BoldAdventures 2015 Power Wagon Build

[mikekey]

2015 Ram 2500 Power Wagon Laramie


The ROCKLANDER Build

Vehicle Objective:

The purpose of this build is to support our family of four, in both on and off-road adventures. The rig needs to serve a multi-purpose role of towing regularly and handling overnight off-road adventures. We're seeking a compromise between capable trail rig, tow rig and rock crawler.

Where it stands today:
[Updated: March 11th, 2018]

SUSPENSION / AXLE:

• Toyo Open Country M/T 37x12.50R17
• Thuren tuned King 2.5 Offroad Racing Shocks (custom valving)
• Dodge Off-Road Steering Brace
• Thuren 1.25 inch front coils
• Thuren rear coils
• Thuren front track bar
• Thuren Rear Trackbar
• Thuren King Front Steering Stabilizer
• Boogie Rated Bumpstops (front & rear)

ENGINE / DRIVETRAIN:

• Magnaflow 12589 muffler w/ resonator delete
• K&N Air Intake (77-1568KTK)
• AEV Raised Air Intake

VEHICLE ARMOR:

• Customized Off-Road 3/16” steel high clearance bumper
• Dethloff Oil & Transmission Skid Plate
• White Knuckle Offroad Rock Sliders .188 DOM
• Purple Cranium half spider front differential protector
• Purple Cranium half spider rear differential protector

ELECTRICAL / LIGHTING

• Baja Designs Squadron Sport S - Driving Combo
• DDM Tuning - CanBus HID Kit, 35W, 5500k (low beams)
• DDM Tunning - LED Bulbs, 36W, 6000k, (high beams)
• Auto-Vox B40 Dashcam hard wired
• ScanGauge II
• AEV ProCal Module

COMMUNICATIONS

• Yaesu FT 8900R
• Larsen NMO2/70B
• WeBoost Drive 4G-M (cellular booster)
• Surecall 9 inch magnetic antenna

EXTERIOR APPEARANCE:

• 15% Ceramic Tint on Drivers & Passenger front windows
• 5% Ceramic Tint on all rear windows Windows
• 5% Ceramic Tint glare strip on windshield
• AVS in channel vent visors
• Bakflip HD Tonneau Cover

INTERIOR MODIFICATIONS:

• Husky Weather Beater floor liners
• Koomus K2 Dashboard iphone mounts
• RAM Mounts (RAM-B-316-1-202U) Universal No-Drill Vehicle Mount 18" Rigid
• Ram Mount EZ-ROLL'R Model Specific Cradle for the Apple iPad mini
• Mopar Rambox storage organizer

RECOVERY & EMERGENCY GEAR:

• 48" Hi-Lift Jack All-Cast in Black
• 30' ARB Recovery Strap
• ARB Tree Saver Strap
• x2 Crosby 1018534 Carbon Steel Shackle, 1" Size
• x2 Crosby 1018534 Carbon Steel Shackle, 3/4" Size
• x2 WARN 92093 Epic Shackle 3/4"
• Automotive Fire Extinguisher
• Road Flares
• ARB Tire Repair Kit
• x2 Viair 300P + x2 - 20ft air hose
• MAXSA Innovations Escaper Buddy

PLANNED MODS:
(Still in the works as I evaluate our needs through trial and error.)

• Dynatrac Free-Spin Hubs with DynaLoc hubs
• 4.88 Regear
• Axle Truss - Planned for Feb 2th, 2018
• King 2.5 shocks - ordered - awaiting delivery
• Thuren 3 inch rear coils
• Thuren rear boogie bumps
• Thuren front track bar
• Synthetic winch line

VIDEOS OF THE RIG

 

[mikekey]

WHERE IT BEGAN

A little backstory to fill you in. A few years ago I converted my wife's 2003 Chevy Trailblazer from daily driver into an expedition vehicle. The build and subsequent adventures made us fall in love with the west and off-roading in general. (Our old build thread)

One day in 2013 we realized that we felt more at home in our "Adventure Mobile" then we felt in our three bedroom, two car garage home in Florida. The road was calling to us. The desire to leave Florida was growing.

When we discovered we were expecting our first child, we dreamed up a plan to sell everything, change careers and travel across the country full time.

We grew tired of the rat race and living for the weekends and never having time to see or explore.

Fast forward to May 2015, and we set off on this adventure as a family of four living, working & exploring the USA in our Airstream.

Our first truck was a 2010 Ram 1500. I modified it mildly to maintain towing performance. That included Bilstein 5100 adjustable shocks up front with 2 inches of lift and 5100's out back. Along with Tuff trucks coils that raised the rear 2-inches. And I upsized the tires with Toyo Open Country AT/II's.

For our first year on the road, she was a strong performer. But where she lacked was still in off-road capability. While in Anza Borrego, CA, I kept coming up against the limitations of the stock 1500.

We meet up with a friend who was pulling a 30ft Airstream with his 2015 Powerwagon over the New Year holiday. The wife and I began discussing upgrading to an HD truck. Specifically a Power Wagon. had talked about the desire to build another expedition rig.

We considered having the wife follow along with a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, but we just didn't want the hassle of a second vehicle with this lifestyle. We thought about a diesel which would of been better for towing, but to make it really worthy off-road we'd need to mod the truck. And that was a sore point.

In choosing this lifestyle, I gave up the garage, and it's hard for me to shell out money to a shop on things I want to do myself. So if we bought a diesel, we'd still need to get work done. Which meant finding shops while traveling.

The Power Wagon was just ticking all the marks in the PRO's column for us. In March while in Las Vegas, we came across a 2015 Power Wagon Laramie that had all the options that our 2010 had minus a sunroof. And we jumped on it immediately. Buying out of state is a bit of a hassle, but it was worth the admission price.

The Power Wagon could tow our Airstream, and give us the capability we desire to do things off-road in a mostly stock trim.

Now to get started with the mods. :lol:

 

[mikekey]

First Mods


Window Tinting

I wasted zero time getting right to the modifications. For starters, traveling around the country with kids meant one thing for me. We NEED TINT. I don't like driving around in a fish bowl. And I decided to take advantage of the lax laws in Nevada.

I ended up purchasing Ceramic Tint which claims to block 90% of the heat. And went with 5% around the back windows for the kiddo's and privacy and 15% on the front windows with a 5% glare strip on the windshield. I had the work done by Precision Window Tint in Henderson, NV. They do excellent work.

The results, perfect:

After the tint was cured for a few days, I installed AVS in channel vent shades. I've been installing these on most of my vehicles for awhile. So the Power Wagon gets them too.

Intake & Exhaust

Within the first week of ownership I was already giving money to the Jeff Bezos retirement fund (aka Amazon). I placed an order for a K&N intake and Magnaflow muffler.

We can all debate the worthiness of the next mod. Typically I'm a Volant intake guy. But K&N is the only one on the market for the 6.4L right now, so what the heck.

I had also purchased a Magnaflow 12589 muffler. On my 1500 I had installed the Mufflex 14inch muffler. And I liked the sound. This time I thought I'd try something a little similar but more custom.

Took it to a local exhaust shop in town, paid $200 even to have it installed and have the trash can resonator removed. Was very clear about wanting it to be out of the way for ground clearance.

What he came up with was fantastic. I'm very happy with the results.

You can check out an exhaust clip here. I waited a couple of days for the exhaust to break in before recording it.


Amazingly there is no drone. To be completely honest, I was disappointed at first. It was quite. And I think I am used to dual exhaust. I've owned several Camaros, a Pontiac G8 GXP and Corvette. All of which had loud, dual exhaust systems.

But after a few days break in time, it became audibly louder. But it's not extremely loud in any sense. When you mash the peddle you hear it. When you are cruising, it's barely noticeable.

 

[mikekey]

Exterior Mods:

On our first truck, I ran the BakFlip G2. I was pretty happy with it, so this time, I decided to go with the BakFlip HD tonneau cover.

Really happy with the quality of the product. Both top and bottom are aluminum with a UV resistant powder coat. Add on a 2yr warranty and made in America, and I'm a happy camper.

If you own a Ram then you probably noticed that the antenna is flappy and bounces all over the place. I hate the factory antenna. Since we are always traveling we don't ever listen to actual FM or AM radio. 100% of the time my iPod is plugged into the truck.

So I swapped out the antenna for a 7 inch model by AntennaX.

 

[mikekey]

Spent the afternoon catching up on a few projects I was behind on. Mostly re-installing old hardware from our other truck into the new Power Wagon.

Becuase we travel and are on the go so much; I have a WeBoost Drive 4G-M cellular booster paired with a Surecall 9-inch external antenna. It works great, and there are plenty of places where 1X becomes 3G or 2 bars of 3G becomes full LTE.

For placement, I like the internal antenna on the dash just above the stereo.

This works with our phones best, as I have two Koomus K2 phone mounts.

I am not sure where I want to mount the booster itself. For now it's just in the lower center console.

I also spent some time wiring up our dash cam.

I'm running the Auto-vox B40-C dash cam. I've had this for over a year and half and it still works great. Shoots in 1080p, continuous and has a shock sensor that can lock your files to prevent over write in the event of an accident.

 

[mikekey]

Yesterday I took the wife and kiddo's out for some fun at Sand Flats Recreation Area here in Moab, UT. Wife drove Baby Lion's Back on her own. Not just an excellent spotter, but a good driver. Also included is a sampling of dash cam footage.

 

[mikekey]

Today we did the Top of the World Trail in Moab.

First, my proof:

My wife and I really enjoyed the holy s//t looks from the modified Jeeps at the top. We accomplished the trail without using the bypasses. This was one of the most technical trails we've done together in a stock vehicle. Overall I am really happy we did this.

It kind of gives me an idea for the Power Wagon moving forward, that should stay in line with my original intentions. But I think after today I want to push the "aggressive stock" category to it's limits.

PS: No scratches or dents by a miracle.

 

[bknudtsen]

First Mods

For starters, traveling around the country with kids meant one thing for me. We NEED TINT. I don't like driving around in a fish bowel

Good choice. While I would add that riding around in any bowel would be unpleasant. A fish's *** would suck.

Nice build!

 

[TwinStick]

Welcome to the PW club. They are awesome vehicles. NICE TRUCK !!!

Ours is a 2008 QCab w/G-56. Just hit 41k on it.

 

[mikekey]

WAWA, good catch

 

[AMBOT]

Awesome truck and location!

 

[mikekey]

ARMOR - DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION

I used Purple Cranium's half spider's on my Trailblazer build and they were good enough for most of the stuff I threw at them. After evaluating our needs with a lot of wheeling in Moab with no protection, I decided that the half spiders would be sufficient enough. I generally attempt to go over or around obstacles I could get my differential caught up on. But the occasional strike does happen.

FRONT

REAR

 

[mikekey]

WHAT CAN A STOCK POWER WAGON DO?

I've been in Moab now for three weeks, testing and pushing the limits of what a stock Ram 2500 Power Wagon can do. My wife has put up with all my wheeling, and has done plenty of spotting and taking photos for me as we push the limits to see what a stock Ram 2500 Power Wagon can accomplish trail wise.

So yesterday after the usual breakfast bits, I let my wife take the keys and we drove Hell's Revenge with a group of friends. And my wife did all the driving.

Trail Damage Rating: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=26

Most of Hell's is you driving on narrow Slick Rock fins with huge truly terrifying drop offs on both sides with plenty of playgrounds throughout to test the limits of your skills.

The wife tackling Hell's Gate

Wife at the Carwash

 

[mikekey]

WHAT CAN A STOCK POWER WAGON DO?

While we've been in Moab, we've done, Poison Spider Mesa trail, Fins N' Things, Hell's Revenge, Colorado Overlook, Top of the World and Elephant Hill.






At the top of the "Top of the World Trail" in Moab

 

[Power Wagon Family]

Nice to see you on here! I am also a PW owner and I'm on the Facebook group with you. Look forward to your mods.