Atl-atl's 2024 Tradesman 2500 Power Wagon "documentation" thread

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Atl-atl

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Im ecstatic about being back in a Ram. Ever since I sold my 2008 regular cab on 37s Ive wanted a Power Wagon. I finally got one. Picked up this truck about a month ago. Billet Silver Tradesman Power Wagon. I live in Arizona so I snagged it from Bill Luke CDJR for about $14,000 off MSRP. I have big plans for this one so stay tuned. Full Thuren, 40s, hydro assist, gears, trimming etc. It will be a "daily driver" of sorts but only because my other two trucks are a little ridiculous to drive daily. I do all my own work with the exception of gears so Ill be on the lookout for that if anyone has a recommendation for a shop in Arizona that knows what it takes to get 5.13s into a power wagon Id love a recommendation. Updates will start coming hot and heavy because I have almost all of the parts for the build in my possession already.
IMG_4743.jpeg

Here is my old third gen that I still miss. Best truck Ive ever owned.
IMG_5531.JPG

Here is an indication of what I will hopefully be doing soon in the Power Wagon.

Here are my other offroading rigs. The wife and I are cyclists so most things in this house are built around getting places with our bikes to go ride and camp. Last year we did all 48 states in our Class C. Its a Thor Majestic 19G retired Cruise America rental that I remodeled and converted to 4x4 using a UJoint Offroad kit. Ford E350 gas V10. Its on 35s and its only about 20 feet long so it still fits in a normal parking space. Possibly the most capable house on wheels that one can buy/build. I did all the work on this one in the driveway because I didnt have a garage it would fit inside of hahaha. Its 11'6" tall. These days I have a shop with a 12' door and I couldnt be happier about it.
Screen Shot 2024-03-15 at 8.52.18 AM.png

1978 Chevy Blazer with matching Four Wheel Campers "Blazer" camper that I have mechanically restored but left original inside. Truck has an LM7, NV4500, NP241C, full ORD suspension, custom bumpers and all sorts of other things done by yours truly.
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I occasionally flat tow it behind the RV which is quite a ridiculous site to behold. Cant pass a gas station if my life depended on it. I will tow the Blazer behind the Ram on occasion as well.
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olyelr

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Oh helllllllllll yeaaaaaaa i love me some tradesman power wagon. Sounds like a great list of updates. Keep us posted !
 

Udy2554

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Im ecstatic about being back in a Ram. Ever since I sold my 2008 regular cab on 37s Ive wanted a Power Wagon. I finally got one. Picked up this truck about a month ago. Billet Silver Tradesman Power Wagon. I live in Arizona so I snagged it from Bill Luke CDJR for about $14,000 off MSRP. I have big plans for this one so stay tuned. Full Thuren, 40s, hydro assist, gears, trimming etc. It will be a "daily driver" of sorts but only because my other two trucks are a little ridiculous to drive daily. I do all my own work with the exception of gears so Ill be on the lookout for that if anyone has a recommendation for a shop in Arizona that knows what it takes to get 5.13s into a power wagon Id love a recommendation. Updates will start coming hot and heavy because I have almost all of the parts for the build in my possession already.
View attachment 557478

Here is my old third gen that I still miss. Best truck Ive ever owned.
View attachment 557479

Here is an indication of what I will hopefully be doing soon in the Power Wagon.

Here are my other offroading rigs. The wife and I are cyclists so most things in this house are built around getting places with our bikes to go ride and camp. Last year we did all 48 states in our Class C. Its a Thor Majestic 19G retired Cruise America rental that I remodeled and converted to 4x4 using a UJoint Offroad kit. Ford E350 gas V10. Its on 35s and its only about 20 feet long so it still fits in a normal parking space. Possibly the most capable house on wheels that one can buy/build. I did all the work on this one in the driveway because I didnt have a garage it would fit inside of hahaha. Its 11'6" tall. These days I have a shop with a 12' door and I couldnt be happier about it.
View attachment 557480

1978 Chevy Blazer with matching Four Wheel Campers "Blazer" camper that I have mechanically restored but left original inside. Truck has an LM7, NV4500, NP241C, full ORD suspension, custom bumpers and all sorts of other things done by yours truly.
View attachment 557481
View attachment 557482

I occasionally flat tow it behind the RV which is quite a ridiculous site to behold. Cant pass a gas station if my life depended on it. I will tow the Blazer behind the Ram on occasion as well.
View attachment 557483
AWESOMENESS!!!

I’m on CK5 also! I’ve been following your Blazer camper build! Love the thought behind the fabrication! Looking forward to seeing the Powerwagon build!
 

mboymopar

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Awesome PW look forward to your updates for sure.
 

soapy

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I will follow this thread. Hoping you can find the gears we need as I have not seen anyone who has found new ones for the newer axles they started putting in these in 2019.
 

62Blazer

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Pretty cool. Got a kick out of the comment about a PW on 40's basically being a more practical daily driver! Wish I had the same issue. Love that K5. I've owned a '90 squarebody K5 since the early '90s that is currently on 1-tons and 40's, and definitely not a daily driver.
 

Schotzy

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Im ecstatic about being back in a Ram. Ever since I sold my 2008 regular cab on 37s Ive wanted a Power Wagon. I finally got one. Picked up this truck about a month ago. Billet Silver Tradesman Power Wagon. I live in Arizona so I snagged it from Bill Luke CDJR for about $14,000 off MSRP. I have big plans for this one so stay tuned. Full Thuren, 40s, hydro assist, gears, trimming etc. It will be a "daily driver" of sorts but only because my other two trucks are a little ridiculous to drive daily. I do all my own work with the exception of gears so Ill be on the lookout for that if anyone has a recommendation for a shop in Arizona that knows what it takes to get 5.13s into a power wagon Id love a recommendation. Updates will start coming hot and heavy because I have almost all of the parts for the build in my possession already.
View attachment 557478

Here is my old third gen that I still miss. Best truck Ive ever owned.
View attachment 557479

Here is an indication of what I will hopefully be doing soon in the Power Wagon.

Here are my other offroading rigs. The wife and I are cyclists so most things in this house are built around getting places with our bikes to go ride and camp. Last year we did all 48 states in our Class C. Its a Thor Majestic 19G retired Cruise America rental that I remodeled and converted to 4x4 using a UJoint Offroad kit. Ford E350 gas V10. Its on 35s and its only about 20 feet long so it still fits in a normal parking space. Possibly the most capable house on wheels that one can buy/build. I did all the work on this one in the driveway because I didnt have a garage it would fit inside of hahaha. Its 11'6" tall. These days I have a shop with a 12' door and I couldnt be happier about it.
View attachment 557480

1978 Chevy Blazer with matching Four Wheel Campers "Blazer" camper that I have mechanically restored but left original inside. Truck has an LM7, NV4500, NP241C, full ORD suspension, custom bumpers and all sorts of other things done by yours truly.
View attachment 557481
View attachment 557482

I occasionally flat tow it behind the RV which is quite a ridiculous site to behold. Cant pass a gas station if my life depended on it. I will tow the Blazer behind the Ram on occasion as well.
View attachment 557483
Congrats on the Power Wagon! Look forward to seeing more updates to it.
 
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Atl-atl

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Its about to start getting good in here. The last of the suspension bits have finally rolled in and Blazer camper #2 is on hold for a couple weeks so that means time to tear into this thing. The full list, for now, is the following:
  • Thuren Power Wagon front coils
  • Thuren Power Wagon rear dual rate coils w extended sway bar links
  • Thuren rear coil adjustable shim kit
  • Thuren front track bar with bracket
  • Thuren rear track bar complete kit
  • Thuren weld on front lower shock mount reinforcements
  • Thuren spec Fox 2.5 DSC shocks
  • Carli front sway bar relocation brackets(if necessary)
  • Carli weld in front coil isolator supports
  • Factory non Power Wagon coil spring isolators
  • PSC steering gear for hydro assist
  • PSC hydro assist Ram
  • AEV hydro assist kit for Ram HD trucks
  • Synergy radius arm brackets
  • Synergy 2" front bump stop drops
IMG_5477.jpeg
 

olyelr

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Nice!

What are the non power wagon coil isolators for?
 
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Atl-atl

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Well its been a couple extremely busy weeks so I havent had time to update until now. Thankfully a lot of the busyness was working on this truck. Suspension and hydro install is done and Ive got a couple hundred miles on the truck with the (extremely unbalanced) 40s. If anyone has suggestions for balancing the tires Im open. Was hoping to avoid beads but its looking like I will have to use them after 3 failed attempts at balancing the tires the "normal" way.

The Thuren rear track bar was more of a ***** to install that I thought it would be. Got it done eventually.
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The Synergy MFG brackets were relatively easy to install. Only problem was they didnt come with all the hardware that they should have. The trans crossmember bolts needed to be replaced, not reused as the instructions state. I contacted them about this and was essentially ignored. So I went out and bought 3 additional bolts that I was thankfully able to find locally since they are pretty obscure. Crappy feeling after spending nearly $1000 on some pretty basic metal brackets with a couple fancy billet washers. Im going to try to get someone on the phone so I can elaborate on this situation with them in hopes that they at least update their hardware.

I currently have them set in the 1.5" forward position(the other option is 1/2" forward) which is allowing me to run the 40s with zero trimming of the fender behind the tires. I did have to remove the entire front bumper and trim the fender liner in front to clear since the axle is pushed so far forward now. Whats cool is everything clears with the axle pushed this far forward. Tie rod/draglink/trackbar/hydro ram etc. At full droop and compression, at least that I was able to do with a floor jack and a forklift. The real world is obviously very different so hopefully I can get it out in the dirt soon. The front lower coil buckets are at a weird angle but they are in stock form and the coils appear to have less bow than a stock trucks so thats interesting. Having the radius arms dropped ~3" also helps keep the caster in check and will probably allow me to dial in extra caster to try correcting the coil bowing issues. Having hydro steer makes it so adding caster has no real negative effect. Though some internet engineers will probably disagree with this. Im a fan of running caster as high as possible to combat death wobble as well. If anyone is interested in more detailed pictures or info about the Synergy brackets please ask. There is not a lot of info out there and very few installs that Ive been able to find documented online.
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Next thing up was installing the Carli weld in coil spring isolator supports. These simply extend the upper coil bucket so you dont have to worry about popping a coil when flexing really hard. Simply stick them in place, weld them and paint them.
img_5530-jpeg.jpg


I also installed the Thuren weld on lower shock mount supports. These trucks are known to blow up the stock lower front shock mounts when driven hard on 2.5" or bigger shocks and I dont go easy on vehicles so here we are. Simple install of weld and paint.
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I installed some Syndergy 2" front bump drops. but I dont know if Ill keep them. They dont hit the bump pad on the axle very well with the axle pushed 1.5" forward. I might have to fab something depending on what some flex tests result in. At a minimum I will have to reroute some of the brake line brackets on both sides to work with these bumps, or even the stock bumps.
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Had a scary moment when I was grinding the upper coil bucket/shock mount area to fit the shock reservoirs. I hit one of the hard brake lines with the grinder. It hasnt leaked but Im worried about it. Its one of the lines that comes off the ABS unit and its a single piece that goes all the way back to the rear axle. A quick recon says it will be a huge PITA to replace. I will likely do this for piece of mind. Be careful when installing shock reservoir mounts on the driver side of these trucks.
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Here is a pic of the inside/top of the track bar at the axle end. This is beyond full droop, there is no shock installed. You can see the spring is dangling. The track bar clears on all sides. All of the steering components clear as well which was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting to have to put the axle back into the 1/2" forward position.
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Here is almost everything back in place. The coil spring looks better than stock. It does scoot forward as the axle moves upward so I need to do some more testing to see if its going to be safe when fully flexed but for now it works great and drives well on road. It would be rad if someone made a completely new upper coil bucket/shock mount that worked with the axle pushed forward and fixed some of the coil bow. I havent looked too much but Im guessing it more work than would be worth it to try to cut and weld the lower bucket at a better angle. WTF was Dodge thinking with this design?
img_5537-jpeg.jpg
 
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Atl-atl

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Part 2 of the suspension install is here. I installed a Rough Country spare tire carrier so I can run a full size spare. It was $200 plus a couple bucks to run some allthread for extra support. I think it turned out great. I used 1/2" stainless threaded rod that I bolted to the front of the bed rail and then ran the rod through an extra lug nut which I then threaded a nut onto. Seems to be holding up great so far.
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Next up was taking care of the rear skid plate crossmember. With the new suspension the rear axle droops so far that the driveshaft will hit the crossmember. Carli sells a drop kit for the skid plate but the last thing Im going to do is lift a truck and then defeat the purpose of a lift by lowering the skid plates. So I got to cutting and welding. I cut out a 6" wide section of the center of the crossmember, scooted the cut section forward 3", welded it back together with some extra square tubing and slapped some paint on er. Just like that I gained about 2" of clearance under the driveshaft.
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The only other modification that was needed was shortening one of the fore-aft skid "bars" Ill call it. These are hollow tubing so I trimmed the length by 3" and used a press to flatten the new end of the bar. Drilled some holes, ground it smooth and paint finished it.
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End result looks great. We will see how it holds up offroad.
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Thats it for now. Im still waiting on my new front bumper before I can do much else. Now its time to get an alignment and put some miles on the truck.

Swaybar is still connected in this video!

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soapy

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Great looking build and quality work. I think AEV makes front coil spring relocation brackets for their 1.6 forward axle kits. I am not sure if they sell them individually. Have you looked into the Dethloff front transmission skid plate? It seems that is about the only thing you don't have.
 
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Atl-atl

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Thanks! I have not looked into additional skids yet but when I was under the truck I definitely noticed a need for an engine/trans skid of some sort. Im also considering replacing all the skid "bars" with flat plate that actually covers the whole area underneath. Thats a project for later on down the road though.

AEV does make a lower coil bucket relocation thing but it also provides 3" of lift and is intended to use your stock coils so I wont use that. Metal Cloak makes one as well that appears to provide a little less lift but its slightly sketchy looking. In my opinion, the larger issue when pushing the axle so far forward is the location of the upper coil seat. I have a feeling Im not going to be able to compress the springs all the way because they are at such a laid back angle. The top needs to move forward when the bottom does.

Here is a pic of the Metal Cloak spring perch.

Screenshot 2025-01-23 at 8.08.38 AM.png
 
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Atl-atl

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Someone on another forum was asking for more detailed pics of the threaded rod i used to support the spare tire so here they are.
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olyelr

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Lookin good!

I dont think moving the bottom spring seat back would be all that detrimental, rather than moving the upper one forward. I guess its really which way would be easier to do.
 
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Atl-atl

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So two of my tires wont balance with normal weights. Ive tried 3 times at Discount Tire(I bought them from Discount) to get them balanced and all 3 times they said two need more weight than they can put on (25oz per tire) and they suggest beads. Ive heard quite mixed reviews about beads so before trying them I decided to try out Balance Masters balancing rings. These things are kinda crazy, they are a thin disc that you mount between the wheel and hub. The disc has a tube at the outer circumference that is filled with a rubber hose that is filled with mercury. Yes, that mercury. Reviews are pretty good and the place I bought my wheels sells them so I thought Id give them a try. They showed up today and I threw them on. First impression, below 50mph everything is smooth, much better than before. Above 50 its better but not perfect, in fact I wouldnt even say good. Previously my steering wheel didnt vibrate at all which made me think the fronts dont need any help. I put on all 4 just to see what would happen. Im going to remove the fronts and test drive again tomorrow. Maybe Ill double up the rears for extra balancing ability hahaha. I imagine Balance Masters does not approve of that.

If I cant get these to work Im going back to Discount to try getting two of the tires warrantied since two balanced just fine. Has anyone gone through this process with Discount Tire? What should I do/say to get them to replace the tires?
IMG_5687.jpeg
 

olyelr

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I would think discount tire would have no problem getting you two different tires. They are brand new, bought through them and dont balance…shouldnt be an issue. I mean they are big mud tires so they shouldnt be perfect (which im sure you expect as well) but they by all means should balance out decently like the other two tires.
 

soapy

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I used to own tire shops and Discount should have no problem getting you 2 new tires to replace the faulty ones that won't balance.
 

62Blazer

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Agree with the above. Discount Tire shouldn't have any issues with warranty on two tires. In the end Discount won't even be the one paying for replacement tires and they should warranty them out to the manufacture. Especially if it's a name brand manufacture. Might of missed it in the posts regarding what tires, but pictures look like the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss MT's?
25 oz is just crazy, even for a 40" tire (at least for a modern radial from a name brand place). I'm surprised Discount even tried to balance them and didn't offer to replace them already.
 
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