malibubts's 2022 Ram Power Wagon Build/Adventure Thread

Slocral46

Member
IMO they are just OK as side steps. Wife and I are in the late 20s / early 30s crowd and she isn't the biggest fan of them as compared to the OEM side steps. I'd tend to agree, I don't think they are as good as steps, but I knew those would not fair well over time. The height of them isn't so much as they are a bit 'skinny', if the area where your foot went were a bit wider I think they could correct the issue. That said still happy with the move, they are just more protection with the added benefit of having some step area.
Thank You, I'm hoping they work out. Do you remember where you ordered them from?
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Thank You, I'm hoping they work out. Do you remember where you ordered them from?
I found mine used on Facebook Marketplace. I think that's really where you'd need to buy them or somewhere else like Craigslist. I can't imagine they'd be easy to find new anywhere since they are a pretty limited option in terms of availability, have to be buying a Power Wagon and adding the Offroad Group or whatever they call it.

And in all honestly I don't think I'd spend say over $500-$600 on a set. At that point IMO the value proposition kinda drops off. What I would have bought at WKOR would have been about $1,650 plus shipping. MSRP if you can find the OEM rock rails has to be somewhere around the $1,000 to $1,200 price point if I were to guess. At that point you're most of the way to the WKOR sliders, and yeah you'll trade off on the weight but have much stouter sliders. At $375 ($150 if I count selling the OEM steps for $225) the 'deal' here makes it worth it.
 

Slocral46

Member
I found mine used on Facebook Marketplace. I think that's really where you'd need to buy them or somewhere else like Craigslist. I can't imagine they'd be easy to find new anywhere since they are a pretty limited option in terms of availability, have to be buying a Power Wagon and adding the Offroad Group or whatever they call it.

And in all honestly I don't think I'd spend say over $500-$600 on a set. At that point IMO the value proposition kinda drops off. What I would have bought at WKOR would have been about $1,650 plus shipping. MSRP if you can find the OEM rock rails has to be somewhere around the $1,000 to $1,200 price point if I were to guess. At that point you're most of the way to the WKOR sliders, and yeah you'll trade off on the weight but have much stouter sliders. At $375 ($150 if I count selling the OEM steps for $225) the 'deal' here makes it worth it.
Thanks a lot. Maybe I will run into a set. We have some time before the truck shows up, December I'm guessing. Can always use an apple box for awhile. Thanks again.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
First trip out for the new Power Wagon was to the Monongahela and George Washington National Forests, we took some time off work and enjoyed the outdoors for a bit. The trip contained some revisited spots along with a bunch of new exploring.

To start off the trip off we climbed up the forest roads to the Dolly Sods Wilderness area.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

We hiked around for a bit and then went off to setup camp at Red Creek atop the plateau.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

After some trial and error I think I finally found a coffee setup that I'm going to stick with. I've messed with a few different brewers and styles along with different grinders and think I found something that works decently well without taking up too much space.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Also on the gear front this was the break in trip for some Kermit Chairs which I found folks talking about here on ExPo. They definitely aren't cheap but are way more comfortable than the folding backpacking chairs and pack down way smaller than anything else I've been able to find.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

We woke up the next morning and headed off to Seneca rocks for a bit of hiking.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

After hiking around we made our way east to Branywine Lake to setup and early camp site and relax.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 

malibubts

Adventurer
From camp in the morning we loaded back up in the Power Wagon and began the climb up to Flagpole knob.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

After taking in the views for a bit we headed over to Reddish Knob and had lunch.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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After a long morning of driveway the dog was getting a little restless so it was time for some hiking.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

With a tired dog we made our way to Todd Lake and setup camp.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 

malibubts

Adventurer
At Todd lake I slightly rerouted our next day to cut out a little bit of double backing and had us set out on some main roads. A great benefit of this is I found we would be passing Fort Edward Johnson which was a civil war era confederate fort. There were some great views and even some of the trenching still intact. There is a great little loop that takes you around the site as well.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

After spending a bit of time walking around we hit the road west, had a quick lunch stop, and made our way to Guadineer Knob. Unfortunately the fire tower here was removed years ago, but there remains a thriving pine forest with a bit of an overlook.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Off of the same forest road as Guadineer Knob is a virgin spruce forest that was left standing due to a surveying error. There is a small trail that runs through the area showcasing the area. Over the years though the forest has grown very old and there is very little original virgin spruce left as much of it has died from various age related factors.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

From here we made our way north to the Laurel Forks campground and hiked the Laurel Fork a bit before setting up camp at a beautiful site right on the water (note this is an established site within the campground).


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 

malibubts

Adventurer
On our last day we awoke to a storm which was projected to stick around all day. I continued along on our route to Stuart and Bickle Knob. As we climbed we broke into heavy fog, making a stop at but decided not to hike up the forest road to Stuart Knob. We continued on to Bickle Knob, again in pretty heavy fog, but faced a shorter hike so we set off. To little surprise however visibility was not very good.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

We had initially planned on staying one more night, but with the poor weather it wasn't really worth just sitting around in the camper to wait it out with the trip almost already being over. I was hoping to make the rounds again on the Olson Observation Tower and check out some new trails and waterfalls near Blackwater Falls Sate park, but those will just have to wait until another time.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Spent the past week in the Upper Peninsula chasing Grouse. Lots of great color up there this time of year and explored around to some new spots.

View from the 'Grouse House':

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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Stumbled upon a pond at the end of a two track:

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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Ran into a bit of snow on the last day:

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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

And we're technically stretching this a bit as my dad and I met up about halfway and we took his Gladiator; but hey I installed his bumper/winch and helped him build his drawers so close enough right? Not to mention if you look closely you might notice a set of Power Wagon tires underneath it:


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Any luck with the grouse?
I picked up a 2 Grouse as did my dad, he also bagged a couple of Woodcock. I think it was probably the most flushes I've seen/heard in the past few years going to the UP, but as with Grouse hunting a lot of the flushes were pretty far out. I saw I think more hunters out there than previous years too, so I'm sure the birds are getting pressured pretty hard.
 

Kingsize24

Well-known member
You get so few times to be part of a good flush. I envy you RN cause it's been a REALLY REALLY long time since I've even had a chance to be part of one. It's awesome you got to experience that with your dad as well.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
I headed over to Allegheny National Forest for a quick hunting/camping trip. I wanted to get out another weekend for a bit more hunting this season, but here in my neck of the woods it's been a very warm Fall. Great for me camping, but really tires the dogs out fast.

This was my first time hunting here so I just picked a spot from some hunting maps that I found close to a dispersed spot on Friday. Due to timing I was only going to get one hunt in before dark. So I parked and headed off down a gated forest road and into the woods.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Nowadays PA isn't as known for it's grouse population, depending on who you ask the theories vary, but between this and having new cover to find I was expecting maybe a couple of wild flushes that were too far out. But sure enough about halfway through the hunt up pops a grouse between my dog and myself.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I finished up heading back to the truck fairly quickly though as it was getting close to dark, and did not see anything else. I quickly ran down the forest road and setup in a dispersed spot for the night. I did pick up a diesel heater and it made it's first appearance, but I need to do some tweaking with this as far as positioning and ensuring I have enough fuel. Luckily I had my down comforter but I definitely did not bring enough fuel to last the night.

I woke up bright and early to get out on the hunt again, there were definitely a lot of other hunters out, but mostly deer I think. Spots were a little difficult to come by, but it wasn't terrible.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Interesting little blade / dragger machine outside one of the forest road trail heads.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flick

I put my boots down 3 different times throughout the day, but only saw one wild flush the whole day. A little disappointing, but given I picked up a grouse yesterday and wasn't expecting a ton of action I'm still pretty happy overall. I also did a bunch of scouting between hunts and even found some new cover that had campsites right off of them. Not sure if it will be this year, but I think I need to make my way out here again.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
A couple of small mod updates, but nothing crazy.

I found some folks using OEM mud flaps on another forum and they looked like a pretty robust but also flexible option. I figured I'd give them a shot and see if they keep the truck and cleaner and keep some of the rocks away. These were pretty easy to install with some of the OEM bolts being reused and then using some of the plastic rivets, those things do have a bit of a learning curve but once you figure it out they go right in.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Then I also got some onboard air going with an ARB Twin Compressor and an engine bay mount from NH Overland. I had a Viair 88P which still worked but really is undersized for 35s. Not to mention to get my spare in I had to pretty much deflate it, so if I ever need to pull that out I'm looking to fill up that whole tire. I figured I'd be quite a bit safer with a new compressor that can better handle the tire size. Also obviously this is a much faster system and is always hooked up and doesn't take any storage space. Finally I don't have a compressor at home either so this will also serve to fill up the wife's car, the lawn mower, etc.


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


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by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

The install was a bit trickier than I expected, but it's a solid mount and I'm happy with the compressor location in the engine bay. It just fills up some dead space and gets me more space elsewhere in the truck. I've only used it a couple of times for small full ups, but so far I'm pretty impressed with the compressor as well.
 

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