Thought I would start a build thread on my latest truck. It is a 2014 Crew Cab, Long Bed, Cummins powered Ram 3500 with the 68RFE Auto. I traded in my 2005 F350 powerstroke for this truck and recently sold my actual "expo" rig which was a 1997 Landcruiser on 37's with lockers, armor, full engine rebuild by Robbie, geared, ect, ect, ect. My previous expo vehicles have also included a 2003 pathfinder, a 2006 tundra, an F150, a Nissan Titan, and one bad *** ford escort station wagon. That was probably the best of all of them!
It is really hard to replace a good work truck and a dedicated wheeling/camping/hunting truck like I had with my f350 and LC, but I am going to try with this truck, since it was new, expensive, reliable and already has a few good work scratches. All in all, I really like the ram. It rides rough, is slow, and is big but, it looks great, has loads of power, a great functional and comfortable interior, has so far been drop dead reliable and I am sure it will be for a long time and most of all this thing is heavy duty. It also has great interior storage options right from the factory with the under seat cubbies, and the infloor storage in the back. I don't like the lack of tuning options available for these trucks so far. My F350 ran mild tunes and was a fast as a corvette up to about 70 with a good launch. NO kidding. Diesel power is awesome these days but the EPA is cracking down on all of the tuners due to the proliferation of coal rolling videos on youtube. I just like the fact that you can fly in a diesel if you want to, could care less about the smoke. It sure puts a smile on your kids faces when you floor it in a 500hp diesel truck though!
So far I have added a host of interior protection mods
- Husky Xact contour floor liners front and back: I used to be a weather tech guy, but these new huskys are better in every way. They have nubbies to stick to the carpet, they are a pliable rubber, so conform to the floor better, hose off much easier, you have to scrub the weather techs, these I just give a quick rinse and look like new.
- Wet Okole seat covers front and rear. I am wishing I had got the marathons or headwaters, but these are comfortable functional and look good. Fit is pretty good, but leaves a few things to be desired. The biggest issue is cleaning them. They do take in a lot of dust and let quite a bit through, so I find about every 4 months I need to remove them and wash them in the bath tub. You need a BIG tub for the rear seat covers. It is just kind of a PITA.
Suspension:
- Bilstein 5100s all the way around. I blew out my factory shocks on my first off road trip so called up Don Thuren, maker of some of the finest Ram HD suspension components around. His king shocks weren't ready yet so he told me to just get some billies until his top line stuff for the new trucks is available. They markedly improved the ride and while they seem to not be quite as well damped as when new, have survived a few of my rather rough off road excursions.
- Thuren 2.5" leveling coils. big improvement in off road ride. The one ton was rattling my teeth out before these. Lifted the front about 2" for a level look, eventually, I will get a full set of rear leaves and some of thuren's king shocks to round out my suspension kit. Thuren and Carli both make great suspension bits for these trucks that let you drive them like Baja trucks which is good, because I drive everything like a Baja or KOH racer.
Exterior:
- ARE MX topper with side sliding windoors. I have always had cab high toppers before and really like the ease of access and comfort when working/camping in the back of the truck with the extra height of the MX series. It makes getting to my tool box in the front of the bed so much easier and I am not always scraping my back on the window frame! I also added (2) 6' led strips hard wired into the batteries in this topper. I will never order another topper with out these lights they are great and fully illuminate the bed in the dark Toppers have their pros and cons but with 3 kids and two dogs a truck with a topper is the best thing out there for us and our uses. I think the versatility for less than 6 people just beats an suv any day of the week!
- weather guard tool box. This got moved to my foreman's truck with the addition of the topper and I went to a crappy Dee Zee chest style which is ok because I have the topper. If anyone is considering a tool box get the weather guard. Others just don't compare. I have had problems with every box I have ever had (probably 7 or 8) other than the weather gaurds. Just spend the $
- Aircraft style aluminum L track tie downs in the bed from US cargo control. Found here: http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Aluminum-Finish-L-Track. This stuff is super versatile and strong. Each tie down point is rated for 1k lbs. I am also going to mount another 6' piece on each of the bed rails to fully bolt the topper to the bed rail.
- wheels and tires: I picked up some power wagon wheels on the cheap and had them polished/powder coated and then mounted up some Cooper ST/Maxx in 37x12.5R17. 37's are the new 35's! The 37 fit easily even with just a level and only rub on the control arms. I will do a future review on the coopers once I get some dirt, snow and miles under them.
It is really hard to replace a good work truck and a dedicated wheeling/camping/hunting truck like I had with my f350 and LC, but I am going to try with this truck, since it was new, expensive, reliable and already has a few good work scratches. All in all, I really like the ram. It rides rough, is slow, and is big but, it looks great, has loads of power, a great functional and comfortable interior, has so far been drop dead reliable and I am sure it will be for a long time and most of all this thing is heavy duty. It also has great interior storage options right from the factory with the under seat cubbies, and the infloor storage in the back. I don't like the lack of tuning options available for these trucks so far. My F350 ran mild tunes and was a fast as a corvette up to about 70 with a good launch. NO kidding. Diesel power is awesome these days but the EPA is cracking down on all of the tuners due to the proliferation of coal rolling videos on youtube. I just like the fact that you can fly in a diesel if you want to, could care less about the smoke. It sure puts a smile on your kids faces when you floor it in a 500hp diesel truck though!
So far I have added a host of interior protection mods
- Husky Xact contour floor liners front and back: I used to be a weather tech guy, but these new huskys are better in every way. They have nubbies to stick to the carpet, they are a pliable rubber, so conform to the floor better, hose off much easier, you have to scrub the weather techs, these I just give a quick rinse and look like new.
- Wet Okole seat covers front and rear. I am wishing I had got the marathons or headwaters, but these are comfortable functional and look good. Fit is pretty good, but leaves a few things to be desired. The biggest issue is cleaning them. They do take in a lot of dust and let quite a bit through, so I find about every 4 months I need to remove them and wash them in the bath tub. You need a BIG tub for the rear seat covers. It is just kind of a PITA.
Suspension:
- Bilstein 5100s all the way around. I blew out my factory shocks on my first off road trip so called up Don Thuren, maker of some of the finest Ram HD suspension components around. His king shocks weren't ready yet so he told me to just get some billies until his top line stuff for the new trucks is available. They markedly improved the ride and while they seem to not be quite as well damped as when new, have survived a few of my rather rough off road excursions.
- Thuren 2.5" leveling coils. big improvement in off road ride. The one ton was rattling my teeth out before these. Lifted the front about 2" for a level look, eventually, I will get a full set of rear leaves and some of thuren's king shocks to round out my suspension kit. Thuren and Carli both make great suspension bits for these trucks that let you drive them like Baja trucks which is good, because I drive everything like a Baja or KOH racer.
Exterior:
- ARE MX topper with side sliding windoors. I have always had cab high toppers before and really like the ease of access and comfort when working/camping in the back of the truck with the extra height of the MX series. It makes getting to my tool box in the front of the bed so much easier and I am not always scraping my back on the window frame! I also added (2) 6' led strips hard wired into the batteries in this topper. I will never order another topper with out these lights they are great and fully illuminate the bed in the dark Toppers have their pros and cons but with 3 kids and two dogs a truck with a topper is the best thing out there for us and our uses. I think the versatility for less than 6 people just beats an suv any day of the week!
- weather guard tool box. This got moved to my foreman's truck with the addition of the topper and I went to a crappy Dee Zee chest style which is ok because I have the topper. If anyone is considering a tool box get the weather guard. Others just don't compare. I have had problems with every box I have ever had (probably 7 or 8) other than the weather gaurds. Just spend the $
- Aircraft style aluminum L track tie downs in the bed from US cargo control. Found here: http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Aluminum-Finish-L-Track. This stuff is super versatile and strong. Each tie down point is rated for 1k lbs. I am also going to mount another 6' piece on each of the bed rails to fully bolt the topper to the bed rail.
- wheels and tires: I picked up some power wagon wheels on the cheap and had them polished/powder coated and then mounted up some Cooper ST/Maxx in 37x12.5R17. 37's are the new 35's! The 37 fit easily even with just a level and only rub on the control arms. I will do a future review on the coopers once I get some dirt, snow and miles under them.
