Hi all, been lurking here for a year or so and finally decided it was time to step up my game. I've got some build threads over on a VW site but I've never really done one for my truck and I will need the help of a place like this I'm sure! I've had this Ram for just about two years now and have slowly been modding it/wheeling it while I also use it for work. I'm slowly transition out of the field(commercial superintendent) and into the office so I'm using my truck less for loads of "work" and more for loads of "fun!" I do a lot of remote car camping with my friends that all have pretty capable rigs and decent camp setups. I also do a lot of cycling/skiing/hiking etc. so you'll see some of that in here, Ill try to relate it to "expeditions." I also mess with R/C and have been wanting to build a scale crawler to match my truck, I think that qualifies here also. The real kicker for starting a thread here was my recent purchase of a Four Wheel Campers Hawk which I cant wait to tear into! Its old school, not sure what year, and needs some work so a lot of this thread will probably document the rebuild of the Hawk. I cant decide if I want to hike Grays and Torreys this weekend or start work on the camper.
The truck is a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500HD SXT 5.7 4x4 regular cab long bed. Its a stripper base model, manual everything and rubber floors, I love it. I bought it with 150,000 miles and it now has about 170,000 on the ticker. The previous owner installed a power inverter in the cab, a leveler in front, some crappy white body shocks and some worn out 33" tires. I immediately stepped up 35s and painted the steelies black. Shortly thereafter I bumped up to 37s. It gets about 8mpg so I'm happy when gas is below $2 hahaha. I don't know what the PO did but the truck was filled to the brim with tan dust inside and out. It took me a while to clean it all out of the interior and under the hood. I removed the front swaybar and have extended bumpstops in the rear which I was planning to remove along with the overload leafs because they don't let it flex enough. The front flexes like a ******** and the 37s only rub on the control arms even at full stuff. Gotta love stock offset wheels! Now that there's a camper involved those plans might change. The only maintenance I've had to do is rebuild the driveshafts and change the oil. I damaged the front bumper on some rocks while out wheeling one day so I trimmed it and have been getting quotes for a new bumper to be fabbed. The to do list is really long but is now changing in the direction of camper/camping so stay tuned if you want!
I usually take tons of pictures so Ill update this post with more soon! :beer:
Obligatory mans best friend pic. This is Tessa, half border collie half min-pin, in "her spot" behind the center console.
The truck is a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500HD SXT 5.7 4x4 regular cab long bed. Its a stripper base model, manual everything and rubber floors, I love it. I bought it with 150,000 miles and it now has about 170,000 on the ticker. The previous owner installed a power inverter in the cab, a leveler in front, some crappy white body shocks and some worn out 33" tires. I immediately stepped up 35s and painted the steelies black. Shortly thereafter I bumped up to 37s. It gets about 8mpg so I'm happy when gas is below $2 hahaha. I don't know what the PO did but the truck was filled to the brim with tan dust inside and out. It took me a while to clean it all out of the interior and under the hood. I removed the front swaybar and have extended bumpstops in the rear which I was planning to remove along with the overload leafs because they don't let it flex enough. The front flexes like a ******** and the 37s only rub on the control arms even at full stuff. Gotta love stock offset wheels! Now that there's a camper involved those plans might change. The only maintenance I've had to do is rebuild the driveshafts and change the oil. I damaged the front bumper on some rocks while out wheeling one day so I trimmed it and have been getting quotes for a new bumper to be fabbed. The to do list is really long but is now changing in the direction of camper/camping so stay tuned if you want!
I usually take tons of pictures so Ill update this post with more soon! :beer:
Obligatory mans best friend pic. This is Tessa, half border collie half min-pin, in "her spot" behind the center console.
