 offset and 4.5 backspace. Targeting a slightly extended stance, maybe 1" - 1.5"
- 285/65R18 Toyo Open Country. This will be a first time for me to use Toyos, but excited

EXTERIOR
- Tint to legal maximum, which is around 30%
- Spyder headlights, tail lights, and 3rd brake light. Both will be black casings with clear lenses. Have never used an LED product, but might try that on this build
- 52" curved light bar, roof mounted
- tow mirrors, just bc I like the look of it
- parking sensors
- possibly, possibly, after market bumpers...tbd

Probably have forgotten some things, but you get the idea.

Black Lava will be simple, clean, and my take on what I think will become a cherry Gen 2.

Mahalo!

J

PS...here's the build thread (trust me, I like pics)
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Here are some pics of the truck as is today.

98 Dodge Ram Original Exgerior 2.png 98 Dodge Ram Original Exterior 1.png 98 Dodge Ram Original Interior 2.png 98 Dodge Ram Original Interior.png
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Over the past few days I've made a couple bulk purchases for Black Lava.

In an effort to help others with their own builds and budget planning, I will be listing all the prices of what I bought, labor, etc as the build unfolds.


Here is my first order from CarID (www.carid.com). I had originally wanted to buy almost all my items from them, but the shipping was too steep. Here are the items I decided to purchase through them:

Spyder Factory Style Headlights: $94.14 + $43.68 in shipping
I know a lot of guys want the HID and LED, but on this year a truck I just want clear lenses with color match housing (when possible). Since Black Lava will be black, I went with these Spyder's in a black housing. They should do the job.
SPyder Headlights.jpg

Spyder LED Tail Lights: $167.64 + $48.07 in shipping
Out here in Hawaii we have a vehicle law nicknamed "Recon". I'm assuming other states have something similar, but long story short if you alter the height, wheels, lights, etc on a vehicle you must get a government issued note saying its "ok". To avoid this, I went with a LED tail light that wasn't smoked or blacked out, even though I would have wanted that. So I went with these that are chrome housing with red/clear glass.
Spyder LED Tail Lights.jpg

Spyder 3rd LED Brake Light: $67.61 + $25.36 in shipping
I wanted LED to match the tail lights and match the house glass color. These should be spot on to the above listed tail lights.
Spyder LED 3rd Brake Light.jpg

WeatherTech Floor Mats (Front/Back): $99.95 + $73.15 in shipping
Floor mats are essential and I've had everything from Wal Mart specials to OEM. For the price, I will give these WTs a try. Seen them in other trucks, so hoping for the best.
Weathertech Mats.jpg

Lumen Fog Lights - Smoke: $57.50 + $25.36 in shipping
Black Lava didn't have factory fogs installed and I almost consider that a necessity, so I bought these. I've had other Lumen products and was happy. I went with the smoke to play better with the eventually black truck.
Lumen Smoke Fogs.jpg

TOTAL: $486.84 + $215.62 in shipping
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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TOW MIRRORS

One of the things I really, really like on these 2nd Gen Dodges is there stance from both the front and back. After seeing a lot on the highway in Utah, back when I played football and graduated from BYU, I'd see these late 2nd Gens with tow mirrors on the I15. I loved the look, so I am going to replicate it on mine...even though I don't tow anything worth having them haha.

I shopped around for pricing and also wanted to have them be powered. I finally decided to go with A1 Auto (https://www.1aauto.com/).

Generic Tow Mirrors:$143.95 + $22.22 shipping
These are powered but also listed as "heated". My 98' 2500 has power mirrors, but I dont think heated haha. We will see if this affects the install.
Tow Mirrors.jpg
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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In every vehicle I've owned since the late 90s I have swapped out factory lights for LEDs in as many interior locations as possible. IMO it just makes everything better when well lit. So I placed one big order from SuperBrightLEDs (https://www.superbrightleds.com/).

I have used their Vehicle LED Light Finder tool before and was very happy. So even though I recommend using SBLs for your purchase, I've compiled a list below for anyone else searching for "2nd Gen LED Interior Lights List" plus the colors I chose.

All LED Interior Lights: $118.80 + $3.48 shipping
  • Ash Tray, Map Lights, Dome Light, & Luggage Compartment (?): (5) - 194-CWHP5 in Cool White
    Trans Select (1) - T1.5-CWHP: Cool White
    Check Engine & Seat Belts: (2)- T1.5-RHP: Red
    Engine Compartment (not sure what this will be): (1) - RL4410-CWHP9: Cool White
    Glove Box: (1) - BA9S-CWHP5: Cool White
    High Beam: (1) - 194-BHP5-PC: Blue
    Ignition Light: (1) - BA9S-GHP5: Green
    Instrument Panel: (7) - 194-CWHP5-PC: Cool White
    Map Lights (not sure I'll need): (2) - 4410-CW8: Cool White
    Parking Brake: (1) - 194-RHP5-PC: Red
    Turn Signals: (2) - 194-GHP5-PC: Green

EDIT: I forgot that I needed some LEDs for my backup lights for the new Spyder LEDs I'll be putting in. Below is what I bought for $15.22 shipped

Backup Lights: (2) 1156-CW18-T: Cool White
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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SOUNDS SYSTEM

If you don't know about Crutchfield yet, then please just go visit their website (www.crutchfield.com).

Crutchfield has been my absolute go to for any and all vehicle radio/speaker needs. Back when I was younger and had system that could bring you our of cardiac arrest, to my now normal setup of just the essentials: clear sound, bluetooth, and a nice external microphone for hands free calling.

Anyways, this time around I went with JVC because Crutchfield had a great deal going of buy a JVC head unit and get 50% off JVC speakers. So I bought it all at once.

JVC Head Unit, Speakers, and Tweeters: $146.96 + free shpping
smileup.gif


JVC KD-X340BTS
I chose this head unit because I like knobs for volume control, it comes with a 10' external mic, and the colors can be set to white which I really like at night.
JVC Head Unit.png

JVC CS-DR600C
As stated above I just want clear and consistent sound in my vehicles. I've found keeping brand matching is a good way to do that. These are way better than stock and thats essentially all I need.
JVC Speakers & Tweeters.png


I'm not familiar with the Infinity System, but I figure if I replace it all that will do the trick haha. Also, these come with the crossovers since the tweeters will run the highs.


Crutchfield also has the best pricing on the little things. So I threw into the cart some panel removal tools and connectors for the head unit wiring. All of this was part of the above listed $146.96
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Here in Hawaii we LOVE Amazon Prime (www.amazon.com) haha. Its one of the few online websites that'll offer Free Shipping. So whenever I am working on a build or project at home, I see if Amazon can help out.

So I made some purchases on items that I will need on the truck. Again, pricing is listed below.

Additional Items for Black Lava: item pricing listed individually below and all was free shipping

Bed LED Lights with Switch: $23.99
I do a lot of camping and night surf fishing, so LEDs in the bed are always a must. I installed this same set on my DD (Tacoma TRD Long Bed) and loved them. Wiring runs right into tail light and the switch allows for ease of use. Very happy and the price its a no brainer. I do however use screws in addition to the provided 3M adhesion.
Bed Lights.jpg

Backup Sensors: $32.99
Such a simple and cheap MOD, but they work well and keep you focused whenever backing up. Are they needed? No, but they make things simpler sometimes.
Backup Sensors.jpg

Nylon Filament Brush: $19.99
This brush is absolutely NO JOKE. I will be Raptor Lining my entire truck so clear coat needs to be removed and paint scuffed up. This brush, I have witnessed, rip through an entire 8' bed in like 10 minutes. I am hoping this saves me time and sanity once I begin that process.
Brush.jpg

Phillips CrystalVision Bullbs: $25.78
As mentioned in a previous post, I really don't care about HIDs or LEDs up front, but I try to find a bulb that at least performs haha. Hoping these with the Spyder assemblies will provide be decent output.
(No Pic)

52" Curved Light Bar: $219.00
I have never, ever put a light bar onto a truck; but I am excited to do it on this one. As said above I do a lot of night time activities, especially fishing. I am excited to throw this bad boy up and light up the night whenever I link up with a massive Ulua (Hawaiian for Giant Trevalley)...and don't worry, even though it has multiple color options I'll running just white haha.
LED Bar.jpg

Light Bar Brackets: $79.99
These come from APOC and have seem them online. Didn't really have a preference, but I do like the simplistic design. I'll have to cut some weather stripping and waterproof some hole punches I'll make, but excited to see how they turn out.
LED Brackets.jpg
 

MarshRam

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Great job on outlining your build thread, lots of good info. Bot holy cow, those shipping charges you pay to get something to the island is insane.
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Great job on outlining your build thread, lots of good info. Bot holy cow, those shipping charges you pay to get something to the island is insane.

Yeah...don't remind me haha, but its just a fact of living here. Again, thats why when at all possible you buy your stuff from Amazon. Every once in awhile you luck out and find what you need, but when doing resto-mods I almost always budget another 4 - 8% just for shipping.
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Man oh man. Why are wheels and tires such a crazy tricky and mind blowing process haha.

I have done a ton of research on here since I am a new Ram owner and also spent a lot of time over at www.customoffsets.com to get an idea of the stance I'd like Black Lava to have. Although I am still not 100% positive, I think I got a setup that will make me happy, but only time will tell haha.

I want the tires to barely peek outside the fenders/wheel well, but not enough that I'd need to purchase Bushwackers or another alternative.

So I decided to run 285/70 on 17"x9" wheels with a 0 offset and 4.5 backspacing. I know once my 2" level goes in this setup won't have any problems on clearance and shouldn't have issues with rubbing either...hopefully.

I made my complete order through www.carid.com because I liked the idea that they nitrogen fill, balance on site, and most importantly provide the hub spacers needed all for "free" (free because I purchased a wheel/tire package).

The wheels were $702.00 plus $545.80 shipping. The tires were another $907.96 plus free shipping (because I bought package), plus I bought a wheel lock set for $19.99.

So $2175.71 shipped to my door. I am expecting them in about 2 weeks.

Here is what I went with:

Raceline Defenders (17x9, 0 offset, 4.5 bs) - Black on Black
raceline-defender-black_1.jpg

Toyo Open Country A/T 2 (285/70/17)
toyo-open-country-a-t-ii_1.jpg

raceline-defender-black_1.jpg

toyo-open-country-a-t-ii_1.jpg
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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When I first purchased the truck I could feel some slipping happening between 1st and 2nd, also a big lurch when putting it into reverse. I knew something was wrong, but at $3200 I felt I had room to get it fixed.

So I hit up my good friends at 808 Automotive (anyone on Oahu needs to know these are the best mechanics on the island and honest). They let me know it was out of their scope of work, so they referred me to Jon at Pearl City Transmissions.

I left it there for about a week. Long story short it wasn't the worse case scenario, but it wasn't the best either haha.

We remedied a lot of issues and again shipping from the mainland was the longest hold up; but she's good to go and wasn't a cheap penny, but safety is the most important.

Long story short we rebuilt the rear end, did some fine tuning on the trans, flushed fluids, and a couple other odds and ends.

$2940.75 for parts and labor.

Before anyone says: "You over paid!", "I woulda done it this way", or etc etc haha. Just know that this was beyond my scope of work and to be honest since I was referred to them by my trusted mechanic, I have no doubt I wasn't screwed or led on, which is a great feeling to have whenever you're getting work done.
 

CLOUDL1GHT

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When I first purchased the truck I could feel some slipping happening between 1st and 2nd, also a big lurch when putting it into reverse. I knew something was wrong, but at $3200 I felt I had room to get it fixed.

So I hit up my good friends at 808 Automotive (anyone on Oahu needs to know these are the best mechanics on the island and honest). They let me know it was out of their scope of work, so they referred me to Jon at Pearl City Transmissions.

I left it there for about a week. Long story short it wasn't the worse case scenario, but it wasn't the best either haha.

We remedied a lot of issues and again shipping from the mainland was the longest hold up; but she's good to go and wasn't a cheap penny, but safety is the most important.

Long story short we rebuilt the rear end, did some fine tuning on the trans, flushed fluids, and a couple other odds and ends.

$2940.75 for parts and labor.

Before anyone says: "You over paid!", "I woulda done it this way", or etc etc haha. Just know that this was beyond my scope of work and to be honest since I was referred to them by my trusted mechanic, I have no doubt I wasn't screwed or led on, which is a great feeling to have whenever you're getting work done.

nicely done! I truly believe you get what you pay for and the fact that you're on an island jacks up that price. We need more pics!
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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nicely done! I truly believe you get what you pay for and the fact that you're on an island jacks up that price. We need more pics!

Mahalo bro. And yeah, pics to come haha. Just finished LED swaps for gauge, dash, and interior lights. See below.
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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As previously mentioned I purchased some LED replacement bulbs from SuperBrightLeds.com and was very happy with their pricing and fast shipping. Last night I replaced my dash lights, map lights, and dome light.

TIME FOR PROJECT: 1 hour

The one very nice surprise about ordering from SBLs is that they sent twist locks with the bulbs used in the gauge cluster. This made install super easy. Here's a pic of the original bulb, the new LED, and new LED housing (plug and play).

108212-48378cabdb9095d89a89bae26299c892.jpg

Here is the gauge cluster removed. Anywhere you see a twist lock is a bulb you can replace. I replaced all seven main bulbs with cool white, but couldn't change out my information lights (seatbelts, low washer, maintenance, etc.) because the bulbs SBLs sent me weren't right. This is super minor since the right ones (which I ordered last night) were only like $20 shipped haha. So I'm not too miff'd.

108211-388ac628cf385812e13e152ecfab2e1d.jpg

Here's a side by side of the gauge lights now LED and remaining dash lights standard halogen. The Cool White color offered by SBLs is tinted blue because of the gauge itself.

108213-1aa0c9d69382012ad40ee4c630e4a0a7.jpg

Here is another comparison of the Map Lights (LED) and dome light (halogen).

108215-3674a4b3da58180f93aa9fd059aa3ae3.jpg

Lastly, here they are both LEDs. The amount of light they emit is insane and I always love when things are well lit.

108214-476601bcdd194878d7f50e627576b83f.jpg

Back of Gauge Cluster.jpg

LED bulb comparison.jpg

LED comparison.jpg

LED interior.jpg

Map and Dome Comparison.jpg
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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I honestly loved that the truck still had the OEM head unit, but sadly in today's world you gotta have Bluetooth. So I began tear down and install of the headunit and front door speakers.

I was happy to hear my rear speakers kick in with the new head unit, also my factory Infinity amps are just fine.

Right when I was half way through the new speaker install I realized I had misplaced by soldering iron. So I pushed pause and got one at Walmart. I'll finish install later this evening; but heres a few pics of the process and speaker comparisons.

Lastly, man I wish I had known the door panels were snag plugs, but just shifters. Its gonna be a pain in the butt to put the drivers back in haha.

OEM HEADUNIT BEFORE
Original Headunit.jpg

DOOR PANEL REMOVED
Door Panel removed.jpg
SPEAKER COMPARISON
Speaker Comparison.jpg


SOLDERING IRON - WAL MART ($10.74)
Soldering Iron.jpg
 
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Jahloha

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So I got to thinking last night that I could bypass the entire Infinity System since my new head unit has an amp to power to new speakers and tweeters. So I gave Cruthfield a call and they helped out and gave me the wiring specs.

Essentially I went upstream on the wiring, unplugged the 6 pin on the inside of the door panel, cut wires that I needed to use and connected them to the new crossover. Straight forward if you've ever done stereo and an doable DIY for anyone wanting to.

6 PIN BEFORE
108350-adbbe5752eb90f86bc9704fff65cd03f.jpg

WIRES BYPASSED
108351-d0f70ffdc0bfdd361389e445614a828a.jpg

JVC TWEETER INSTALLED
108353-e7accb77f3a0d99a86ed1202aa5ddb34.jpg

SPEAKER WIRES SOLDERED
108352-c00dd3c57c9982d4366df147ed0aa424.jpg

Speaker 6 Pin Plug.JPG

Speaker Cables Bypassed.JPG

Speaker Soldered.JPG

Tweeter Installed.JPG
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Since I had the door panel removed it was perfect time to install the new tow mirrors. Install was quick and easy since panel was removed and the bracket is strong.

The one downfall is the extended screws are interfering with the door panel going back on. Simple fix, I'll just grind it down.

So now the driver's side audio and mirror is done. It'll be fun to throw the moose antlers up every once in awhile, but seriously, side vision is improved a lot with the larger mirrosrs

Here's a few before/after pics:

SIDE MIRROR BEFORE
108354-44b64e66ec0bd1d952b7d71773a51781.jpg


TOW MIRROR AFTER
108356-d0b40a8711371b55606c7d485c70fa46.jpg

TOW MIRROR BRACKET
108355-507dcd63888aa8afa9ff26e33b3e3406.jpg

Tow Mirror Installed.JPG

Tow Mirror Side View.JPG
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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I am working on my radio system and saw this wire that ends with a pin cap, but not plugged into anything.

It looks like it would eventually hit my door locks and the truck has power locks, but not key fob.

Could this possibly be something use to make an OEM key fob work?

Any insight appreciated.

PICTURE
door panel question.png
 
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Jahloha

Jahloha

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Long story short I was getting frustrated because I still hadn't received my item from CarID...but thats until I realized they had dropped them off at the local UPS store haha.

Picked them up today and snapped a few pics. These will be installed after I spray the truck in black bedliner.

I am very happy that the 3rd brake light and tail lights match, I was a little concerned they wouldn't.

HEADLIGHT
108721-fb16259d1a00357ba3af551a4b561d48.jpg


TAIL LIGHT
108722-3527c819a8a1785b3d9c927b10291288.jpg


3rd BRAKE LIGHT
108720-d5faeb96d6aa6e03e4c8eb8552614f99.jpg


TAIL LIGHT & 3rd BRAKE COMPARISON
108719-1369cc898ca3a07d15ff8f3f919e4e2d.jpg
 
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Jahloha

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Received the new wheels and tires yesterday. It was the first time I've received a wheel/tire combo to my door, it was pretty cool.

CarID did a great job wrapping them up and keeping things safe for transport. Really happy with all the upgrades they provided for free since I bought the combo (nitrogen fill, lugs, etc.).

They look awesome and I really like the 17" wheel. I will mount them today or tomorrow after I do my engine checkup (oil change, fluids, belts, brakes, etc.).

Here are some pics:

DELIVERED:
Tires Unwrapped.jpg

RACELINE WHEEL & TOYO TIRE:
Tire and Wheel.jpg

SIDE BY SIDE (Old and New):
Side by Side Comparison.jpg

IN WHEEL WELL:
Placed in Wheel Well.jpg
 
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