Ram 1500 from Hill country build

[jpop8807]

Hey guys, I'm Josh. When I came back from overseas I really wanted a 4wd. My wife said as long as I don't go upside down. I owed 15800 on a 2011 Tacoma Prerunner. Well I found a single cab 2011 Ram 1500 in Belton for 13000. Both the trucks had roughly 130k on them. Yet the Ram I assumed used to be a work truck. Bare bones with 4wd and Tow Package (trailer brake and stuff) At first me, and my wife were hesitant because KBB said my Taco was only worth 12900 after I beat the **** out of it. The dealer offered me 18k So after tax tag n title I owe 10k on my Ram. Which made the wife happy 387 a month to 180. Anyways without further hesitation here she is when I got her. Side note quick comparison to my Tacoma.
Tacoma TRD Sport Prerunner rides much smoother then the Ram. I'm assuming its because of less weight, and stock bilsteins. We have a decently rough dirt road that has a 40mph speed limit tacoma had no issues flying down it. The Ram on the other hand even at 30 felt like it wanted to lose control (both in 2wd). I feel every bump in the road with the Ram. Honestly the pick up feels about the same. Obviously the ram tows more. The Ram being a base model kinda sucks hand cranking windows no fun. No power locks either so i tend to forget to lock my darn truck lol. I do like how roomy it is for a regular cab, and the wider bed. Also performance doesn't feel like it suffers with my sportbike in the back. The Rams headlights look new but they suck. The stock tacoma has much brighter headlights. Tacoma has much better approach angle. I slammed the **** out of the front bumper at Hidden Falls adventure park. Its pretty caved in well the bottom of the Ram.

 

[jpop8807]

Things I want to do to it

I'll break this into categories including maintaince since I did get it with 130000, and absolutely no service records. If you feel I'm missing something, or should add something to the list of stuff I want to do feel free to chime in. All the stuff I'm listing unless noted otherwise is still on a to do list. **<signify completed tasks

Maint. (No point in upgrading stuff until I know she's taken care of)
Brake pads- Done at 140200
Trans flush/filter change-Done at 14700
Coolant Flush-Done at 143000
Differential flush- I heard if it was used to tow I should look into fresh diff fluid
Alignment- Probably going to get a lifetime deal somewhere
Spark plugs-No idea if they have ever been changed
Door Seals- I get a loud whistling in my cab my drivers door seal is pretty dry rotted
Rear Brake light seal- I keep having water leak into my truck heard its from the roof rear brake light thing
Lube everything
Differential Breather mod- I know with tacomas the breather sat too low and the rear dif ended up with water/sludge in it
Cabin Air filter mod- My truck interior is constantly full of dust even with the windows up should help with that

Interior
Power Lock kit
Power window kit
Component Speakers
1 sub with amp
Seat covers- Found these nice ones online for 250 fit like a glove come with molle attachments
GPS- Possibly the slightly more expensive garmin with backup camera

Performance
Diablosport tuner
Afe Stage 2 intake
Magnaflow Exhaust
Suspension- Currently inbetween Icon(expensive), fox 2.0 coils with the 2 inch lift, or bilstien 5100 adjustables (cheapest route)
Wheels and Tires- **Purchased American Outlaws- with Cooper ATP 285/70R17E load- they were on sale rides rough but I hear e load lasts a while might move up to 285/75 in future
Limited slip- I hear they make a world of difference, Tacoma came stock with one
Locker- I hear good things about ARB air lockers

Exterior
Bumpers- I'm between KORE, and Addictive Desert Designs. A.D.D. is way more expensive but has a winch mount built in. Both provide great approach angles hence not looking into ranch hand n
such
Rock Sliders- Haven't found any I like since I'm not going high just want a pure slider vs the step ones
Lighting- Most likely Rigid or baja designs for a light bar. Also looking for brighter headlight solution
Fender flare- I noticed since this truck has none rocks eat the **** out of my rocker panels. Might just custom rig something or get the OEM/Smaller bushwackers
External outlet- Might have to find a build thread to help with this. I liked my tacomas outlet in the bed
Tool Box- **Purchased craigslist 150 for a normal tractor supply box**

Overlanding/Supplies
More Tools
Bottle jack or hi lift
Ice Scraper
Squeegee
Low Pro cross lug wrench
Axe
Hitch Shackle
Paper Towels/TP
Tool Bag
Funnel
Flash light **
Front Tow Hooks
2x4's
Tire Repair Kit
Max Trax- or cheaper equivalent
Power invertor
Fire Starter Kit
First Aid kit ** Good old army first Aid kit

Thats all my to do **** any other suggestions please add

 

[jpop8807]

Wheels and Tires
285/70R17 Cooper ATP's
American Outlaw Wheels

 

[chet6.7]

Good luck with your truck,hope you have a lot of fun with it.Ram headlights suck,and have sucked for years.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Ram headlights suck,and have sucked for years.

I tried everything in my '05 headlights, finally installed custom Morimoto HIDs. Problem solved, but expensive. The 2011s have different headlights, better than the 3G, but still crap. Read the headlight and other upgrade threads on the PW Forum for some ideas about what works and what doesn't. Lots of stuff there that applies to 1500s.
http://forum.powerwagonregistry.org/

 

[jpop8807]

For components you don't really have a lot of choices if you want to stick with 6x9's, but of course with about the same surface area as an 8" woofer it's nice to have that much displacement - especially in a single cab. If you're a little bit handy though, you can make 6x9 components cheaply.

Find a set of MTX TDX692 (currently available from the manufacturer's outlet on ebay for 50 bucks a set!) here or TDX693 - here's what's special about the MTX 6x9's: the wire for the tweeter goes up the middle of the magnet instead of passing through the woofer cone.

This means you can clip the wire for the tweeter, then pop it out of the post in the middle of the woofer and with a little soldering (to relocate the crossover capacitor) you have components. Do not attempt to remove the entire tweeter pod, it doesn't unscrew. Learned that lesson the hard way - just leave it there, it won't affect the sound. I stuffed a tiny dab of epoxy down the hole that the wire came through, just to keep it from "leaking".

Even nicer still is these coaxials have true component crossovers, there's a low pass filter on the woofers. They're 6dB/octave but I don't know of any other coaxial 6x9's with a low pass for the woofer. The whole thing is beef, too.

Between two pair of those (a pair for the rear speaker locations too, which are also 6x9 at least on my 2015) and some sound deadener I don't feel any need at all for a subwoofer taking up space. Best deal I've found on sound deadener recently is noico on amazon





I also did a Garmin Nuvicam and the BC30 back up cam. I used a Bayou Goat mount to mount it on the center of the dash, and had to replace the suction cup mount that came with the Garmin for a taller one, so the forward facing dash cam could actually see the road. The back-up camera comes with a different power cord for the GPS unit, since the receiver for the wireless camera is built into the cord. Unfortunately the length of USB cable between the receiver and the end was not quite long enough to mount the bulky receiver out of sight below the dashboard so I had to improvise. I don't love it BUT this actually had the side effect of bolstering the Bayou Goat mount and reducing movement of the GPS so I trade a little beauty for a little function.

I also bought a second magnetic "shoe" (the part with the electric contacts and ball mount socket and usb socket) for the GPS so I can permanently mount that in my minivan and just transfer the main GPS unit back and forth when I drive different vehicles; the back-up cam of course stays in the pickup but the Garmin doesn't care, doesn't know.

For powering the back-up camera you can't use a reverse light lead (from your reverse taillights) because the truck uses a modulated signal to detect burned out bulbs. You have to tap in to your 7 pin trailer wiring. I did this and then mounted the transmitter in the void behind (forward of?) the passenger side taillight. Wrapped all junctions in self-vulcanizing rubber tape. I opted to mount the camera on my license plate with the included bracket but have been contemplating drilling out the tailgate handle (the factory location for equipped vehicles), after studying photos online it looks like there might be room in there on not-factory-equipped units for this whole camera assembly without compromising its weatherproof case.



I found some "weld it yourself" kits on ebay, intended for old landcruisers with about the same wheelbase. looked like pretty good prices (including freight) Sorry I don't have a link handy at the moment. Haven't pulled the trigger yet on a set for myself but it looked like the most cost effective solution for something cosmetically better than I can cobble together myself.



I urge you to look into spectral distribution and rayleigh scattering; I think LED's are "cool looking" too but ultimately had to go with halogens for their actual down-the-road illumination. Function before form.



I don't know if 2011's are exactly the same as 2015's but on mine I bought the factory hooks and a replacement pair of bumper panel things (cut out for the hooks, vs. the solid oem ones) pretty cheap, they came with the hardware to install them and are pretty darn beefy. Having said that, if you're replacing your bumper with an aftermarket bumper it might be a waste of effort to buy hooks that won't work with it. Get a bumper with shackle tabs or a receiver.

No I will be putting just some cheap type e's for ambiance in behind the seat 6x9 locations. I will do 6.5 components in the doors. Thanks for all the advice. I'm on Ramforumz as well, I have gotta much more help on here even though that place is full of ram owners. Thanks guys.

 

[kojackJKU]

For components you don't really have a lot of choices if you want to stick with 6x9's, but of course with about the same surface area as an 8" woofer it's nice to have that much displacement - especially in a single cab. If you're a little bit handy though, you can make 6x9 components cheaply.

Find a set of MTX TDX692 (currently available from the manufacturer's outlet on ebay for 50 bucks a set!) here or TDX693 - here's what's special about the MTX 6x9's: the wire for the tweeter goes up the middle of the magnet instead of passing through the woofer cone.

This means you can clip the wire for the tweeter, then pop it out of the post in the middle of the woofer and with a little soldering (to relocate the crossover capacitor) you have components. Do not attempt to remove the entire tweeter pod, it doesn't unscrew. Learned that lesson the hard way - just leave it there, it won't affect the sound. I stuffed a tiny dab of epoxy down the hole that the wire came through, just to keep it from "leaking".

Even nicer still is these coaxials have true component crossovers, there's a low pass filter on the woofers. They're 6dB/octave but I don't know of any other coaxial 6x9's with a low pass for the woofer. The whole thing is beef, too.

Between two pair of those (a pair for the rear speaker locations too, which are also 6x9 at least on my 2015) and some sound deadener I don't feel any need at all for a subwoofer taking up space. Best deal I've found on sound deadener recently is noico on amazon





I also did a Garmin Nuvicam and the BC30 back up cam. I used a Bayou Goat mount to mount it on the center of the dash, and had to replace the suction cup mount that came with the Garmin for a taller one, so the forward facing dash cam could actually see the road. The back-up camera comes with a different power cord for the GPS unit, since the receiver for the wireless camera is built into the cord. Unfortunately the length of USB cable between the receiver and the end was not quite long enough to mount the bulky receiver out of sight below the dashboard so I had to improvise. I don't love it BUT this actually had the side effect of bolstering the Bayou Goat mount and reducing movement of the GPS so I trade a little beauty for a little function.

I also bought a second magnetic "shoe" (the part with the electric contacts and ball mount socket and usb socket) for the GPS so I can permanently mount that in my minivan and just transfer the main GPS unit back and forth when I drive different vehicles; the back-up cam of course stays in the pickup but the Garmin doesn't care, doesn't know.

For powering the back-up camera you can't use a reverse light lead (from your reverse taillights) because the truck uses a modulated signal to detect burned out bulbs. You have to tap in to your 7 pin trailer wiring. I did this and then mounted the transmitter in the void behind (forward of?) the passenger side taillight. Wrapped all junctions in self-vulcanizing rubber tape. I opted to mount the camera on my license plate with the included bracket but have been contemplating drilling out the tailgate handle (the factory location for equipped vehicles), after studying photos online it looks like there might be room in there on not-factory-equipped units for this whole camera assembly without compromising its weatherproof case.



I found some "weld it yourself" kits on ebay, intended for old landcruisers with about the same wheelbase. looked like pretty good prices (including freight) Sorry I don't have a link handy at the moment. Haven't pulled the trigger yet on a set for myself but it looked like the most cost effective solution for something cosmetically better than I can cobble together myself.



I urge you to look into spectral distribution and rayleigh scattering; I think LED's are "cool looking" too but ultimately had to go with halogens for their actual down-the-road illumination. Function before form.



I don't know if 2011's are exactly the same as 2015's but on mine I bought the factory hooks and a replacement pair of bumper panel things (cut out for the hooks, vs. the solid oem ones) pretty cheap, they came with the hardware to install them and are pretty darn beefy. Having said that, if you're replacing your bumper with an aftermarket bumper it might be a waste of effort to buy hooks that won't work with it. Get a bumper with shackle tabs or a receiver.

Shovel, have a look at 4300k HID systems. Once on they are the exact same "color" as halogen bulbs, but a hell of a lot brighter. I run them on all my rigs. No 6000k ****. 4300k in 55w is the sweet spot, any higher wattage, and road signs become to angry to handle, and 35w 4300k have a tinge of the "blue" color. The 55w HID in my 500s are awesome.

 

[mccustomize]

Before you pull the trigger on HIDS, have a look at silver star ultras, they run about $50/pair at the parts store but I've seen them in person and the output is amazing. I have a set of HIDs from a mercedes in my truck (ironically plugged right in) They are Bosch and have been amazing for me but I have nothing but bad experience with aftermarket HID kits. I'm pretty close to you over in killeen/ft hood, join Texas Overland on facebook there are a lot of group events posted.

 

[falfrenzy]

jpop8807,

Hopefully someone can prove me wrong, but there are not ARB lockers available for the 2011-15 series Ram 1500. I have a 2012 Ram 1500 4x4 ST and from what my research tells me, the front carrier is fusion welded to the ring gear. Those who have done locker installs have obtained a 2009-2010 front axle assembly and had a custom locker install. Right around $10,000 one guy said. Hopefully I'm wrong and someone else can shed some light.

I would recommend a LED light bar and off-road front bumper install before sinking money into headlights and stereo equipment.

 

[kojackJKU]

I mean HID hella 500s. way better than LED. I run a quality hid kit in them. I would never run HID in my headlights.

 

[Oddity]

Nice! Subscribed
-Fellow Ram owner

 

[jpop8807]

jpop8807,

Hopefully someone can prove me wrong, but there are not ARB lockers available for the 2011-15 series Ram 1500. I have a 2012 Ram 1500 4x4 ST and from what my research tells me, the front carrier is fusion welded to the ring gear. Those who have done locker installs have obtained a 2009-2010 front axle assembly and had a custom locker install. Right around $10,000 one guy said. Hopefully I'm wrong and someone else can shed some light.

I would recommend a LED light bar and off-road front bumper install before sinking money into headlights and stereo equipment.

I completely agree with you. Function over form. Now is that just for the front though? I was just going to see if they had a rear locker/limited slip diff. I think I'm going to try and save up for the A.D.D. front bumper expensive as hell. Reasonably light great approach angle similar to the KORE, but I believe its a tougher metal plus comes with a winch mount.

 

[jpop8807]

Nice! Subscribed
-Fellow Ram owner

Hell ya bro do you have a build thread?

 

[falfrenzy]

There is a factory "anti-spin" rear diff available from the factory.

 

[jpop8807]

UPDATE

Hey guys been a while current update. I had DODGE do a coolant service, and transfer case service. I can't figure out how to edit my previous posts, or I would have just marked those off the list. I have the Royal Purple I need to do the diffs next.

I took the old headunit from my Tacoma, an older pioneer avh 2500bt, and had that installed as well as the old JL Audio 10w0 I completely forgot I left in Florida before going to Korea 2 years ago. Still sounds great I had the rear panel speakers replaced with alpine type E's just to match the RMS from the headunit. Also I bought a RM 250 2 stroke that I hope to turn into a trail bike....If I don't die first never ridden dirt, and just picked it up, and put new tires on it.

Anyone here running 285 75 17s?












Hey does anyone who has the cheaper rams without the second glovebox have ideas for stuff to put in the cuby spot here? I don't want loose **** in there it will irritate me. I was thinking maybe do some velcro and have stuff that I can set on it so it won't move around. I don't know yet. Since I'm on limited storage space anyways with this single cab.