NOCOASTXJ's Megacab 5.9 Cummins Longbed 8' Overland build

[nocoastxj]

Just got this bad boy! 2007.0 Ram 2500 5.9 Cummins, Automatic trans, megacab with stretched frame longbed conversion. 170K miles

Going to get it set up for year round adventures in the rockies, Southwest, and beyond with possibility for semi full timing it depending on career changes. Considering selling the heavy steel flatbed and using an Aluma Line or similar one to throw my FWC Granby on it with tool boxes along the sides. In the mean time I'm going to make the steel flatbed work so I can start using it for winter adventures right away. For mods, I will probably start by replacing the 20" wheels and 35" tires that came with it, with some more sensible E rated tires and sturdy wheels so looking for suggestions (Falken WildPeaks, or BFG AT KOs? in 17" offerings). The long game is going to be building up a more off road worthy suspension to deal with the washboard forest circus and BLM roads and I frequent. Carli, Thuren, Kingshock, etc..

I went with the longbed megacab because well I found one for sale, and I didn't want to trade my Granby for a Hawk or different camper, and I have a lot of outdoor gear, tools, and often motosports to bring with me on the road to adventure. One challenge I will face with the bed setup is keeping it versatile for both hauling the FWC, or unmount that and use in the winter to haul timbersled/snowmobiles to places like tight trailheads or mountain passes that don't allow trailers.

Looking for inspiration on "budget" flatbed builds, no sherptek, etc..for me unless I start making double the income. I have friends with steel/aluminum fab skills so I'm looking towards having a sprung subframe mounted to the frame rails and then aluminum flatbed mounted to that to keep the camper and contents from being shaken all to pieces.

 

[nocoastxj]

Slowly working the suspension/steering/used truck gremlins out and hopefully moving on to more fun things soon like lowering this beast's center of gravity down with a thuren/carli setup and adding either 35 or 37" tires on 17s or 18s

Sent from my BV9800Pro using Tapatalk

 

[nocoastxj]

Who's out there with some solid 3rd gen Ram suspension knowledge?
I'm ready to dump the cash into upgrading the steering to 08.5+ and the suspension to a 3" lift/level with Thuren components and shocks that will take a beating on the washboard roads of the west.

 

[KSM garage]

my go to place is cjc offroad for carli and thuren parts. they can get you set up with everything you need including steering. i recently did a thuren lift on my 3rd gen and expect a wait time for some parts. if your going with king shocks carli usually has 2.5s in stock but any carli 3.0s or bigger and all thuren king shocks will have a wait time of 6-10 months for build time. unfortunately king cant keep up with demand currently. i have thuren 3 inch springs and full leaf packs with king shocks and they ride amazing with 37s but the thuren leaf packs dont hold weight great. i have an aluminum sled deck with 2 snowmobiles on it currently which is about 1500 pounds and i have to put 50+ psi in my carli long travel airbags to level it. the carli opposing steering stabilizers are a great upgrade for offroad also. and the front diff guard adds a ton of protection. i have the 08.5 mopar steering and its held up great for 4 years but cjc offroad has the new apex steering system that looks really nice.

 

[nocoastxj]

my go to place is cjc offroad for carli and thuren parts. they can get you set up with everything you need including steering. i recently did a thuren lift on my 3rd gen and expect a wait time for some parts. if your going with king shocks carli usually has 2.5s in stock but any carli 3.0s or bigger and all thuren king shocks will have a wait time of 6-10 months for build time. unfortunately king cant keep up with demand currently. i have thuren 3 inch springs and full leaf packs with king shocks and they ride amazing with 37s but the thuren leaf packs dont hold weight great. i have an aluminum sled deck with 2 snowmobiles on it currently which is about 1500 pounds and i have to put 50+ psi in my carli long travel airbags to level it. the carli opposing steering stabilizers are a great upgrade for offroad also. and the front diff guard adds a ton of protection. i have the 08.5 mopar steering and its held up great for 4 years but cjc offroad has the new apex steering system that looks really nice.

Thanks for your input.
Here is what I went with
CJC Offroad sourced:
-Carli King Pintop 2.5 3" shock package valved for the 4th gens to match the springs I ordered
-Daystar cradles for existing airbags....long travel bags down the road maybe
-Carli 3" Lift Leveling Coil Springs (linear rate 2010-2013 for heavier setup with bumper/winch)
-Thuren High performance leaf spring shackles
Apex HD steering (t-style)upgrade with low mount Carli steering stabilizer, Mopar Big box upgrade
-EMF steering bushing
Already ordered extended sway bar links, and synergy adjustable track bar that will clear the mag hytek diff cover.

Elsewhere:
Metalcloak control arms
Synergy adjustable track bar

I was recommended to just keep factory leaf springs but add the adjustable shackles. Will probably do a custom leaf setup later by weighing the vehicle with the tuck camper and gear/tools on it.