Vanilla Gorilla: 2017 Power Wagon build

[warwickscout]

my 6.4 gas milage has also dropped with this cold weather.those 37s and breadlocks aren't going to help either but sure will look good

 

[leelikesbikes]

It will be down the road. Thankfully the TR beadlocks are super light at 36lbs. So we’re looking at a combined tire/wheel weight of 117lbs - which is about the weight of a Toyo OCMT from the get go

Wow, that's crazy light for a 20" beadlock!

 

[EasyDoesIt18]

Man your truck looks great, just ordered up a 2018 in white. Should get it in a couple weeks.

I'm totally going to style bite with those hood louver decals.

Keep the updates coming.

 

[HOBBE$]

Nice Ride! Love the 6.4L HEMI. I've been looking to replace my '88 Ramcharger w/ a Power Wagon for some time. I found this '06 with 33,000. I added the topper and a flush mount tool box. I plan to replace the stock BF Goodrich's w/ some 315/70R17s.

 

[Mako1114]

Nice Ride! Love the 6.4L HEMI. I've been looking to replace my '88 Ramcharger w/ a Power Wagon for some time. I found this '06 with 33,000. I added the topper and a flush mount tool box. I plan to replace the stock BF Goodrich's w/ some 315/70R17s.

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Nice find! Looks minty.

cheers

 

[marshal]

really nice! does yours still have the 5 speed and the 4.56s?

 

[HOBBE$]

Yes, 5 speed automatic and 4.56:1. I test drove an '06 w/ a manual transmission. That was my preference, but it had nearly 300,000 miles.

 

[ViperNL]

Lol. I see this comment and it is nearly word-for-word the same reason why I am looking to get out of my current 4runner. Very reliable vehicle, with good offroad capabilities. MPG is just plain abysmal; I'm fairly certain the newer full-sized pickup's are getting as good mpg's or better. Engine performance is not all that great, especially when heavy. And I sorely need a pickup bed to carry dogs, hunting gear and game meat.

I'm looking at the newer Ram 2500's as well as some of the newer midized pickup's (Colorado, upcoming Ranger).

BTW, for OP, Marshall or anyone else, has anyone here had an issue with water leaking through the roof the Ram 2500 (through the seal of the radio/gps antenna)? I saw a post on another forum about this being a common issue.

LOL, same here. I like the 4Runner in general, it does fine and my mpg is ok, I think I average about 18mpg with a lift, 33s, steel bumper and sliders. But there are some strong dislikes. It's as reliable as the sun, but the thing is ancient, nothing's changed since basically '03 (engine, transmission, frame) or in some respects has gotten worse (loss of center diff for awd). Not sure what I'll do with mine. It works, but doesn't quite cut it if we want to take the entire family out camping (2 adults, 2 kids and a dog), plus I've been eyeing four wheel campers :drool:.

I test drove a Power Wagon (and gen 1 raptors) before I bought the 4Runner. It was too bad I couldn't quite get the deal where I wanted it. I remember it also being pretty tall, put a car seat in the back and my kid was at eye level (and I'm 6'4").

As for your fuel mileage tanking, there are a couple factors. One is winter blend fuel, it has less BTU. Two, the air is more dense, so more fuel is required to keep AFR's in check, more dense air also means more drag as you're pushing more molecules out of the way.

 

[marshal]

Updates!

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

picked up a Factor55 Flatlink-E in yellow for the front. this thing is so hoss

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Also worked with GRDIAN on their new dash cam setup. The Grdian setup is a really really nice 2k camera with a big lens so it can see really well at night and can accept up to 128GB MicroSD card.

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

so I popped the a pillar off and the dash access panel to run the power cord through the headliner, and down. The camera has to be wired into a switched circuit, as the camera isn't designed to be operated constantly. This particular setup comes with a 12v outlet adapter with a USB on the backside. Its only a 3amp adaptor, so its reasonably powerful for pushing a cellphone, but i have a 5 amp iOtte adaptor that i use for my phone that can fast charge it.

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

mounted

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

I also noticed this, which is an absolutely absurd amount of weight - no wonder my truck shakes like crazy on the highway. these duratracs are garbage

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Stacked the 37's up in the basement. the stack of 5 is nearly 6 feet tall

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

i have my spare tire from the 4Runner laying around still. so i thought i would roll it up next to the 37 as a size comparison. As an interesting note, the Falken 35x12.50 and the 37x13.50 have the same section width, but the tread width on the 13.50 goes really close to the edge.

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

so far I'm really loving the truck, even despite how thirsty she is. I just ordered the wheels today - so they should be here week after next

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

 

[Tex68w]

Looking good Marshal, you'll love the Flatlink E! Im still torn on tires, I've heard where a couple of guys were having separation issues with the Falkens (35-37") on full size trucks, seems narrow wheels (7.5-8") were at fault in both instances. Sounds like you are going with a 9-10" wide wheel if I remember correctly so you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[marshal]

Looking good Marshal, you'll love the Flatlink E! Im still torn on tires, I've heard where a couple of guys were having separation issues with the Falkens (35-37") on full size trucks, seems narrow wheels (7.5-8") were at fault in both instances. Sounds like you are going with a 9-10" wide wheel if I remember correctly so you shouldn't have any issues.

Yep! 20x9.5. I haven’t seen really any issues outside of a couple rare instances

 

[Bayou Boy]

Yep! 20x9.5. I haven't seen really any issues outside of a couple rare instances

Why 20s?
I went from 35s on factory 20s to 36s on 18s and the increase in ride quality is substantial with zero downside in driving manners. I was running 50/40 in the 295/65r20s and now run 45/35 in the 315/70r18s doth at the same weight rating on the Toyo chart.

 

[marshal]

Why 20s?
I went from 35s on factory 20s to 36s on 18s and the increase in ride quality is substantial with zero downside in driving manners. I was running 50/40 in the 295/65r20s and now run 45/35 in the 315/70r18s doth at the same weight rating on the Toyo chart.

I explained earlier, but an effort to minimize any road manners loss. I’m not going trying to fool anybody - this truck will spend most of its life on the road traveling between places. But I’ve elected to go with beadlocks on this truck to negate the side effects of the larger wheels Offroad.

 

[TommyG]

Great looking truck. Smart and well thought out choices on your mods. Can't wait to see the next installment.

I'll be interested to see how you like the rack in the long term. We have a fiberglass cap on ours and I keep thinking a bed rack would be a lot more practical for what we do.

 

[Bayou Boy]

I explained earlier, but an effort to minimize any road manners loss. I'm not going trying to fool anybody - this truck will spend most of its life on the road traveling between places. But I've elected to go with beadlocks on this truck to negate the side effects of the larger wheels Offroad.

Makes sense in theory but in reality you've got an 8000# truck. You are only pushing it so hard on the road. The extra sidewall makes a big difference in ride. You'll get some of that back by going with 37s though.

I love that there are multiple 4th gen Ram builds happening on the site at the same time. That wasn't happening when I bought my 2014 and it's awesome.
Keep the updates coming. :smiley_drive: