2008 Ram RCLB 4x4 Build

[Adblair]

Hey guys-

So I figured I'd start a build thread for my truck. I got the chance to off road in some Jeeps recently and fell in love with being out on the trails. My Jeep was (is) a lease, so I wasn't able to really push the limits or modify it at all which made me start looking for a rig to build. After talking to some of my Jeeping friends about buying jeeps, modifying, etc, I realized that some of the most important upgrades people did was heavy duty axles and drive train to handle big tires. So instead of buying a Jeep and upgrading to tons, I figured I'd just buy a heavy duty truck.

Using that thought, I found myself with a new truck:


It's a 2008 Ram 2500, regular cab, long bed, 4x4, auto with the 5.7l hemi. I wanted the solid axles, v8 with as little weight as possible.

So first step was to remove as much weight and save the good body panels. Here are a few pictures of the process:







Then I chopped the frame rearward of the rear leaf shackle:

Before:


After including a temporary tail light mounting solution:


Took it out for a quick test ride at one of our local parks! Apart from debeading my right front tire, and shearing the center skid plate bolts, I had no carnage:

No flex zone:






Had to get towed out of the rock pile. Tires suck and I'm way too low:


What I get for listening to my friends.... This is where my skid plate bolt went kaput.


Looks like an RC car! Bonus JL Rubicon on the right too.


The truck has no flex (obviously), I had no ground clearance and the tires are definitely not meant for off roading. But it surprised me! I can't imagine what it'll do when my tires come in

Not a lot of progress since the first two weeks but I moved the tail lights and rewired them:

"Let's play a game..."


Done! They look silly but have all the stock functionality so who cares:


Next step is removing a rear leave to get a little better flex. No pictures of it today, but I'm one stubborn bolt away from having the left side removed. Hopefully tomorrow I'll make some more progress.


Thanks for looking! Would love to hear everyone's feedback.

 

[Adblair]

Forgot to add, I removed the headlights and added $20 LED lights from amazon. Simple mounting for now. I plan to get a welder and weld a flat bracket to the hydroform that will sit horizontal to the ground that I could mount a few more LED lights if I want. It uses the stock wiring so the headlight switch works.

 

[ram1500rsm]

So i'm assuming you won't stop here and will have plans to terminate the project ?
You need bigger tires, don't know what the gearing on the truck is, but 37's will fit without any issues.
Longer shocks will be so easy to fit is not even funny, especially in the back, disconnect the front sway bar, you can make this thing a flex offroad monster haha.

Have fun with it.

 

[Adblair]

So i'm assuming you won't stop here and will have plans to terminate the project ?
You need bigger tires, don't know what the gearing on the truck is, but 37's will fit without any issues.
Longer shocks will be so easy to fit is not even funny, especially in the back, disconnect the front sway bar, you can make this thing a flex offroad monster haha.

Have fun with it.

Just getting started!

It has 3.73 in the rear, and the sway bar was one of the first things I removed . And don't worry, I have some new wheels and tires coming in . Just waiting for them to get shipped here!

Update on my progress:

Progress has been slow going since I've been busy this week. I got the left leaf spring out and will be removing the 3rd largest leaf to try to get it to flex a bit more. I really debated just replacing the whole leaf pack with better ones but my long term plans are to chop the frame and do a custom 4 link so I don't want to spend much money on this right now.

I wanted to post a few pics but PhotoBucket isn't loading on my computer at the moment.

The front bolt was really tight and I ended up stripping the 11mm holding hex part. Got a T60 torx bit and managed to loosen the nut by holding the bolt and then had to hammer it out of the bushing. The right side is more promising as I was able to take that bolt off pretty easily but I want to finish the left side before I remove that too.

Looking at the old worn leafs (leaves?) really made me consider getting new ones.. These have surface are rusty and don't give me a ton of confidence. Any one have any idea where to get the thing metal sheets that are between each leaf? I'm guessing it' reduce friction between leaves or something but I'm not sure.

 

[Adblair]

Very slow the progress over the last week but I removed the overload springs and the 3rd largest spring to help out with flex. Ended up not getting new ones since I'll be eventually just putting a whole 4 link suspension in the rear. Looking at pics of my truck on the RTI ramp, the overloads are limiting some flex and the 3rd spring should help for a smoother ride with the lack of weight and also for a little more flex on smaller bumps or rocks.

This cherry picker has been amazing:


This bolt ended up being difficult:


Removed!



Still not completely done.. I need to add washers to the front leaf spring bushing bolts and then get the spring clamps. I'll pick some up probably tomorrow to get them installed. At least it's all put back together though.

And lastly, I got a present in the mail!

Switched from stock 31's to 40's!! Super Swamper SX2's. Rear end of a fox body for scale


The truck looks waaaay better now and should have more usable clearance on the rocks.





Now time for some trimming. The air tank I'm using to run the cut off wheel is way too small so I end up having to stop every 30 seconds to let the pump get more air pressure. *sigh* another thing to upgrade...


Amazing girlfriend got me some beer to keep me warm in the 40+ degree Michigan weather


Next steps:
1. Add ballast to my LED lights
2. Add leaf spring clamps and washers to front bushing bolts
3. Keep trimming!

 

[mboymopar]

Talk about tires with some beef, they look Great!

 

[Adblair]

Talk about tires with some beef, they look Great!

Thanks! I love the look of them! They rub like m'fers though.. I've cut the flange up 8" or so from the bottom but they still hit hard with any flex at all and minimal steering angle. I plan to really cut into the body this weekend to clear up some more space but long term I really need to push that axle forward. I don't really have the money to spend on tubing right now for longer control arms. Plus, pushing the axle forward may require me to redo my steering, shock/spring mounts, and eventually a drive shaft. This is how it starts right? haha..

Where at in West Michigan are you? I live in Madison Heights.

 

[Adblair]

So I've driven the truck around town a few times and man does it rub. Just rolling off my side walk barely turning the wheels I rub bad. So I got to work doing some cutting. Definitely better now since I can lock the wheel on either side without rubbing but I'll need to check when I get it flexed out. After pics:





Full lock:


Full lock on the other side:


The only other thing I've done is add LED ballasts to my lights. Before I did that, they would flicker a few times and then turn off when I had the engine running. From googling, I think this is a diagnostic that the BCM is running to see if the headlight bulbs are out. Since the LEDs require far less current, the BCM thinks the bulbs are out and then it shuts off the headlights. Adding LED ballasts (resistors) use more current so the BCM now thinks I have headlights again. I just need to get some screws to bolt the ballasts to the body, they get HOT!

Random driveway pictures:

 

[chrisp2493]

It looks awesome! Are you planning on putting the bed and front fenders back on? Honestly it looks strangely badass the way it is lol


I Bleed Ram Trucks

 

[revitupmoto33]

I’d say leave it off. Looks like a beast the way it sits. Just add an ice chest mount and call it a day.

 

[Adblair]

Yep, I plan to leave them all off. I agree, it does look sort of bad ass like that. Eventually I'll be cutting even more off of the truck. I want to take the doors off, I'll probably chop part of the hydroform and really remove everything that I don't need to save weight and make the truck smaller. I've been selling all the old parts so it helps pay for the tires and other things I buy on the truck.

 

[dearchristopher]

dang. this is so awesome. cant wait to follow this build

 

[Adblair]

Well it's been a long time since I've posted but I've done a few things since October.

I ended up going to Thanksgiving at the Mounds in 2018. The Mounds is a nice little park that has some rock obstacles but mostly cool tight trails. Some of the trails are pretty tight for the ol' long bed but she maneuvers pretty well! It helps that I can turn around and see exactly where each rear tire is during the tight sections.

Poser shot. You can't see it here but this was right after some pretty tight trails. The leader almost led us into a side by side trail that would have really f'd us full size guys.

Another poser shot

I got stuck here when I bottomed out. This thing never had any problems chugging through the mud, but the wheelbase is my limiting factor

Lookin' pretty much stock...


The tires really transformed this thing off road. I still don't have a lot of flex even with 2 leaves removed, but the grip and the extra clearance from the tires made this thing just walk through the mud with no problems. The only issues I ran into were from my long wheelbase or the fact that my airbox is completely open on the right side which would let mud in easy and I didn't want to mess up the engine. Snorkel and shortened wheelbase is on the list!

Some pics from when I got home. Since I don't have a truck or trailer I have to drive this thing to and from all the parks lol. She's a beast!




So after that trip, I went to another even up here called reject run! -15 degrees F, lots of snow, a night run, and some nice trails made this a great experience. From the night before heading out finding out my TIPM fuel pump relay went bad, doing some last minute sketchy wiring in the freezing snowy weather on my fuel pump, an annoying seat belt alarm that wouldn't turn off, losing my phone in the snow for 2 hours, an almost-destroyed chassis inline connector and -15 degree weather, I had a great time at Reject Run! Great friends and great adventures make anytime a good time!

All cleaned up before heading out:


Following coworkers in a stock WJ. This guy ended up jacking up his right side rocker on a chunk of ice

In cab view looking backwards:


I don't have a lot of pictures or videos of actually wheeling but here's a pic of the carnage. Truth is this was completely my fault since I didn't protect my inline connector.. A bunch of lights came on but she was still driveable. She did the 2.5 hour 140 mile drive home no problem



I'm pretty bad about taking pictures when Im out on trails since it's not really a priority but I do like to have some for the memories.


Anyway, after that trip I do have a lot of plans for the truck. Main thing is I want to get this thing out more and protected. I still haven't done rocks since my underbody is completely open. So my current list in rough order of what I'll be doing based on tools availability and parts.

- Install the AC delete pulley and remove all AC components
- Fix the chassis inline connector
- Mount my new fuel cell (22 gallon RCI with aluminum housing and plastic bladder)
- Build LED headlamp brackets to add second set of pods
- Mount the LED ballasts, rewire lights
- Make a snorkel coming out of the cowl
- Move rear axle forward
- Build front bumper
- Build skid plate for transfer case
- Underbody lights
- Paint frame in POR-15
- Install center console switch panel and fuse box for electrical accessories
- Make license plate and CB radio antenna mount

I plan to start knocking these items out this weekend though the weather is going to be low again, 15F. We'll see how much I get done but there's my long ass update!

 

[dearchristopher]

god i love this thing. so cool

 

[Adblair]

god i love this thing. so cool

Thanks Chris!

So I didn't get too much done the last week. Weather has been bad which makes it really annoying to be outside. Can't wait to get out of this 30 deg weather!

So I got my AC delete pulley in the mail and installed that. Then I've been going through and cutting off excess wires for things I don't want or need. So far I've taken out the front turn signal wiring, impact sensor wiring (which didn't even have a sensor connected anyway), both TPMS sensor antennas and the AC compressor wiring. With the AC system out, I have a ton of space in behind the grill. I plan to keep the fan and shroud and I may use it later for cooling some accessory. Here are a few pictures of the process.

I got my 22 gallon fuel cell in the mail and then found out it had a bent flange. Returned and waiting on the replacement!

My goal will be to build a very simple flat bed around my fuel cell. When I have that done, I want to install a switch bank with a fuse box where my floor center console used to sit that will have all my accessories wired to. I really hate sloppy wiring jobs (like my short term fuel pump switch..) so I want to take the time to make a nice panel in the console. Once I have this new fuel cell in, I'm going to settle the dimensions on the flat bed and get welding! Also, I just bought a welder so this is new to me. We'll see how it goes.

Last picture shows where the switch panel will go. Not exactly sure on the mounting but that's the general location.

I got some codes! Before my last wheeling trip, I got a misfire on cyl #7. Now I have a multiple cylinder misfire so the root cause begins. Always stuff to do

and to round it all off, here's a list of the goodies I got in the mail:
- Uniden 510XL CB radio
- Fuse box with 12 slots for accessories
- Some switches
- 6 gauge battery cables for my fuse box power and ground from battery and 7 different colors of 14 gauge wiring for misc electrical
- Replacement connector for the inline that I jacked up

More to come! If I get my fuel cell in and I get to a place where I'm comfortable welding, I may get my flat bed started! Idk if these pictures are going to upload correctly, I keep getting some weird error or something so I attached them too. We'll see what happens.

Cheers!

View attachment 156333

View attachment 156334

 

[Adblair]

So I made a little progress over the last couple weeks.


1. I believe the misfires were caused by low/bad fuel. As I was driving back from the last wheeling trip, I suspect the fuel got very low (since my gas gauge wasn't working) and must have picked up a bunch of crap at the bottom of the tank. I added another 5 gallons and some fuel injector cleaner and ran it for a 20 minutes and now the codes are gone. I took the time to replace the spark plugs which were definitely worn. 0.061"+ gap to a spec of 0.044"! so that should help it run better. Also got a new air filter and removed the air box snorkel.

2. Removed the rear interior panel, seats, and carpet. Much to my dismay, my front driver side floor board is rusting through . But at least it's a good chance to learn how to weld in body panels! This truck isn't a show vehicle by any means so I'd rather learn on something that's already ugly anyway. The rest of the interior looked relatively solid. One step closer to hitting my target weight
Before:

After:


Driver side rust:


3. I installed my CB radio, a Uniden 510XL. Very cheap and supposed to be very durable. Located it in that cubby under the radio. I still haven't decided where I want the antenna to be mounted.. I go back and forth between the rear of the cab or the front in the cowl or next to the stock radio antenna location. We'll see what I decide. I had to cut in to the IP cross brace since the antenna cable was crashing into it. While I had my dash taken apart, I taped up some of the warning lights since they were annoying and pretty sure I jacked up the speedometer. I was trying to reposition the needle and now it sits way lower than before after I heard a "snap". So that's cool...
CB Radio:

Cluster:


4. Since I hated my quick and dirty fuel pump wiring, I went ahead and made a switch panel with 5 auxiliary switches. Current plan is to have 1. Fuel pump 2. Second set of lights 3. Rock lights 4. Engine fan 5. CB radio, probably not in that order. The fuse panel is all wired in and mounted, just need to wire in my new electrical items! The switch panel actually came out better than I expected. It looks out of place in the rest of the stripped interior, but I'll make a whole console later on. The last thing I need is to add my 100 amp inline fuse to protect the fuse box, temporarily mount it to the body and I'll be set!
Fuse box, 6 gauge cables to the battery, convolute around the cables for protection. Any future auxiliary stuff will go through this central box.

Switch panel being made:



I don't have anything above the switches currently, but may eventually put in a USB charger or a battery volt meter. Not sure yet, that will be something in the future.


I still have a lot of projects on this car to get through. This weekend the weather was better than before, ~40F, so I made progress but we'll soon be into summer and I'll be able to work every day on this!

 

[BTD07]

I really like this build, following

 

[Adblair]

Thanks! It's been really fun messing with this truck.

So here are updates from last week:

1. Wired in my CB radio and fuel pump to the switch panel now. The panel is mounted to the body with velcro and looks very out of place. I didn't hard mount it since I don't know where exactly I want it but need to keep it from moving around to much. Eventually I'll have a whole center console so somehow I'll have to fit it in later.
Finished in the dark:

The CB on. Since I have it wired through my switch panel, I can use the CB even if I don't have the ignition on which may be handy. This does present the problem of leaving it on and draining the battery, but the switches have LEDs that are hooked up so it shouldn't be a problem for me to notice. We'll see!


2. I wrapped the wires in convolute to protect it. The convolute is a bit oversized so I can add more wires inside if I need to. I really hate having loose wires everywhere so I wanted to make sure it looked good. I also used some zip-tie with christmas tree clips to hold the convolute in place. It looks better than any wiring I've done before, but I'll be redoing it so the convolute is routed nicer. Idk why I'm so picky with wiring...
Christmas tree zip ties in place:

Interior shot with my CB antenna and the other wiring routed and secured:


3. I made a simple CB radio mount and painted it silver! This is the first welding project I've done so of course there was a lot of grinding to get the welds smooth but I think it turned out ok. I was impatient and mounted it before the paint dried so there are some gouges in the paint. I'll be going back to redo that as well.. But, I'm pleased with it overall. Last thing to do will be to add the antenna ground which will probably just go to one of the mount bolts.
Before paint:

After paint!

Mounted and with convolute clipped in place:


4. Not really an interesting mod but I glued the vents back on the IP since they were loose. After those were dry I reinstalled the IP and attached my CB radio speaker. I had to resist the urge to cut off all the loose wires behind the IP but figured I could keep them for later in case I ever wanted an ignition power source or something, we'll see. For now, the IP is back together
Glued together:

Here's how it looks now with all the latest updates. Still need to clean out the cab.

Again, I hate all the loose wiring but when I build my center console it'll route all of that a lot better than this and have it hidden. For now, I can live with it.

5. I bought a Diablo Trinity T1000 from my friend. The nice thing will be fixing the speedometer with my new tires and having access to more gauges and p Codes real time. I just have it on the fuel economy tune for now since I'm trying to make this thing last (246k miles baby!). Maybe later on I'll play with the custom tunes.


Next on the list:
1. Reinstall my seats
2. Fix my chassis inline connector
3. Fix rust on the driver side floor board
4. Rhino line the interior
5. Redo headlight ballast mounting
6. Mount CB antenna and ground
7. Find more weight reduction ideas

I have a trip this coming weekend so the chassis inline and the seats are a must for this week! Then get my real tires mounted again and she should be good to go!

Cheers!

 

[Adblair]

A couple of updates since the weekend:

1. Tuesday when I went to start the truck up to make sure I didn't have problems, I found out my misfire had not gone away. Turns out when the misfire stopped the last time, it was because the ECU was going into closed loop fueling instead of open loop. So essentially, there was some huge fueling error and without the O2 feedback my ECU wasn't able to adequately adjust for it. As soon as it warmed up enough, the O2 sensor sent fueling corrections and my misfire was gone. Knowing this information, I decided to pull off the fuel rail and injectors and clean them. For cleaning greasy, grimy things like this, I use pine sol mixed with water. It's very soft on all materials, but will make the grease just fall with a light brushing. I blew the rails and injectors out with compressed air and then threw her back together. When I fired her up, she didn't have the crazy misfire like before so I think that did the trick! I still think the main cause was crap in fuel system and it seems like it's mostly cleared out now. 2 out of the last 3 off road trips I've had to make fixes on my fuel system last minute! It's a trend now I guess...

2. I mounted my CB radio antenna and ground. I have to figure out what the procedure is to tune it though. Anyone have any helpful hints on the best way to go about setting up a CB radio for the first time?

Tonight I'll throw in my seats again and clean up the inside of the truck. Last few things for this weekend are putting my real tires back on, bolting in the seat belts, door handles, getting registration, and fixing that damn inline connector. I'll try to get some actual pictures this weekend of the truck on the trail. I'm usually distracted with just driving that I don't even both getting the camera out.

 

[Adblair]

Got some pictures from my wheeling trip. As always, it was a blast and the truck handled everything beautifully! The only thing I got hung up on was a steep icey hill. As soon as my front lost traction I was going nowhere cause I have no weight on my rear. With my axle moves and other future changes, it'll be a lot better in the future!

New pictures of my truck flexing. Biggest difference from the first time is the wheels and removal of the overload spring and 3rd largest spring in the back. Still way to stiff! I have some springs from a friend I'm going to try in the front which will make it a lot softer.





View from in the cab:


This blue Jeep made it up the only hill I couldn't go up. I did manage to go up the hill on either side of it in reverse though haha .


Some poser shots:



Random shots. These tires love mud and water. I just idle through it without any issue at all. Def the best purchase so far!


So, I managed to make it all the way to the park, wheel all day and the drive the 160 miles back home without a single issue!


... Until the next morning when my idler pulley flew off and then a fuel line popped. 300+ miles of driving and not a single issue, but 5 miles to the gym and I break down. Oh well, at least it was covered with AAA. Tow mirrors out!! By the way, this ramp truck was awesome. I'd love to have one to haul my rig with!


So now she's all taken apart in the front and I'm waiting until tomorrow for some better weather. I have a replacement water pump, idler pulley, front tie rods and ends. While under the truck, I got a good look at my jacked up right side motor mount with a destroyed bushing. That and a missing exhaust manifold bolt.. Don't mind the rust, it's a Michigan thing


So next to do on the truck:
1. Replace water pump, idler pulley, thermostat, front steering
2. Clean out the cab, remove front speakers, right side plastic door cover
3. Cut out metal from doors and rear cab back wall (weight reduction! Woo!)
4. Install foam under hood to prevent the constant rattling over bumps
5. Clean up my electrical connector, fully seat all rubber seals, install fuel level sensor wire
6. Cut out part of the front hydroform left to right brace
7. Remove headliner
8. Install new springs and spacer for front axle, pray it is a decent rate and height

The next real big project is going to be the rear axle move. I found online that they sell leave spring brackets so my plan is to bolt some new ones in, maybe weld them on, and then find a way to mount shocks and cut my driveshaft. At the same time, I'll have to get rid of my stock fuel tank and mount the fuel cell so it'll be a big project. I hope to get to that in the next month or so depending on how the weather is. With summer coming, I'll be out working on this a lot!

Cheers yall!