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Mikevazquez360

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Hello all,

I have a new to me 2018 1500 all black (other than the light housings) 1500 pentastar 4x4 8 speed tranny with 31000 miles. I want to make this truck ok for off roading not super lifted. Address any know issues with the pentastar before they present. Black it out make a little more power and have it looking nice. I was hoping with the collective knowledge you all could help me build a list of things to do. I’m not made of money so it will have to be don’t over time. I have already bought a shift knob, new cabin air filter (did not smell good in there) a bullet antenna and a left gate assist. The next thing I would like to do is new black housing projector style headlights with LED I have heard there have been issues with them in the past so lemme hear what y’all have to say. Oh and I tinted the front windows to 25% purchase date 2/23/22. Thanks everyone.
 

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Jeepwalker

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Very nice looking truck. Looks like it's in great condition.

There are a lot of different types of off-roading and how one outfits their pickup usually is to acomodate a certain type. What's your style/s?: logging roads, mountain trails, rock crawling ..extreme rock crawling, mud bogging, etc.

If you just want to 'look' off-road, then some wheels/tires/shocks and a mild lift will do the trick. If you go too large on the tires, then you get into gearing issues and will the V6 handle the torque? Or do ya change gears (more $$). For real off-roading, the ram 1500 is softly sprung and low in the front, so you'll have to spend some $$ to revise those. And bear in mind, the more "Off-road" you go (more mods), the worse trucks generally drive/last/handle ...and the less comfortable they become. Also worse mileage, higher maintenance. Rarely do ya ever get the money back out of the thousands you put in (not to mention the hundreds of potential hours sunk into it). I say this from experience.

But off-roading can be a blast, and I've done a lot. So, yeah, mild upgrades on a budget like you say. Honestly, you might be better off to drive this 1500 a couple years, save your money each year ..just enjoy the 1500 and keep the value ok. Then get a 3/4 ton tk if you want to really off-road it. Or buy an older Jeep and use that for off-roading. A stock 3/4 ton is a lot better platform to outfit for off-roading and it'll hold its value much more down the road than a 1500 with 10k of bolt-ons. Out of the box a stock 3/4 ton or the right Jeep will do a lot of non-extreme off-roading without hardly spending much money on mods, compared to a 1500 that has thousands of dollars of upgrades and is still a lot more fragile on the trails.
 
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Jeepwalker

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As far as LED upgrades go, there's virtually no meaningful off-road gain, and actually considering how expensive and finicky they can be (and lack of easy field replacement), and some guys have a lot of head scratching to integrate them into vehicle electronics. You could end up with a lot of time debugging sunk into LED's.

Considering your budget, I would (personally) put my money into other visible upgrades you'll enjoy everyday like wheels and tires/shocks. Sorry, I guess I'm showing my age now. he he :confused:
 
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Mikevazquez360

Mikevazquez360

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Very nice looking truck. Looks like it's in great condition.

There are a lot of different types of off-roading and how one outfits their pickup usually is to acomodate a certain type. What's your style/s?: logging roads, mountain trails, rock crawling ..extreme rock crawling, mud bogging, etc.

If you just want to 'look' off-road, then some wheels/tires/shocks and a mild lift will do the trick. If you go too large on the tires, then you get into gearing issues and will the V6 handle the torque? Or do ya change gears (more $$). For real off-roading, the ram 1500 is softly sprung and low in the front, so you'll have to spend some $$ to revise those. And bear in mind, the more "Off-road" you go (more mods), the worse trucks generally drive/last/handle ...and the less comfortable they become. Also worse mileage, higher maintenance. Rarely do ya ever get the money back out of the thousands you put in (not to mention the hundreds of potential hours sunk into it). I say this from experience.

But off-roading can be a blast too -- and I've done a lot. So, yeah, mild upgrades on a budget like you say. Honestly, you might be better off to drive this 1500 a couple years, save your money each year ..just enjoy the 1500 and keep the value ok. Then get a 3/4 ton tk if you want to really off-road it. Or buy an older Jeep and use that for off-roading. A stock 3/4 ton is a lot better platform to outfit for off-roading and it'll hold its value much more down the road than a 1500 with 10k of bolt-ons. Out of the box a stock 3/4 ton or the right Jeep will do a lot of non-extreme off-roading compared to a 1500 that has thousands of dollars of upgrades.
That all sounds reasonable. All that taken into consideration I don’t want this truck to be a crawler or doing any crazy off raiding but I would like to be able to take it out to the state parks or deserts and go camping or camp by a river or lake with my truck bed tent. The LEDs are a must for me (personal preference) the stock halogens are trash for visibility and the headlights that are currently in the track are not mounted correctly, have come loose or are broken they move around when driving and you can wiggle them around. Should I get a cold air intake or high flow drop in filter? I hate the exhaust on this thing too it’s ugly and sounds no good. Thoughts?


Edit:

This is why I’m changing the shift knob. Any ideas how to fix up the surrounding area?
 

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Phirebeard

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The shift knob, you can take off the surround, lightly sand (fine grit) and paint it.
 

Jeepwalker

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Since you're on a budget, you might try painting the knob too. Degrease it well with alcohol or just wash real well with soap and warm/hot water. You never know what kind of silicone-based products they might have sprayed in the cab ...which can screw up new paint. Good luck
 
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