(Another) 2021 Ram 5500 Build Thread

[mk216v]

Who else makes what they make?

https://liquidspring.com ?
Neither cheap $ I understand.

Yeah like Plumbermike said they are the only choice in the market and they do make a pretty solid product, the kit is super beefy and seems well-engineered. I saw someone suggest before that maybe they do it to try to keep the diy’ers from attempting to install it themselves so it’s left intentionally vague, not sure. Seems like they did put at least some effort into the instructions and they are posted on the product pages for their kits for everyone to use so I don’t think they’re trying to keep it to only their preferred installers. And yeah the kit is not particularly cheap, with freight and tax a 4-link kit is around $5k just for the rear and that’s without any height control for the airbags, just a manual fill. Maybe they are just too busy or don’t care to update them, they are trying to cover like 3 generations of different chassis cab configurations in one instruction set so the pictures end up all being from different trucks and it’s just confusing at times. There’s a ton of leftover bolts and some metal plates from my kit that weren’t mentioned in the instructions so it’s not exactly confidence inspiring lol

Interesting business tactic to keep DIY'ers out of the equation, if that's specifically why their instructions suck. My $0.02 from this industry, it's more likely laziness. When you're 1 of 1, or 1 of 2 in the market, some just don't push themselves to offer a truly superior product experience all around (service levels before/during/after, product, instructions, warranty, etc). Just offer 1 kit with general instructions for all, and include all the hardware for all possibilities--less work than sealing hardware packages for truck-specific kits, but cost is passed onto consumer. Add to this, probably little feedback from their pro installers who've just figured out their own applications (parts/instructions) and never said squat to Kelderman. Typical auto industry. <shrug>

Carry on, let's see those 41s on the RAM!

 

[Brad_UT]

Thanks for posting the AEV fender install pics. I think I'm going to sell my Buckstop fenders and go that route too. They just look so much better.

Once you get done with your sheet metal work, try some 3M Dynatron 552 seam sealer on the joints. Stuff works great.

 

[frodotbaggins88]

Thanks for posting the AEV fender install pics. I think I'm going to sell my Buckstop fenders and go that route too. They just look so much better.

Once you get done with your sheet metal work, try some 3M Dynatron 552 seam sealer on the joints. Stuff works great.

Yeah I think the AEVs look fantastic and they feel super nice and sturdy. They don’t cover the whole tire which I’m ok with. I’ll probably make some kydex extenders to bring them out about another inch.

 

[frodotbaggins88]

Little more progress after buttoning up the fender flares, truck is almost drivable with no lift and haven’t moved the axle forward yet. It only rubs at full lock with some compression but I can maneuver it around the driveway just fine. Ordered some replacement parts for the grille/fascia to get rid of the chrome, hopefully have that stuff in a couple weeks.

 

[ITTOG]

Good decision on the chrome.

Are any part of the tires under the fender? LOL!

 

[McCarthy]

Looks amazing but tires seem to stick out really far? Or is it just the angle?

 

[frodotbaggins88]

Good decision on the chrome.

Are any part of the tires under the fender? LOL!

Haha about half, if that. I'm gonna make about a 1" extender to cover a little more but I'm not too worried about it, they're so wide anything that gets kicked up will probably miss the side of the truck entirely lol.

 

[frodotbaggins88]

One of my goals for this build is to fab as many parts as possible in-house so I intended to start with the control arms. However since @Brad_UT already did the leg work calling Core 4x4 and asking for custom control arms, Core ended up putting the arms on their full time menu. The cost for me to fab wasn’t much less than having Core do these, and Core offers a lifetime replacement policy and they’re locally built here in Utah so I went with them. They use Johnny Joints on all ends with plenty of adjustment to move the axle forward as much as 2”. They are incredibly beefy. Really happy with these parts.

This made moving the axle forward a breeze. We had the links installed and axle moved in about 2 hours and I finally got to drive the truck a little bit. This week I'll start on the front suspension beginning with the airbag and shock mounts. I didn't go with the Kelderman kit for the front, all parts will be fabricated in-house. Will post some updates hopefully this weekend.

 

[frodotbaggins88]

Small update on the truck, not much work actually going on at the moment, mostly just a ton of CAD, taking measurements, ironing out final designs for the front suspension components.

Did swap out the 22gal OEM midship fuel tank for a 50gal Transerflow tank. This is a steel tank coated with Line-X. Big beefy tank. I have a total of 102gal of diesel on board now. Should get somewhere around 1000 miles of range, maybe a little more.




A few other goodies have arrived though. Some winch stuff, new grille and headlamps, front trim pieces.




Unfortunately UPS managed to damage not one, but both of the new headlamps. They are night edition LED headlamps, they managed to break all the mounting tabs off of both them lol. So I am now waiting for a replacement for those to swap out the front fascia.

 

[RS59]

Another option

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

How is the transferflow midship working so far?

it was high on my list but when I called them to order they were very adamant it wouldn’t work with the DTE gauge and they couldn’t give me a straight answer on how that would effect they dual tank transfer pump operation

 

[frodotbaggins88]

How is the transferflow midship working so far?

it was high on my list but when I called them to order they were very adamant it wouldn’t work with the DTE gauge and they couldn’t give me a straight answer on how that would effect they dual tank transfer pump operation

Yeah, transferflow told me the same thing, but I decided to go for it anyway. So far I’ve driven about .5 miles since I installed it, so I can’t say for sure haha. It did transfer fuel from the aft tank to the new midship fine though. Since the midship was empty after I installed it. I’ll let you know how it goes once I can drive it again. Had a ton going on but I plan on posting some updates soon.

I knew the DTE calcs would be off but decided I could live with that for the extra range and to support my diesel heater for long term camping.

 

[mk216v]

How's the quality look on that Transfer Flow tank? And the Line-X is the extra cost option, yes?

 

[frodotbaggins88]

How's the quality look on that Transfer Flow tank? And the Line-X is the extra cost option, yes?

Quality seems very good. Yeah the line-x coating was extra. I think about $200 more. I wasn't going to get the line-x but they had one in stock, the non-coated one was like 16-20 weeks out or something. Had I known how long I'd be sitting around waiting on other stuff anyway, I would have just waited for it haha

Quality, though, I have no complaints. The straps were a little small with the thick line-x coating so it took some doing to get it installed. It's definitely not going anywhere.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I was SUPER impressed with the quality of the Transferflow tank i had on my Tundra, and with their coating. 40000 hard miles with it, and when i sold the truck it never even chipped!

Yes on the small straps. The ones for the Tundra were cheesy because they bolted into the stock nutsets inside the frame horns. I ripped the tank right off the truck offroad and immediately redid the brackets with bulletproof ones and didnt have a problem after