Trailmaker’s PW Build Thread

[Trailmaker]

Careful, my hi lift will raise my truck, but not lower it. I may be too heavy. You might want to test it before you need it. I still carry mine with me but won’t use it unless I absolutely have to. It’s mainly there if I need to manually winch, or to use on someone else’s stuck car.

Yeah... the truck is so heavy that I needed leverage. I wanted to test my skills on my new sliders. And make sure they would hold up under stress before I went to Moab.
I am looking to use bags as my recovery option on the side of the truck instead of a jack. The dang PW suspension is never ending. I almost ran of jack to get the tires off the ground.

 

[Trailmaker]

Sliders:

These sliders I fabricated and welded myself taking a little information from other companies.

I liked the sliders to be high and tight. So I went with the body mounted option. The pinch weld on the truck can handle the weight of the truck if the pressure is applied and distributed correctly.
I built the framework out of 0.25 inch iron. Using angle iron, flat bar, and a diamond plate, I welded a full length slider/step.
They come 3” down from the body and offers a 7” step. The bottom on the slider is 3” higher than my skid plates. And sit at a total of 0.50 thick. Currently they are flush with the flares and 3/4 past the OEM tires. (I plan on 35x12.5 tires)

I tested them with I high lift jack on the front and rear. The truck is too heavy and the PW suspension is too flexible to use this method to change a tire. I plan on recovery air bags as another option if I need to lift the truck off a rock or log. I went with a “bed coating” finish to match my diamond back cover and they keep me from slipping and busting my tail.

 

[Bowzer]

Gotta say, love the truck you started with and great job on the mods and add-ons to date.

Will have to keep eyes out for ya when on that side of town.

 

[Trailmaker]

Gotta say, love the truck you started with and great job on the mods and add-ons to date.

Will have to keep eyes out for ya when on that side of town.

Thanks!
I have a few more things on the list to get done by the holidays

 

[Trailmaker]

Tires. I have been running some Toyos a little bit now so it’s time to write about them.

Originally I was going to get 37” tires but I had a change in heart.

So I am running 35x12.5x17 A/T on stock rims.
I went E rated for towing and for a stronger side wall. The extremes are quite compared to my Durtracs with 21k on them.(1/2 tread left) I honestly don’t remember what the tire noise was last July when I bought the truck. But today it is non existent with these open country extremes. Maybe I will do a writeup in 20k to compare. Or after some different weather conditions when I go skiing this season. I got a “deal” at 270 a pop. But I am still having sticker shock...

I will get it to flex this weekend on the ranch and add a few more pictures then.

 

[LeesEvoX]

Do you get any rubbing?

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[Trailmaker]

Do you get any rubbing?

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I have not flexed it out yet, but no rubbing during City driving.

 

[LeesEvoX]

I have not flexed it out yet, but no rubbing during City driving.

let us know how it goes at El Rancho whenever you go. I want to put some 35" on mine. lol.

 

[olyelr]

let us know how it goes at El Rancho whenever you go. I want to put some 35" on mine. lol.

You will not get any rubbing. Possibly a teeny tiny bit on the radius arm, but you will never know.

looks good trailmaker!!

 

[ALRedneck]

I went with Toyo 35’s too but with the more aggressive r/t for our red clay. I’ll say they are as quite as the Duratrac which impressed me. They’ve handled well in sand too. So if you find the a/t aren’t aggressive enough for you at the ranch, don’t hesitate to go with the r/t next time.

 

[Westwind1124a]

I had that tire on my 1500. They were awesome. id be interested to see how they hold up on the 2500. keep us posted

 

[Trailmaker]

I went with Toyo 35’s too but with the more aggressive r/t for our red clay. I’ll say they are as quite as the Duratrac which impressed me. They’ve handled well in sand too. So if you find the a/t aren’t aggressive enough for you at the ranch, don’t hesitate to go with the r/t next time.

Thanks
I will keep that in mind. Do the r/t cake up in the clay or are they “self cleaning” the bfg m/t I had on my Jeep would throw some big rocks out the back.

 

[OC455]

@Trailmaker Does your Randy Ellis light bar interfere with your front ParkSense? Thanks.

 

[Trailmaker]

let us know how it goes at El Rancho whenever you go. I want to put some 35" on mine. lol.

I tried to get it on 3 wheels this weekend. No dice. But also no rubbing. The tread depth is incredible!

 

[Trailmaker]

@Trailmaker Does your Randy Ellis light bar interfere with your front ParkSense? Thanks.

Yes it does. Seems to be only the 2 in the middle. I thought about adjusting them (attempting to...) but I got quick at turning on the front cam if I needed to get up close to something. Going into the winter, I believe it will get a lot of use since sunset is at 530pm.

 

[LeesEvoX]

This is great to hear. Cant wait to put some bigger tires in this thing!


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[ALRedneck]

Thanks
I will keep that in mind. Do the r/t cake up in the clay or are they “self cleaning” the bfg m/t I had on my Jeep would throw some big rocks out the back.

Haven’t had any problems with that but the clay is mixed with sand on my farm so it’s not bad about caking. I have a sand bottom creek running thru the property that looks close to beach sand.

 

[Trailmaker]

I had that tire on my 1500. They were awesome. id be interested to see how they hold up on the 2500. keep us posted

You probably got these in a D rated tire for your 1500? I got E but F was an option if I want to wait on them to come in. Though I would appreciate the extra 2 ply protection, I imagine I would feel the road a little to much. I will post some information on the PW tire tread you have going, after I experienced some winter conditions this year.

 

[LeesEvoX]

You probably got these in a D rated tire for your 1500? I got E but F was an option if I want to wait on them to come it. Though I would appreciate the extra 2 ply protection, I imagine I would feel the road a little to much. I will post some information on the PW tire tread you have going, after I experienced some winter conditions this year.

oh man. you know those winters be tough in Conroe.... hahaha

 

[Trailmaker]

oh man. you know those winters be tough in Conroe.... hahaha

I hope to make it to Steamboat this fall and to Winter Park in January. They got snow last week already.