malibubts's 2015 Ram 1500 CCSB Build

[malibubts]

Starting off a build thread for my 2015 Ram 1500. I've been slowly adding modifications to the truck since I bought it in April of 2015, but have recently joined Expedition Portal. The build will be very general purpose oriented; I won't be building this truck to rock crawl or hard core wheel, but rather help out with hunting, boating, camping, and adventuring. This truck replaced my 2007 GMC 1500 and am very happy with it so far.

Brand New

2015-04-30 19.44.07 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2015-04-30 19.44.17 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Today

IMG_2450 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Options

• 3.0L V6 EcoDiesel, 8 Speed Transmission
• Crew Cab, 6'4" Bed
• Exterior Appearance Group, Popular Equipment Group, Uconnect 5.0
• Protection Group
• Trailer Tow Mirror and Brake Controller
• Limited Slip Rear Differential
• 4x4

Planned Mods

1. Sliders? (White Knuckle Offroad makes them, but unfortunately not for my wheelbase)
2. Green Diesel Engineering Tune?
3. Goal Zero 400 or Similar (Absolutely no room under the hood in this truck for a 'true' dual battery system)?

Completed Mods
I'll be adding more information on the completed mods as time goes on and add links to the list.

1. Edge CTS2
2. Brake Light Leak Fix / Cabin Air Filter
3. 2m/70cm Antenna Install
4. Phone Mount (Gaia GPS)
5. Ham Radio Install (Icom 2730)
6. Leer 100XL Topper
7. Dog/Rear Platform (1,2,3,4)
8. Decked Bed Storage
9. Carli Commuter 2" Lift
10. Falken 285/75 R17 Tires
11. Snap! Outfitters Treehouse Wedge Camper
12. Fridge, Battery, and Water Updates

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

WELCOME fellow OHIO ECODIESEL owner!!

Im also doing the GDE tune this year but I already did my overland major build (link in signature)...
my next major stuff is yokohama geolander at-s's...
real rear bumper (factory one was taken out in a low speed bump on a 5in sappling....at 3mph...had to beat it with a hammer to get the tailgate to open fully..
54in curved LED 5D bar (its in the amazon cart...just waiting on funding)
and some sort of raised intake maybe an ARB snorkle...maybe an active hood scoop...

 

[malibubts]

I appreciate the welcome wanderer. You have a nice build going on yourself; I stumbled upon it after some of your posts in some of the diesel threads.

GDE for me probably won't happen for a while though. I'm a little hesitant for a tune while under warranty. Last thing I want is to fight FCA if something crazy happens.

Tires and level should be up though in the next 6 months. The stock SRAs are finally starting to wear out, even though they are pretty poor tires I find it difficult to replace them when they are still functioning.

New bumpers would be nice, looks like you got a good reason to upgrade.

Next on my list though is either buying a Decked system or building something myself for some storage and a sleeping platform. I just got the cap put on this week so I'm ready to start using the space. I also need to clean up the wiring a bit and add some more lighting as the stock light is pretty week.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[malibubts]

Edge CTS2 / NVH Foam Removal

Shortly after buying the truck I preordered an Edge CTS2. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on boost, EGTs, and regens while driving the truck and this seemed like the best way to do that. Using my phone and Torque was a cheap option, but too much of a pain for something I wanted to use anytime I was driving. Originally I was going to go with the CTS, but then found out the new version was coming out. I decided to preorder and waited I think almost a month before it came in.


DdpgRwO by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


fnSbmya by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I'm just using the included suction cup mount for now, but eventually I want to upgrade to the A Pillar mount for a cleaner look.

The truck also had some NVH foam directly on top of it as well as over top of the fuel pump. The stuff was pretty thick, didn't do much in the form of deadening sound, and from some comments on one of the main tuners out there trapped a ton of heat. I went ahead and spent a little time and pulled out the foam and was left with a clean top end, I do run the plastic cover even though it's off in the photos.


2015-05-03 19.03.39 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2015-05-03 19.03.48 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

 

[malibubts]

General Mods - Cabin Air Filter / Leak Fix

I have a couple of general vehicle modifications I've done since picking up the truck, so I'll just combine them into one post.

First thing up was installing a cabin air filter. For some reason the Rams all came with the area marked for a cabin filter back behind the glove box, but it was not cut out. The filter housing door and a filter are all the parts needed and are the same as several other FCA vehicles. The door is Part #68052292AA and costs about $10. The filter is Part #5058693AA or equivalent, I used a Wix I was able to find for around $10. With about 15 minutes of elbow grease and a razor blade I was able to get the housing cut out. This should help keep the dust in the cabin down.


2016-11-05 11.41.14 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2016-11-05 11.40.53 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Next, I noticed I would always get water intrusion into the cab whenever it rained. After some searching around I found a lot of information on leaks from the brake light. The water would enter there at a bad gasket and run to the corners of the cab and drip down. Everyone that took their truck in just had the light replaced by their dealer, which had the same gasket which would eventually cause the problem again. Rather than dealing with all of that I just ran to Home Depot and picked up some gasket material to fix it myself. The worst part is trying to scrape off the old gasket.


2016-10-19 18.21.32 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2016-10-19 19.06.15 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Since the install I've had no water intrusion into the cab. I also had to do the same fix on my old GMC for leaking brake light; seems like manufacturers find this area as a good place to skimp on a few dollars worth of gasket material.

 

[ZJARCHER]

I had the same exact issue on my 12 2500... ruined some of my audio equipment behind the seat. Frustrating!

 

[malibubts]

I had the same exact issue on my 12 2500... ruined some of my audio equipment behind the seat. Frustrating!

Luckily I just had some wet seats on occasion. It's really a shame that a bad gasket is such an issue, even across manufacturers. You'd think they spend more money dealing with all the warranty work than it would cost to build them right.

 

[malibubts]

2m/70cm Antenna Install

Next up on the install list was a dual band antenna. I got my Ham license this past October and was using the HT in the cab with pretty poor results. I knew for sure I did not want a magnetic antenna and would be getting a cap soon, so my options for mounting were limited. NMO seemed like a great option, but I wasn't too thrilled about drilling a hole in my new-ish truck.

I was able to find that Comet made an NMO mount bracket that attached to the Driver Side fender. Unfortunately after getting the mount and installing it, the fit was terrible. The existing bolt on the fender did not provide enough force and the bracket would rotate around it. The clearance between the hood and the fender was also incorrect and resulted in all of the pieces rubbing against each other. So the fender mount was out and I was back to the drawing board.

I went back to the NMO mount idea, but this time called around to some local radio shops. I found a shop that quoted me an hour of labor at $90. I was more than thrilled as I expected I wouldn't be able to get an install for less than $200. I stopped by their shop a few days later and they drilled the hole, installed the NMO mount, and ran the coax down the B Pillar. To my surprise they got the install done in 30 minutes and the shop insisted on only charging $45 for the half hour of labor. I really wish I would have just saved myself the trouble and gone this way from the start. So if you're looking for an antenna install, call around!


2016-10-26 17.51.05 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

For the antenna I went with a Diamond NR-72BNMO. It seemed like a good compromise of performance and usability. With the antenna on the roof of the cab I also did not want a crazy long antenna, this one comes in at about 14 inches. It does a really good job of blending into the surroundings from farther away as well.


2016-10-26 17.50.35 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2016-10-26 17.50.14 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I purchased the NMO mount with a terminated FME connector. You can then use slimline adapters to change between BNC, PL-259, etc. This was ideal for me since I was still using my Yaesu FT1 HT with a BNC adapter. I also ordered a PL-259 adapter for when I would buy the mobile. The setup worked great for a few weeks while I was saving up and trying to decide what mobile to go with.

 

[malibubts]

Cell Phone Mount

My phone also pulls GPS duty and I was getting tired of it sitting in the cup holder, so I started looking around at mounts. I was looking for something vehicle specific and also expandable since I knew I would be putting in a mobile radio at some point. I came across a few different brands, but ProClip USA seemed to have the best mounting system. I bought the system in two pieces; the bracket that attaches to the truck through friction and some 3M tape, and then a universal cell phone mount since I use a small case on my Note 3. To this point I have been using mostly Google Maps, but just recently found Gaia GPS. The screen on my Note seems like it will be big enough and I'm hoping I won't have to look into a tablet based system.


2016-10-28 17.28.26 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


ZzwtKX6 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

 

[malibubts]

2m/70cm Mobile Install

I spent a couple of months trying to decide which mobile radio I wanted to go with. Part of me wanted to go all out with something like a Yaesu FTM-400, but I eventually moved on from that due to the cost. I knew I at least wanted a remote head radio which took out a few of the lower cost, single receive options. That pretty much put me looking at the Yaesu 8800, Kenwood TM-V71, and the Icom 2730A. All were dual receive, remote head radios so I could have gone with any of them and probably been happy. I liked the screen, speaker-mic, and mounting for the Icom the best and it was also the cheapest option, so that's what I landed on.

I tied into the battery using the factory wiring harness with ring terminal connectors. All connections were crimped and heat shrinked.


2016-12-04 15.12.38 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2016-11-13 13.50.12 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

The wiring harness passes through the firewall in the unused plate for a manual transmission. If this truck had a manual transmission the clutch cable would be passing through this plate. The plate is easy to drill out and install a grommet in. The wiring then runs through the factory channel in the floor to the driver seat.


2016-11-13 13.50.39 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2016-12-04 15.13.11 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

The radio body all mounted up underneath the driver seat.


2016-12-04 15.14.01 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

As mentioned in an earlier post, I installed a ProClip cell phone mount. They then make an extender plate to allow multiple devices to mount up. I used another swivel mount from ProClip and then the Icom Remote Head Mount to get everything mated up. The Icom mount is really cool since it uses magnets to hold the head to the bracket.


2016-12-04 15.14.25 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


HcgALoO by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

So far I'm pretty happy with the setup. I wish I had known the Icom 2730 wasn't supported yet by CHIRP though. Icom has its own software, but it's complete garbage. It's also a pain that I can't easily copy configurations between my other radios.

 

[malibubts]

Leer 100XL

The latest mod to the truck is my Leer 100XL camper shell. I have wanted a shell since I bought the truck, but wasn't at the point where I wanted to spend the money yet. For my uses the extra secured and covered area will be a great advantage. I actually wanted a cap on my old '07 GMC, but didn't plan on having that truck long enough to make it worth it.

I looked around at the various options on the market and eventually found the Leer as the best one for me. I've seen a lot about the ARE being a better cap, but I really did not like the look of the Z Series on the Rams. And while a mid height would be nice for some extra room, I went with the cab height to get the continuous look. Really the only option I got was the power lock, I figured that was the way to go since the tailgate was already power lock.

I've had the Leer installed now for about 3 weeks and really like it. I haven't notice much loss of visibility out the back, and actually the rear tinted glass helps a bit with bright lights in the rear view mirror. Haven't specifically used the space too much yet, but I hope to soon.


2016-12-28 11.35.23 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Pulled off the ugly and view blocking Leer sticker. They already have their logos on the sides of the cap, that's enough for me.


2017-01-01 15.44.10 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2017-01-01 15.45.16 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Eventually I will be building out or buying a sleeping/storage platform. I still wanted to be able to store some tools in the back until then so I could get them out of the cab. While most of them fit under the back seat, everything would slide around and make too much noise. I have a Harbor Freight close to my work so I dropped by on lunch and picked up a cargo management bar. For $19 with a free screw driver it's hard to complain about the extra capability. I just pulled everything out from under the back seat and threw it into a Rubbermaid tote. This will do for now until I get a better system in place.


2017-01-02 14.37.37 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I want to clean the dealer wiring up a bit at some point with some shrink wrap. I may also be putting in some better lighting down the road as the stock lighting isn't the best. I also have some water intrusion at the tailgate an a few bed openings, which is to be expected. I'll be getting some bed plugs and gasket material to seal everything up.

 

[malibubts]

I met some friends last weekend in NY with the intention of doing some skiing at Holiday Valley. Unfortunately the whole week before was in the 60s and rainy. The same weather was going to hold for the weekend, but since everyone already had the PTO we kept the trip on. We were able to check out Southern Tier Brewery and Long Point State Park at least while we were there.

We have a Vizsla and so do one of our friends so they were able to get in some play time with the nice weather.


2017-02-24 14.16.06 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

This trip was the best use of the new camper shell so far. It rained most of our drive there, it was extremely nice to not have to worry about what gear could get wet or pack in garbage bags.


2017-02-26 09.44.31 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

And of course it snowed Saturday night into Sunday morning, just as we were going to leave. At least we got to see some snow.


2017-02-26 09.44.53 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2017-02-26 09.45.20 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

 

[malibubts]

Dog Platform

After the last trip to the dog park I got really annoyed with my crate setup. Currently the only place the crate works is sitting on top of the back seat, with the passenger seat in the right position to pin from falling off. Since I bought the Tradesman trim level I don't have have the fancy fold out floor and there is really no way to balance the crate right either over the bumpy floor.

I started looking around and some people have DIY'ed a fold out floor, but I got to thinking and wanted something a little more sturdy. It's also almost always just my girlfriend and myself so I rarely use the back seat. I did want to make something removable though in case I did want to use the area. I kept looking around and got some ideas and ran to the store for a sheet of plywood.

I ended up finding the last piece of 5 ply 1/2 they had in stock, but there was a pretty nasty crack down one ply. When I asked an employee if they had any more he said not right now, but he would take off 70% on that sheet. I figured I could work around it for the most part and took the deal. You can see the crack and the cut for width was right at the guide bar.


IMG_20170415_132056 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Test fit.


IMG_20170415_152310 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Testing the cut side pieces, crate and Maya approved.


IMG_20170415_182422 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I then tapered both side supports to match the floor a little better, and start work on the pieces to go over the transmission hump.


IMG_20170417_202640 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_20170417_202701 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

At this point I just need to finish up the center hump and start screwing everything together. I also grabbed a Kreg Jig as I figured it would be the easiest way to screw everything together and look good. I'll probably also put in a few D Rings to be able to strap down the crate and keep it from sliding. I really haven't been working off of any plans, just moving through piece by piece and I'm pretty happy so far. Still trying to decide if I'm going to carpet everything or bed line it. I think I'm leaning towards doing the Raptor Liner roll on since it will be easier and probably turn out better than what I could do with the carpet.

 

[malibubts]

Dog Platform - Part 2

Got some more work done on the dog platform this week. Pretty much everything is complete except for a strip down the bed side to keep it level and the paint job.

Drilling the Pocket Holes.


IMG_20170421_203829 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

The vert pieces coming together.


IMG_20170421_205753 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_20170421_205810 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Test fitting the vertical pieces before attaching them to the top.


IMG_20170422_101725 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Setting everything up.


IMG_20170422_122804 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_20170422_122834 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_20170422_122856 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Testing time.


IMG_20170422_161629 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

 

[Hoghead]

Did your truck not come with a platform in the back from the factory. My '14 has it, I assumed it was standard.