Eating crow....2018 Ram Power Wagon build

marshal

Burrito Enthusiast
Speaking of doodads, I saw an interview yesterday with the head of interior design for Ram. It was done at the Detroit Auto Show with lots of video of the new truck interior. Dash has more doodads than a 747 and enough LED lights to cause epilectic seizures. One of the options they are most proud of is a 12" LED screen integrated into the dash. Glad I'm not in the market for a new truck.

you say that, but once you have them you realize what you've been missing out on all this time
 

Ducky's Dad

Explorer
you say that, but once you have them you realize what you've been missing out on all this time

Nope. When I bought my Power Wagon, new, I searched until I found one without a nav system. Don't want it, don't need it, don't like it. Don't want anything automatic, don't need electronic nannies, don't wish to have anything electronic interfering with my driving or distracting me while I'm doing so.
 

homeguy

Observer
AEV's monthly Live Q&A was Thursday and Matt said that they've figured out the air-ride issues for the Recruit suspensions. So it looks like the Rebel and other air-ride equipped 1500s are going to be viable alternatives now.

My wife’s has air ride. I like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

ChinaLakePW

Member
1 major: The windshield causes vision distortion. It really messed with her and made her queasy. I couldn't see it as much as I could feel it slightly - but to her it is pretty much a deal breaker. We didn't sit in other trucks so I suppose it could be a defect, but I don't see how - the center of the windshield is fine, and when you look straight ahead from driver or passenger seat is fine, but when you look out the opposite side of the windshield from where you're sitting, the distortion due to curvature is there.

I had to wonder something about this. Did this truck have the extended towing mirrors with the convex section? The truck I test drove, had the standard mirrors and I did not notice anything. When the truck I ordered came in (with the towing mirrors), I noticed a little of the feeling you mentioned. After driving for a little bit, I do not notice it anymore.
 
When the truck I ordered came in (with the towing mirrors), I noticed a little of the feeling you mentioned. After driving for a little bit, I do not notice it anymore.

It did indeed. I've since driven 2 more trucks and didn't personally notice it, my wife said she could sometimes feel it but it was 99% better - so we ordered one. I didn't order trailer mirrors, though - we don't tow anything large, just my wife's small 2-place horse trailer and a small flat deck with chores or toys... so if that's the issue, perhaps that final 1% will be gone and wifey will have to find something else to complain about.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
I have the tow mirrors and we don't notice anything of the sort. Personally I would recommend the tow mirrors regardless of your tow needs, they are valuable, larger, and appropriate on a 3/4-ton truck.
 

marshal

Burrito Enthusiast
i personally prefer my smaller mirrors. however, i do wish mine had the turn signals integrated and were power folding

but my truck will never see a trailer behind it
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
#Frontendfriday tag from my @IG

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Tex68w

Beach Bum
A little update!

Tires and wheels have been ordered, they should be in later this week, if not then they will be in towards the beginning of next week. I ended up going with Toyo RT's once again after much debate, we have enjoyed them thoroughly on the F-250 so I saw no reason to change things up in that department. Tires are 37x13.50R18 on 18x9" Method Vex wheels in Titanium to match the Power Wagon badges. If my schedule cooperates I hope to find time to get the Thuren +1.5" front lift coils on along with an alignment so that I'll only need minimal trimming for the 37's to fit.

My rack has been finalized with Nuthouse and I will be trekking up to Ohio in June to have it installed. This should be the rack that Tom has on his truck at Expo West next month, so it'll be cool to see it via pics/video before I actually get to lay hands on her. For those of you considering a rack or any other product from Tom and his crew at Nuthouse I must say that I can't recommend him enough. He's an extremely busy man, but he still finds time to personally discuss matters of the build with me and give honest opinions without trying to upsell you or sway your mind. In our interactions he comes off as a salt of the earth type who truly enjoys what he does and simply wants to make his customers happy by allowing them to enhance their utility and experiences in the great outdoors with his products. I look forward to meeting him in a few months!

I am still leaning towards a Kinzer front bumper because I really don't want to relocate the winch to the bumper, but I reserve the right to change my mind here until I see the Expo One bumper on Marshals build. I had every intention of running the King steering stabilizer from Thuren, but reports of it forcing the steering to the right have led me to back pedal from that for now. Perhaps I'll add one the dual stabilizers from BDS or Icon?!

I've all but lost my F-250 Monday through Friday as the lady friend refuses to drive the Power Wagon until it has sliders, so it's safe to say that I'll be DD'ing the PW for foreseeable future. I really should get on ordering those WhiteKnukle sliders but something else always comes up just when I am about to pull the trigger.
 

Explorerinil

Observer
Nope. When I bought my Power Wagon, new, I searched until I found one without a nav system. Don't want it, don't need it, don't like it. Don't want anything automatic, don't need electronic nannies, don't wish to have anything electronic interfering with my driving or distracting me while I'm doing so.
I had a Denali duramax that was in the shop 9 times in 6 months I owned it, that was my only non dodge vehicle ever, needless to say after a battle with gm, I ordered my current truck with no assessories but every drivetrain option I could get, I didn’t want a ton of crap to go bad or get in the way.
 

TwinStick

Explorer
I agree. I only ordered 4 options on our 2008 Power Wagon. G-56, engine block heater, heated leather seats & trailer tow mirrors, plastic slide in bed liner was thrown in for free. Everything else came with it. I wanted that liner because i am usually doing things by myself & like to be able to slide things on the bed & tailgate. When you hit 50 yrs old +, all those dash lights are nothing but a distraction at night. A 747 is a good analogy.

I never thought i would live long enough to see tv's that are too big, lights that are too bright, stereo's that are too loud, & dashboards that have too much stuff & too many lights !!! LOL
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
Thuren +1.5" front coils went on this morning. It took a whopping 20 mins to put them in. They netted +1.325" of lift over stock height. It definitely needs a bigger size tire now. It rides as good as stock if not slightly better. I plan to replace the rear coils and add some King shocks in the next year.

I was hoping that my wheels and tires would be in and ready to go on by today, but Method is slow as always, about getting things shipped out of California. I hope to have them on sometime next week.

Before

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After

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SDDiver5

Expedition Leader
I've been looking at PW's for a while now. Branch new, they are a bit pricey for me but I love them. They've becoming more and more popular lately too.

Congrats cant wait to see the build.
 

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