2015 Ram 2500 Carli/Thuren Build W/Four Wheel Camper

[Regcabguy]

Terrific rig. Regarding a full size spare are you getting a swingout carrier in the future?
We camped at Big Basin in 2009 the day after the mob went home and they had closed 2/3 of the campground. This would be in late September. All we had to contend with was a low but obnoxious supply of mosquitoes about 3:00 pm till dark.

 

[Allriverssouth]

Thank you! Im working on the write up. Ill try and post it up soon

I'm interested as well!!

 

[Gibby56]

Sorry about the delay... Here is the write up for both ways to add the factory aux switches. I'll do them in two posts. I did option 1 for my truck and option 2 for a buddies. They both work based on the same ideology, just routed different.

The factory auxiliary switches are setup to be a negative trigger and activates the ground for the relays. This concept is kept with how the relay/fuse box is wired.

Option 1:

Purchase a plug and play kit from "4th Gen Ram Electronics" on Facebook - $275 Shipped with new switch panel or $190 Shipped without the panel. I purchased my switches separately from Avondale Automotive on Ebay for $70.

Everything comes labeled and is extremely straight forward.


In the instructions provided, he recommended screwing the box directly on the firewall. I didn't like that idea due to possible future issues with rust, so I mounted it directly to the plastic battery box on the drivers side. There was tons of room there and the box already had a "wing" that hung off the side that fits the relay/fuse box perfectly. Here is a picture standing by my drivers side front tire looking directly down.

I routed the 2 positive leads towards the positive battery post, I stuffed the +12V wires that would go out to the 5 accessories in-between the battery and the plastic box they sit in for right now, and then I routed the white wire that has the connectors for the aux switch panel into the truck cab through the grommet shown below.

Something I learned, that rubber grommet is double sided so you have to cut it on both sides (Engine bay and in the Cab). I don't like how much I had to cut it open to fit the large plugs through but the rubber is thick and unforgiving. I shoved a bunch of silicone in the cuts to make myself feel better.

The cable that runs into the cab plugs in between the factory aux switches and the factory wiring. So no splicing of wires at all and everything works great. Auxiliary switches 1 and 2 will turn on without the key being on and the others will work when with the key. The only down side to the retrofit vs having the factory installed options is you cannot change when the switches turn on through the EVIC.

The +12V the relay send out to the accessory needs to be hooked up and then you can find a local ground source near whatever you are running power out to.

 

[Gibby56]

Option 2 involves a little more creativity but works effectively the same. Instead of grabbing the signal wire directly at the box, you grab it out of the plug that is located in the passenger kick panel.

Things to purchase: Aux switch panel for your truck ($70), concours specialties relay/fuse box ($135), and a terminal repair kit (12" of wire with the proper connector crimped on ready to plug into the existing plug) through the dealer ($25)

Here is a picture of the plug in the passenger kick panel. You can see the white wires from the terminal repair kit wrapped in electrical tape coming out of the plug. The mopar pn for the terminal repair kit is 68316924AA

This is a 3D model of what the plug looks like by itself

This is how MOPAR numbers each wire

This is the breakdown of which wire connects to the factory auxiliary switches through the existing plug based on the terminal number and it also includes the wire color which is helpful.

So all trucks have the wiring from the switch panel down to this plug. If you do not have the aux switches, the wire will not connect on the other side. So that is why you need the "terminal repair kit". You push the wire into the factory plug and they clip into place to allow you to connect them to the relay box from Concours Specialties. We mounted the Concours Specialties box in the same location I showed in Option 1. I prefer the Concours Specialties since it is a smaller design and has a rubber gasket for the cover.

You would run the wire out from the plug to the relay ground in the new relay box for the appropriate relay number.. so not the main ground for the box. For example, the wire coming out of terminal 14 (Aux 2) should connect to the ground specifically for relay 2 in the box.

Going back to the relay diagram in the first option:

You will need to connect the main power and the main ground both to your positive terminal on your battery. Yes, I said that right. Reference the diagram above.. This will make the relay act as a negative trigger. If you do not do this and you connect the relay box conventionally you will fry the aux switches. This is exactly how "4th Gen Ram Electronics" has their box set up. You can see in the picture I posted in option one of the labeled wires there is 2 main +12v Inputs and no main ground at all to the relay box. The ground happens in your dash harness as the OEM switches are designed and also a spot chosen by you near your accessories.

 

[Gibby56]

Terrific rig. Regarding a full size spare are you getting a swingout carrier in the future?
We camped at Big Basin in 2009 the day after the mob went home and they had closed 2/3 of the campground. This would be in late September. All we had to contend with was a low but obnoxious supply of mosquitoes about 3:00 pm till dark.

Thank you! I have a 35" tire in the factory spare location for now. I figured whichever tire quits on me the 35 will go on the front to not mess with the rear limited slip. I also have a tire patch kit and a portable compressor. I do like the idea of a swing out carrier from Aluminess. I just worry about things swinging open when I am in the desert. Then I think about a bed mounted system but that doesnt help me with my camper or dirt bikes. I measured between the frame rails and I have 36" max clearance. I am going to look into fully deflating a 37 and shoving it up in there next time I have one off to see if that could get me by. Any recommendations?

When we were there, the mosquitos started off horrible but we had some of those Off! clip on fans. They hate those things!

 

[Dalko43]

Awesome write-up on the aux switch installation....I think a lot of Ram owners will find that useful.

Regarding your suspension: How is your suspension faring? I've heard a lot of people praise Kings. Are there rebuild intervals to worry about?

Also, do the Carli radius arms provide more axle articulation over stock?

 

[Gibby56]

Awesome write-up on the aux switch installation....I think a lot of Ram owners will find that useful.

Regarding your suspension: How is your suspension faring? I've heard a lot of people praise Kings. Are there rebuild intervals to worry about?

Also, do the Carli radius arms provide more axle articulation over stock?

Everything is holding up great. This thing is a riot off road and is designed to take a beating. I have to remind myself to slow down most of the time, I have outrun dirt bikes and UTV's in the desert.

I like the Kings but wish they were Fox. There's no issues with them per se but I really like the hardware and quality on the Fox's. No scheduled service intervals on these unless you are racing. The amount that I use this thing, I am sticking to the rule that once they start leaking, time to rebuild.

The Carli arms dont cycle more travel than stock arms but they are thicker, have internal gussets, and set up for limit straps. The spherical joints that connect to the radius arm drops allow more twisting than the factory vulcanized rubber bushings which is a huge help with the radius arm design. The spherical joint also makes the travel feel more linear. The old rubber bushings would build up energy when compressed and unload causing things to feel more abrupt.

 

[Dalko43]

I like the Kings but wish they were Fox. There's no issues with them per se but I really like the hardware and quality on the Fox's. No scheduled service intervals on these unless you are racing. The amount that I use this thing, I am sticking to the rule that once they start leaking, time to rebuild.

Without starting a shock war, I'm curious to hear your opinion on that. Are Fox shocks considered higher quality? If so, why?

 

[Explorerinil]

Without starting a shock war, I'm curious to hear your opinion on that. Are Fox shocks considered higher quality? If so, why?

The kings are a far superior shock, but they are not coated like the cool looking fox shocks so they corrode quickly unless you wrap them with 3m. Fox I believe are clear coated.

I run fox 2.0 carli tuned and would love to ditch them for some Kings, but I don’t feel like blowing 2.5 k on shocks

 

[ttengineer]

I like the Kings but wish they were Fox. There's no issues with them per se but I really like the hardware and quality on the Fox's. No scheduled service intervals on these unless you are racing. The amount that I use this thing, I am sticking to the rule that once they start leaking, time to rebuild.

Without starting a shock war, I'm curious to hear your opinion on that. Are Fox shocks considered higher quality? If so, why?

Not any more.

They got bought by the company that owns BDS and Zone.

That alone should tell you something.

Kings are still, and always will be, the gold standard. Unless a new kid comes along with alien technology and elf magic.

Don’t get me wrong, Fox stuff is still decent, but quality has degraded in my opinion.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[McCarthy]

^ not to go off subject, but doesn't BDS make good stuff?

 

[Gibby56]

To be clear, I am talking 2.5 Vs 2.5 not Carli's Back Country set of Fox 2.0's.

Here is a picture I took of some coilovers I sold. Both are 2.5's, the only difference is the stroke. The Fox Coilover comes with larger hardware and just feels like a nicer product. They are both awesome and I wouldn't hesitate to buy Kings again. Like Dalko43 said, I am not trying to start a shock war. Its just my opinion.

When saying all of this, you can buy the most expensive and largest shock for your truck but if they aren't valved right, you're wasting money. My Carli Kings are great all around, but there is some things I would like to change.

 

[Explorerinil]

^ not to go off subject, but doesn't BDS make good stuff?

It’s run of the mill of the shelf stuff, nothing special.

 

[Gibby56]

No pictures for this update, but just got 4.30's put in. Really woke the truck up.

Fun Fact: the rear AEV cover doesn't fit with 4.30's

 

[Explorerinil]

No pictures for this update, but just got 4.30's put in. Really woke the truck up.

Fun Fact: the rear AEV cover doesn't fit with 4.30's

Yes it doesn’t clear the 11.8 ring gear that 4:30 gears come with, either did my mag hytec cover. If you want an aftermarket cover look for one for the 11.8 gears.