NightMares 01 Sport Build

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NightMares

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Boise, ID
Ram Year
2001
Engine
5.9
Hey guys, I've done a build thread on all my other vehicles I've owned in order to keep track and have a series of photo's to refer back to, along with feedback from everyone. So, after owning my 01 Sport for a while, I figure I've done enough to start up a build for my current truck.

To start with, I'm a very detailed person. I try to explain my intentions and ideas passively, and at times my posts become extremely lengthy because of it. With that said, this thread is my home for previous and current status of the build, as well future.

Now, onto the truck. My Ram was a one owner trade in destined for the auction block sitting in a dirt field behind a large dealership. I picked it up with 105k, and began researching what I was going to do with it. I was building a full crawler out of my Jeep, so the thought of doing a Pre-runner style truck with wide fenders and bedsides would be a nice change of pace. I slowly began turning my attention to that route, but soon decided otherwise due to terrain in my surrounding area and am planning more of an all around wheeler.

Here's how I picked up "Ruby" (the name given as per my 3 year old daughter).

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The first thing I did was scrap the tires on it. It had 225/75R16 passenger car tires on it, tires much too small to really take the truck anywhere. I found a set of take off 17's from a 4th gen Ram that had some 265/70R17 Nitto Trail Grapplers that were fairly bald, but figured it would get me by for a few months.

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Then, I started to pursue the Pre-Runner look and found myself a used NFAB off an F-150 that I fabbed onto the truck.

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After this, I bounced back and forth between the Zone 5" standard lift and BDS 5" Long arm lift. I finally had my decision made for me when I found two BDS 3" tophats on a shelf in the backroom of my work. My boss had ordered them in for his truck years ago. I offered him 50 bucks, and then purchased two BDS shocks to go with the hats and installed them that next weekend.

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Next, I attempted to cut and buff the headlights to clear them up, but no luck. So I ordered in a set of Anzo headlights, factory fog lights, and Depo tail lights (which tail lights pictures were lost when I misplaced my phone in a river)

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From here, I got tired of the cali lean going on and decided to do something with the rear. BDS only offered an add-a-leaf option, which I did not want as I enjoyed my smooth ride I already had. I found the pin size of the leaf springs and bought some 2" blocks, then had a set of u-bolts made and installed. I also apparently had the black stickers made somewhere in here as well.

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Soon after, I purchased a set of 35" Nitto Trail Grapplers to go onto the truck. We originally sold the tires to a customer, who after 10k brought them back in and traded the wheels/tires in off his Jeep and bought some beadlocks and 37's. After sitting in the back for a few months, we broke down the wheel's from the tires as we sold the wheels, and the tires chilled some more before I finally made an offer on them. Few days and a case of beer later, I had a co-worker mount and balance them for me. I also determined I was unhappy with the pre-runner appearance, and ripped the pre-runner bar off. Intentions of cutting and re-welding the square stock and putting some 6" LED light bars in the bumper openings are planned. Unfortunately from the recent loss of my phone this summer, and apparently storing photo's on an SD card was NOT safer than backing up to a cloud, I have lost majority of the photo's of my truck since this point. Included in the loss were photo's of my exhaust, cold air, and tb spacer. I went Pacesetter shorty headers, Flowmaster Y pipe with high flow cat, 3" to a 40 series, then 2.75" out behind the passenger wheel. K&N Cold Air, and a Airaid TB spacer.

I'll fast forward to about 3 months ago right before I had the wheels pulled for powder coat.

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Next, I pulled the tires back off the wheels and sent them out for powder coat, then reinstalled for now until I can afford another set of tires. Pushing 30k on them from my use, then with the 10k already worn off before me, the tires are getting low and will probably need replaced after this winter.

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NightMares

NightMares

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From here, nothing much has changed. I started the design of the custom graphics I'm doing to the truck, that's about it as of right now.

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That's it for now. Any input is always helpful of what you guys think.
 
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dapepper9

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5.9L V8
Awesome build so far!

Where did you get your flowmaster y pipe? You should post an exhaust video in the sticky as well:naughty:
 
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NightMares

NightMares

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Thanks guys.

I work in an off road center so i ordered in the y pipe myself. I'll update the sticky sometime with a clip. It's not loud, just low and deep. I love it.

The tb spacer did nothing, I never expected a power increase, I was just hoping for a mileage change which I haven't noticed anything. But it's installed so meh haha.

Here's a few more shots of the decals.

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dapepper9

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Have you done your plenum yet? If not, read the sticky about it. 3 options for fixing it and never worrying about it again:
1. Aftermarket intake manifold (my favorite solution) such as a Mopar M1 or Hughes AirGap Fi
2. Hughes plenum plate and fel-pro gasket (hughes has a crappy gasket)
3. Weld the plate on

Also since you have an 01, your truck came from the factory with a software update commonly called "death flash." ******* your timing and robs you of power to reduce pinging and hide the plenum issue. Any tuner will get rid of it but don't waste your money with a Hypertech, Superchips, or Edge. Go straight for the SCT. Unless you can find a Superchips locally used for cheap its not worth it.

Edit: Also seeing your truck with the 265/70/17s on is making me drool right now. I have a set of 265/75/16 Pro Comps arriving TOMORROW! :favorites13:
 
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rammanriley20

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1999 Ram 1500
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5.9 Mag
Awesome progress and awesome truck!

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk
 

ADudeOnSkis

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Truckee, CA
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1999
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318/5.2 Magnum
Heed what peppy said about the plenum and SCT. With what you are planning, I'd go Mopar m1 or Hughes air gap.

And holy balls man that has to be one of the sickest, cleanest looking rams I've ever seen of any generation.
 
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NightMares

NightMares

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Thanks for the compliments guys, I'm happy with where the truck is now.

As for the plenum, I'm highly aware of it, but haven't had any signs of the regular problems yet. This is the third 2nd gen I've owned, one of which was a 99 slt that i had the amazing experience of fixing. I also had friends with 2nd gens, one 98 slt that i helped fix as well.

Currently my truck is at 165k, but I'm extremely meticulous with it. I'm an annoying "oh every 3k my truck gets an oil change" kinda guy. I did a full flush of every fluid days after purchasing the truck, and within the last 60k I've put on its already had both diffs and the trans redone again. I'm weary of the trans, as I've had to do the transmissions in both my 99 1500 and my 96 2500, along with my buddies both having their transmissions rebuilt as well.

But again, as for the plenum, I'm not burning oil, and it spews out 5 quarts into the pan every oil change.

As for a tuner, i do already have a CTS2 from edge in it. I opted for edge due to the large display and options for readings I got with it over the sct. Superchips is specializing in Jeeps more so than trucks, and I've never been a fan of hyperchips.

As for the tires, I was excited too....but working around lifted trucks and jeeps 6 days a week made me opt for 35s....for now. I caught the typical "not big enough" bug that's so common, thus the want for 7" with 37's......and hopefully that cures my problem haha.


The wheels are actually very common to find around here. I have a second set of them with 285/70r17 highly bald trail grapplers in my garage haha. Planning on using one as a spare when I get the tiregate.
 

MagSport

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Sweet truck man, it's just something about these red sports that make them special. Where did you get the black decals? I've been planning that for awhile but figured I'd have to get them custom made.
 

1SilverBullet2

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North Dakota
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2014 Big Horn 8 speed
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5.7 Hemi
If you're going to 37's make sure to nab a Dana 60 for the front axle, you and your truck will be happy :) but otherwise super clean truck man! The graphics aren't quite my taste, it's your truck, nonetheless I like them on your truck tho. Keep up the work.
 
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NightMares

NightMares

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Sweet truck man, it's just something about these red sports that make them special. Where did you get the black decals? I've been planning that for awhile but figured I'd have to get them custom made.

The tire decals I ordered off eBay. They sell them in different widths, but only in 36" lenths, so I ordered 360 feet of it and am still playing with ideas for the rest of my wrap.

If you're going to 37's make sure to nab a Dana 60 for the front axle, you and your truck will be happy :) but otherwise super clean truck man! The graphics aren't quite my taste, it's your truck, nonetheless I like them on your truck tho. Keep up the work.

Thanks bud! I'm actually planning on doing a Dynatrac 44/60 hybrid front and rear, so in the meantime I'm going to order in a truss kit for the 44 in the front and run it until I can afford to flip the bill for new axles.

Out of all the tires you could have chosen you did mtrs lol


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Haha yeah, the rest of the patterns were all swampers and unknown patterns. My truck is being built for more of a general wheeler, capable of rocks, trails, and I'm planning trips to run the Rubicon and Moab with it. Mud isn't my thing, in fact I have the truck washed almost on a weekly basis so the MTR's were the only pattern that I could find that really fit the theme of what I'm doing with it.




Edit on 10/23/2015: I've had several people PM me regarding the black factory decals and where I got them, so I figure today I'll update this so everyone can know. As far as I know, the black decals weren't available from the dealer according to a few members here who have tried to get them. I went to a body shop my work uses on a regular basis and had them order them for me. They ordered them through a wholesale part house the specializes in new OEM factory emblems, decals, and badges. I don't know where they came from for sure, but the parts house is a nationwide chain so your local body shops should be able to get them for anyone who wants them.
 
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NightMares

NightMares

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Awesome build so far!

Where did you get your flowmaster y pipe? You should post an exhaust video in the sticky as well:naughty:

Also, the part number for the Flowmaster Y pipe with the cat I did is a 2030005. Here's the info on it.

Click Here
 

KyleW2

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Hell of a truck. Looks great


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Johnn123

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Ontario
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2010
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The tire decals I ordered off eBay. They sell them in different widths, but only in 36" lenths, so I ordered 360 feet of it and am still playing with ideas for the rest of my wrap.



Thanks bud! I'm actually planning on doing a Dynatrac 44/60 hybrid front and rear, so in the meantime I'm going to order in a truss kit for the 44 in the front and run it until I can afford to flip the bill for new axles.



Haha yeah, the rest of the patterns were all swampers and unknown patterns. My truck is being built for more of a general wheeler, capable of rocks, trails, and I'm planning trips to run the Rubicon and Moab with it. Mud isn't my thing, in fact I have the truck washed almost on a weekly basis so the MTR's were the only pattern that I could find that really fit the theme of what I'm doing with it.

Great looking truck! I actually love the decals, they look great IMO!

Very interested in your hybrid axle build, be sure to post a build thread when you do that! Just an FYI, a D60 from a 2500 will bolt straight in with no mods required.
 

tipnitty

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Truck looks good, but those graphics just kill it for me. Made good progress though, keep up the good work.
 
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NightMares

NightMares

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Hell of a truck. Looks great


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Thanks man!

Great looking truck! I actually love the decals, they look great IMO!

Very interested in your hybrid axle build, be sure to post a build thread when you do that! Just an FYI, a D60 from a 2500 will bolt straight in with no mods required.

I'll be updating this thread with all progress of the build, so it'll all be in one place so I can easily find for reference later.

I'm aware of the bolt in for the D60, but Dynatrac can custom build the axles for me and make them a full bolt in as well. I have no desire to do an axle swap more than once haha. I'll probably end up doing the front long arm with 5" springs first, followed by the steering, then moving onto the rear 4 link and coilovers with 7" and 37s at that point, along with the front truss and at least a regear, if not lockers and limited slip as well.

Truck looks good, but those graphics just kill it for me. Made good progress though, keep up the good work.

The decals will always be a win- lose for me. Some people will like them, others will hate them. I'm ok with that, as I'm aware you can't please everyone. I'm always getting the typical "why are you investing so much into a full size truck for off road instead of just buying another jeep" as well. Answer is.....why not? It's not a rodeo or trooper that so many people for some reason believe are ultimate rigs. There's parts and kits available, and when built these make amazing trail rigs.

Working in an off road center, flash and attention is needed. All of our vehicles at the store are wrapped, mine is actually going to be subtle compared to the other shop rigs. I probably would have left it be if I wasn't using the truck for work, but my truck will be featured at car shows and off road events that we sponsor, so off the wall attention grabbing is needed.

But thanks, I think it's come a long ways from where it was.
 

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