Building 04 ram 2500 into expo rig. need thoughts/advice

[Texan1983]

Hey all,

So i am building a long range extended travel off-road rig out of my 04 dodge CTD and have nothing but questions after the research i've done! So im going to break it down in to sections.

Suspension:
Want to stay as low as possible. Thinking about Kore's HD system due to low cost and variable rate coils (want improved ride) but i have heard alot of good things about Carli's starter system also, just dont want to spend $500 bucks more. Also heard kore's coils will hold the weight of the bumper and winch that will go up front better. Then with either system im adding Top gunz control arms (.5" longer) and their ajustible track bar.

Tires:
Pretty set on the BFG MT KM2s 35 12.5 R17. other Ideas?

Front Bumper:
Looking at three for now, Road Armor, ARB, and buckstop. I want a good aproach angle, needs to mount a winch and lights, and offer animal strike protection. the lighter the better also.

Rear bumper:
Ideas? i might just build my own since ill be adding a tire carrier to it.

Other stuff:
Adding an ARE topper and yakama load bars with basket. Also building a platform for storage and sleeping.

What am i missing? This truck is moslty stock now and always been on top of maintanace and this truck has been trouble free for years.

 

[1leglance]

Fridge...
then make sure you get a Fridge...
oh yeah did I mention a Fridge

Dual batteries for the Fridge!

On the suspension I can't help ya but on the bumpers I can say from experience go with the lightest wgt option as a heavy rig kills mileage and that directly impacts your travel budget.

Also I would not get a winch until you are finding yourself stuck often, again wgt & money. Now if you travel solo in muddy areas then maybe...but do you always travel where there is something to attach the winch to? The reason I ask is that here in the desert we often don't have anything strong enough to anchor off of. So then you end up with a pull pal.
I have found that an ARB X-Jack, Maxtrax and other devices can get me out of almost anything a winch can and save me wgt & money.

I love the shell since that is a great place for your fridge, and of course a sleep inside setup is so comfy.

Most important for the rest of us, please take lots of pics and write it up for others.....then please get out there and add to the trip reports as there are never enough of those

 

[1leglance]

Fridge...
then make sure you get a Fridge...
oh yeah did I mention a Fridge

Dual batteries for the Fridge!

On the suspension I can't help ya but on the bumpers I can say from experience go with the lightest wgt option as a heavy rig kills mileage and that directly impacts your travel budget.

Also I would not get a winch until you are finding yourself stuck often, again wgt & money. Now if you travel solo in muddy areas then maybe...but do you always travel where there is something to attach the winch to? The reason I ask is that here in the desert we often don't have anything strong enough to anchor off of. So then you end up with a pull pal.
I have found that an ARB X-Jack, Maxtrax and other devices can get me out of almost anything a winch can and save me wgt & money.

I love the shell since that is a great place for your fridge, and of course a sleep inside setup is so comfy.

Most important for the rest of us, please take lots of pics and write it up for others.....then please get out there and add to the trip reports as there are never enough of those

 

[Texan1983]

yea fridge is in there too, along with other camping misc...

I dont use the winch often but i like the peice of mind it brings. This truck will be going everywhere so i cant just build it for one terrian with a rig this heavy i feel it will get stuck easier. also i like the idea of saving drivetrain parts by going slow and not having to get a run just to make it up the trail. learned that from my overloaded tacoma i had previous. fun to make it but i got tired of changing cvs and tie rods...

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Check out thuren fabrication. I'm running his 3" coils, bilstein 5160s, carli trackbar, homemade swaybar end links, bilstein steering dampener & a bd diesel steering box brace. I wanted thurens king shocks, but couldn't swing it $$ wise. My 2006 2500 drives SO MUCH better. I also have the kore bumpstops, but Im not sure they helped that much. I need to do some new tires but I used that cash to buy some new balljoints. I'm probably going to do 285/75r17 toyo ats

I haven't done the 08.5 steering upgrade for two reasons
1-I dont have any of the dreaded death wobble
2-I'm concerned about the tierod ends breaking on the new system.

-Chris

 

[bmxdannyo]

Aluminess makes some awesome rear bumpers for spare tires and jerry cans etc.

 

[Regcabguy]

Bumpers: The ARB is a great product aside from leaving the ps cooler lines,intercooler and radiator exposed. Unlike the Ford model,they don't offer a skidplate. ?? www.backwoodsbumpers.com offers a good Standard bumper at a good price. Some of their other models belong on Mad Max.

Suspension: I had the Thuren coils on my rig,but found them to be a bit soft for the leverage that my popup exerts on the handling. The truck would lean in the front too much coming/going on freway offramps or driving curvy roads in the mts. Don even revalved my Kings for me. I got some KORE VR's for peanuts and am using them currently but would like to get a single rate coil back in there of a higher rate than Don's.

 

[Texan1983]

yea i saw that, i plan on making most of the skids myself. from what i can tell all the bumpers leave that spot unprotected, so i would make one regardless.

 

[Saiyan66]

My one additional suggestion would be to replace the ball joints with something hi quality like Carli or Dynatrac. Running larger tires off road on these trucks will kill the factory ball joints quick and you will be amazed at how many steering "problems" go away with good ball joints.

 

[Texan1983]

yea, the front end was rebuilt by me last year (new xrf ball joints, u-joints wheel hubs and tie rods). xrf seems to hold up ok. time will tell. otherwise i would change to carli's joints...

 

[Metcalf]

Honestly, I would do everything I could to keep extra weight off the front end. The last thing a CTD truck needs is a big heavy front bumper/winch hanging out over the front axle. The stock front axle is marginal in the stock application and can really use a balljoint upgrade and truss for heavy off-highway use.

Poly Performance has a nice budget line of Dodge front end suspension components now....

 

[Saiyan66]

Moving the batteries to the bed or toolbox can relocate about 140lbs off that front axle as well. Give us some more specs on your truck too. What transmission does it have? What gear ratio? Factory limited slip or no? Camper package? All these things will help us steer you in the right direction regarding well thought out and functional mods. Sounds like you are on the right track as far as suspension is concerned. I dont have any first hand feedback on the Top Gunz products, always thought they were more built for the mall crawler crowd than companies like Thuren (who I recommend first), and Carli.

 

[Texan1983]

well im ordering the carli starter kit and carli track bar today. I was told by several people that the control arms that carli and those companys make, while fantastic products, are unessesary for my purpose. i just need new bushings and arms that are .5" longer, so the top gun customs or black ops style work for those things.

on another note i think im am getting a local off-road fabricator to build a lightwieght winch mount on top of exsiting stock bumper (think warn transformer ish...) like many here i dont like adding a heavy bumper on these front ends, as they are not fun to repair!

 

[Texan1983]

Moving the batteries to the bed or toolbox can relocate about 140lbs off that front axle as well. Give us some more specs on your truck too. What transmission does it have? What gear ratio? Factory limited slip or no? Camper package? All these things will help us steer you in the right direction regarding well thought out and functional mods. Sounds like you are on the right track as far as suspension is concerned. I dont have any first hand feedback on the Top Gunz products, always thought they were more built for the mall crawler crowd than companies like Thuren (who I recommend first), and Carli.

so answer the rest of the questions about the truck

48re tranny, 3.73 gear ratio, unsure of limited slip (doesn't matter anyways, want an arb in the diffs...) not a camper package.

2004 dodge ram 2500 with the High output cummins (305 hp, 555 ft lbs) quad cab short box. its been a solid reliable truck, just wish it wasn't starting to rust already!

 

[Metcalf]

Reason number 10101928383747 I won't live in a salt state