Hessian577
Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2012
- Posts
- 78
- Reaction score
- 23
- Location
- Waldorf, Maryland
- Ram Year
- 2018
- Engine
- Hemi 5.7
Happy Friday all... Upkeep Thread you may ask? Yes...rather than a build thread that is the common choice, this is a sort of maintenance thread. My attempt over the last 10 going on 11 years of keeping my Ram going. Over the last decade I've modded my truck, but I'm a stock lover...or the appearance of stock, so the mods are quite minimal. I think its an accomplishment to keep a vehicle looking as it did the day you bought it, especially over a 10 year period. Anyway, I hope you enjoy 
Here's the original window sticker I held on to. Look at those sweet MPGs! Bought while I was stationed in Arkansas, right off the show room floor!
The day I drover her home in April 2003...
I was a young poor airman at the time so mods were far and in-between. I ended up adding 13% tint, a Flowmaster 40 series, traded my soft tonneau cover to my uncle for a bed box ( a decision I regret), sport grill inserts, rain visors, Dodge hitch cover and the rear window ram head decal. Meh, not too bad...
In Nov 2007, I received orders to Germany so during my 4 year tour, I left my truck with my parents in Maryland. My Dad has an 02 Ram 1500 QC 360 so he decided to swap out his rims for my 20s. Oh fathers... Here's a shot with my Dad's rims on her lol
In Nov 2011, I received orders to Fort Hood, Texas. This is the first time I laid eyes on her in 4 years. It was at this time I decided some things needed to change on the truck.
For some reason when back in Arkansas, I added a faux woodgrain trim and a cheap plastic ram head emblem to the dash. No idea what I was thinking...
Removed the faux kit and the emblem and reverted back to the stock look, which I like.
While my truck came with Good Year HP tires, I had to change them out prior to leaving Arkansas. I went with these Kelly Signature HP tires. Had them for a while but while she was stored in Maryland, stress cracks formed along the wheel lips and some dry rot in the treads. You probably can't see them in this pic...
Soon after arriving in Texas, I began losing air in my driver's front tire and had to switch out to my beautiful spare.
So, I decided on some new rubber. Nabbed some Good Year Eagle GT 275/55R20s. Much better...
Next up was a spark plug change. I ordered some iridium plugs online. Even thought they come pre gapped, I had to re-gap all of them. Nabbed up some anti seize and a spark plug socket...which I already had. DOH!
Changing plugs on a truck with 66666 miles. God help me. And the plugs were hard to reach in the back. Was a ***** to do...
Decade old Champion plugs...they were pretty bad.
Decided on an exterior change. My headlamps were sun damaged and starting to yellow so...I upgraded. Look soooo much better, feels like they belong on the truck rather than the stocks. Removed that pesky bug shield as well.
Since grabbing new head lamps, I went ahead and upgraded to a whiter brighter bulb. I'd like to have HIDs, maybe one day...these will do for now.
To be continued...
Here's the original window sticker I held on to. Look at those sweet MPGs! Bought while I was stationed in Arkansas, right off the show room floor!
The day I drover her home in April 2003...
I was a young poor airman at the time so mods were far and in-between. I ended up adding 13% tint, a Flowmaster 40 series, traded my soft tonneau cover to my uncle for a bed box ( a decision I regret), sport grill inserts, rain visors, Dodge hitch cover and the rear window ram head decal. Meh, not too bad...
In Nov 2007, I received orders to Germany so during my 4 year tour, I left my truck with my parents in Maryland. My Dad has an 02 Ram 1500 QC 360 so he decided to swap out his rims for my 20s. Oh fathers... Here's a shot with my Dad's rims on her lol
In Nov 2011, I received orders to Fort Hood, Texas. This is the first time I laid eyes on her in 4 years. It was at this time I decided some things needed to change on the truck.
For some reason when back in Arkansas, I added a faux woodgrain trim and a cheap plastic ram head emblem to the dash. No idea what I was thinking...
Removed the faux kit and the emblem and reverted back to the stock look, which I like.
While my truck came with Good Year HP tires, I had to change them out prior to leaving Arkansas. I went with these Kelly Signature HP tires. Had them for a while but while she was stored in Maryland, stress cracks formed along the wheel lips and some dry rot in the treads. You probably can't see them in this pic...
Soon after arriving in Texas, I began losing air in my driver's front tire and had to switch out to my beautiful spare.
So, I decided on some new rubber. Nabbed some Good Year Eagle GT 275/55R20s. Much better...
Next up was a spark plug change. I ordered some iridium plugs online. Even thought they come pre gapped, I had to re-gap all of them. Nabbed up some anti seize and a spark plug socket...which I already had. DOH!
Changing plugs on a truck with 66666 miles. God help me. And the plugs were hard to reach in the back. Was a ***** to do...
Decade old Champion plugs...they were pretty bad.
Decided on an exterior change. My headlamps were sun damaged and starting to yellow so...I upgraded. Look soooo much better, feels like they belong on the truck rather than the stocks. Removed that pesky bug shield as well.
Since grabbing new head lamps, I went ahead and upgraded to a whiter brighter bulb. I'd like to have HIDs, maybe one day...these will do for now.
To be continued...
