Good-Bye Jeep Hello Ram

[fasteddy47]

Built myself a Micro Switch panel on the weekend....LED display lights, small 5 amp switches, and 22 guage micro wiring.
I am going to run a relay block under the hood which will be waterproof and have heavy duty
breakers, relays, and fuses for all my electrical requirements/ Such as Roof Lights/ Lower Driving Lights/ 1500 Watt Invertor/
Camping Lights/ etc etc. I will post pics of the Relay Box once I install it.

It's nice to run such nice small wiring under the dash..... makes life real easy!!!
Cheers
Eddy

 

[fasteddy47]

Ordered a Swiss Contractor Canopy Today Looks similiar to this one.

Twenty Nine inches tall, barn doors with windows, solid sides, front slider. I am going to build a custom
boat rack that goes right over the cab and has a suspended roof basket section over the cab....bought a 1 1/2 inch 3 1/2 radius
die for my trusty JD2 bender.... we will see how it turns out

Once the canopy is done I can get on to some Aluminum Bumpers....... Front winch and rear tire carrier.......

 

[Black Dog]

I've got a stupid pic request. Could you snap a shot of the other side of the frame rail so show how the sliders bolt on? Actual rock sliders for a Ram are hard to find for purchase so I'm going to use this as an excuse to buy a welder, but I'm not confident enough in my welding abilities to weld onto the frame. Detailed pics of bolt on sliders are just as hard to find as Ram rocker protection.

 

[fasteddy47]

I've got a stupid pic request. Could you snap a shot of the other side of the frame rail so show how the sliders bolt on? Actual rock sliders for a Ram are hard to find for purchase so I'm going to use this as an excuse to buy a welder, but I'm not confident enough in my welding abilities to weld onto the frame. Detailed pics of bolt on sliders are just as hard to find as Ram rocker protection.

I will take some pic's of the Riv Nut's and tools when I get home tonight. It is a fairly simple process....but it involves drilling the frame rails with a .531 drill bit.
If you Google RNut it will show you what Riv Nuts look like and how they work. In Canada we have a company called Acklands Grainger,they stock all kinds of
Riv Nuts. The Riv Nuts are fairly inexpensive and the crush tool was about $40 if I recall. Then grade 8 5/16 bolts. I didn't want to drill a 3/4 inch hole in
my frame rails to mount 3/8 Riv Nuts.... I went with a 5/16..... there are 8 grade eight bolts per side holding the boards in place. I have jacked the
entire side of the truck up on the board. Here is a link to some bolt specifics and questions.... If you build your own gear you should give it a read.

http://www.boltscience.com/pages/faq.htm

 

[Mark Harley]

very nice! Can't wait to see the topper build, What kind of bender do you have? Manual or hydro?

The step rails will help keep small car drivers from denting your body panels too!

 

[fasteddy47]

very nice! Can't wait to see the topper build, What kind of bender do you have? Manual or hydro?

The step rails will help keep small car drivers from denting your body panels too!

Hey Mark...I have a manual JD2.... I have always bent 1" never bigger. The dies I just purchased are for 1.5" so I need to go .095 wall
so we will see how tough it is to bend !!!!!!

Small cars denting body panels won't happen.... the door sill is too high

Cheers
Eddy

 

[Mark Harley]

Ed that is a sweet bender.
Is it stable being mounted to a 2x8?

Mark

 

[fasteddy47]

Ed that is a sweet bender.
Is it stable being mounted to a 2x8?

Mark

I mounted it to the 2x10 so I wouldn't have to bolt it to the floor. The 2x10 is long enough that you have to wedge it into the garage door opening when it is open. It is very stable and
I didn't have to beg my brother in law to drill holes in his shiney shop floor
Cheers
Eddy

 

[fasteddy47]

Canopy finally arrived.... they made a mistake with the order. I wanted no doors on the sides.... just solid sides!!!! We went back and forth for quite
awhile and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse....

I took the canopy with side doors....Now to start on the racking and interior!!!!

 

[Jimmeh]

I'd love to see the inside of your bed with the topper on. I have been going back and forth on finding a full rear door for my topper.

 

[fasteddy47]

I'd love to see the inside of your bed with the topper on. I have been going back and forth on finding a full rear door for my topper.

I will take some interior pics and post them up for you...
|cheers
|Eddy

 

[fasteddy47]

The canopy is a "Swiss" brand....they seem to have their act together as far as fabrication and aluminum welding
are concerned. The welds are excellent, the outer skin is a little thicker than the one competitor I was researching, and the price point
was a little lower.

I was quite surprised at the weight of it....it is very light and was easy to install with only two of us.
I plan to insulate and fibre board the interior, it won't be used much in winter but sure hope to get lots
of summertime use out of it.

Here are some interior pics as requested.
Cheers
Eddy

 

[jforse]

Looks good. I'm looking forward to see what you do with the inside of that topper!

 

[fasteddy47]

Looks good. I'm looking forward to see what you do with the inside of that topper!

I have started on the drawer units but have been working on roof rack and carrier basket as well. I hope to have the roof rack done in a
few weeks....

In the meanwhile I have installed the hood scoop.... a 26,000 gvw trans cooler with a dual polarity push pull fan will reside under
that scoop.... working on brackets to hold trans cooler in place ....
Cutting a 10" x 10 " hole in the hood ......raised a little sweat on my brow!!!

Also finally got around to installing my Black Cat Custom Guage Face.... I called in and ordered a custom
guage face to match my Mopar Autometer pillar guages. I also installed all blue LED lighting while I had the dash apart.

 

[DoMiNiC1]

Hood scoop trans cooler with a puller fan, just awesome! Love the truck.