Ram 1500 2006 - work/play/expo/tow vehicle

[Snafu]

***Everything has changed by now. It's March 2012 and I have changed directions a few times!! Here is how she stands today:


Ariadne by snafu-kb, on Flickr

Ariadne: (The pics get bigger if ya follow the link, just trying to conserve space )

- ******** Cepek 33 X 12.5 R17 - They're becoming a pain in the butt! Hard to balance, cupping, missing huge chunks from the rocks...when they burn up I'm looking else where!

- Bilstein leveling struts up front & shocks in rear - I love these when I'm on the washboards and the bumpy roads. The truck is so much easier to keep a hold of.


Bilsteins by snafu-kb, on Flickr

- Camper Shell - I've got a used camper shell that was cheap for a reason, but its good for camping fun in the cold. I sold the original 20" wheels she came in to buy it and still had enough leftover for supplies for a week in Colorado. Below are my setups with it...I either just throw in the bag and pad or use the bed platform I built


Home by snafu-kb, on Flickr


Lemon sleeping too by snafu-kb, on Flickr


Camp 360 Panorama by snafu-kb, on Flickr

- CB Radio & Dual Band Ham - I had a CB until it somehow crapped out. Waiting to buy both someday. Looking at that dual band Yaesu and the all in the mic Cobra with mag mount whips on the roof. With the top I fabbed (ha ha) up this mount to work with the camper shell...shortly after all that the CB died though.


Ariadne Lava Flow by snafu-kb, on Flickr

- Lights - I really want some extra lights for this black hole called a moonless desert night



- Magnaflow - I got the shortest and smallest straight through muffler I could get and love it


Magnaflow 3" SI/SO by snafu-kb, on Flickr

- K&N FIPK - Eh...the PO installed this and it really isn't worth the trouble. There are brands with a full box around the air cleaner...buy those!

- Brushguard - I'd really like something up there since there really is a lot of BRUSH here...plus it would make a nice, stout mounting place for lights if I got something like a tuffcountry one


- Skidplates - This truck is a sport model so no skids to speak of which is a lil scary in the desert and on Engineer & Ophir pass too...


Top of Ophir by snafu-kb, on Flickr


Lookout Over Ophir by snafu-kb, on Flickr

- Front tow hooks - As previously mentioned...Sport model therefore nada...I play in the mud and snow too much not too


Dirty by snafu-kb, on Flickr


Lonely Strip of Asphalt by snafu-kb, on Flickr


Snowy Kilbourne by snafu-kb, on Flickr



Day after I bought the truck...already dirty!

Today after the new tires and wheels and some after work "testing"

 

[angusdevil]

That's a good truck to work with and one I am EXTREMELY familiar with as I've spent god knows how many hours repairing my good buddies old 06 1500.

Some suggestions for ya....
- Don't get the Rancho's, step up to the Bilsteins. Yes they cost more but if you are beating on it out in the desert, you'll thank me later. To stay on the safe side, don't go any bigger than a 2" spacer. 2.5" is fine for the mall but if you're going to be flexing out the truck, it puts a bit too much stress on the CV's.
- Be prepared to work on your CV's. Don't know how many times I've seen busted up Dodge CV's.
- Be careful with adding that big of a bumper up front on 1500... thats a lot of weight on a weak IFS suspension.
- If you are just doing lights and air compressor, a single battery will do fine. Once you add the winch, add a 2nd. Get a diesel battery try and put it in the stock location where your current airbox is. As a matter of fact, take that out too and get a intake with a reusable filter and prefilter.
- Grab a set of tow hooks for the front until you know what you're going to be doing for your front bumper. Nothing worse than being stuck with no recovery point!
- Any thoughts to an add-a-leaf? Not sure how big of a trailer you'll be towing or how much gear you'll be packing but there is nothing worse than having a trailer hooked up and you're riding on bumps.

You have a GREAT truck to work on with tons of potential. You're well on the right track to having a killer rig. Think things out, do your research and do it right the first time. :wings:

 

[Snafu]

That's a good truck to work with and one I am EXTREMELY familiar with as I've spent god knows how many hours repairing my good buddies old 06 1500.

Some suggestions for ya....
- Don't get the Rancho's, step up to the Bilsteins. Yes they cost more but if you are beating on it out in the desert, you'll thank me later. To stay on the safe side, don't go any bigger than a 2" spacer. 2.5" is fine for the mall but if you're going to be flexing out the truck, it puts a bit too much stress on the CV's.
- Be prepared to work on your CV's. Don't know how many times I've seen busted up Dodge CV's.
- Be careful with adding that big of a bumper up front on 1500... thats a lot of weight on a weak IFS suspension.
- If you are just doing lights and air compressor, a single battery will do fine. Once you add the winch, add a 2nd. Get a diesel battery try and put it in the stock location where your current airbox is. As a matter of fact, take that out too and get a intake with a reusable filter and prefilter.
- Grab a set of tow hooks for the front until you know what you're going to be doing for your front bumper. Nothing worse than being stuck with no recovery point!
- Any thoughts to an add-a-leaf? Not sure how big of a trailer you'll be towing or how much gear you'll be packing but there is nothing worse than having a trailer hooked up and you're riding on bumps.

You have a GREAT truck to work on with tons of potential. You're well on the right track to having a killer rig. Think things out, do your research and do it right the first time. :wings:

Thanks for the info and the comments!!

After reading some articles on the Bilsteins they do sound pretty good. I've already realized that all these damn rocks and washboard roads are really gonna mess up some shocks fast!

The bumper has been a back and forth for me. I've considered a brush guard like the Ranch Hand's that is actually built stout and will cover more. We use both ARB and Ranch Hand on our trucks at work and I'm quite impressed with the quality of both. I'm just worried about that mostly plastic bumper...

Tow hooks are something I forgot to list. I know from experience how annoying not having them is!! I've had to crawl in the mud to find a spot on the frame and then attach the other side to the bucket of a tractor. We had to keep the bucket down really low to prevent from busting up the bumper on my Chevy.

The previous owner installed a K&N FIPK and the box is kind of encroaching on the diesel's battery location (or at least it is from what I remember. In a past life I had a g/f with an 05 Cummins). I definitely want a pre-filter for it though, good suggestion!

The trailer wouldn't be much. I'd stick to a straight load two horse for now(maybe 2000lbs dry weight plus an 800-1000lb horse). Far into the future I hope to find a good 3/4 ton Cummins Dodge for towing a bigger bumper pull trailer and maybe a small pop up camper in the bed. An add-a-leaf would be nice though...I've noticed the rear is a lil soft with a load on it.

Thank you again! I plan to keep this going slow and steady. I'm in no rush to screw up, that's for sure. I can have plenty of fun with this ride without a lot of expensive extras :bike_rider:

I've always got my Harley when the CV's decide to blow up....An old shovel-head is a great alternative to four wheels :victory:

 

[Snafu]

Another thing I have noticed is that this truck is really going to need fender flares and/or mud flaps. The tires + more offset from the wheels have combined to where they actually stick out 1" to an 1-1/2" beyond the fenders.

My first truck when I was 16 was an old K5 Blazer I grew up with. The rocker panels were chewed up pretty bad from all the years of having fun and had started to rust up a lil bit.

I still miss that truck every day...the farmer down the road from my parents house bought it and I had to see it every time I went back home!!

 

[tinbasher]

nice truck, i too just went from a 2wd chevy to my dodge (8 months ago). i really like it, except for the gas mileage (14mpg city). and just a note my truck is a SLT and came with skids and tow hooks so you don't specifically have to look for a trx4 packaged truck.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Welcome...nice to have some more Dodge guys! My 1500 is 10 years older than yours so solid axle up front. I leveled mine with 2" Daystars. When I installed the ARB bumper with 15k Warn winch I lost only about a 1/4" of the lift. But again..solid axle. And I absolutely agree about the Ranchos. I have the 9000s on all 4 corners and I'm not particularly happy with them. I can't seem to find just the right number on the adjustment...either too soft or way too stiff. I'll be slapping on some Bilsteins very soon.

Looking forward to your build. :sombrero:

 

[Snafu]

Hey thanks for the heads up on the skid plates...that will be much easier to find!

I'm staying away from Rancho for sure then!

 

[Snafu]

I took the truck out on Saturday to the Gila National forest in southern New Mexico. I know a lot of people come to this area and pass right by on their way to Arizona or Big Bend but this place has been a HUGE favorite of mine.

The tires were amazing in all the mud and rocks. I only engaged four wheel drive a few times really but there was no shortage of mud all over the truck. They self clean without having to punch the gas and still do great on wet roads.

The views are amazing and the camp sites are all over. There's an endless amount of trails that run through mountains and valleys and along side creeks.

One thing the trip has shown me is that this FIPK kit has a terrible box. There were a lot of splatters around the filter on the fender which makes me a bit nervous. I plan to fab up some kind of add on bits to close it up a lot more. I've also started looking for that pre-filter as well.

Another thing that's bothering me is that I've discovered that the previous owner installed a HID kit and the lights are doing the infamous "el-cheapo kit" blinking. I'm on the fence about whether I should fix them or just rip them out and re-install halogens.

 

[angusdevil]

You're on a CANBUS system so HID's are going to be a lot more finiky. You can 1) get new quality HID's or 2) just put in a resistor.

 

[Snafu]

You're on a CANBUS system so HID's are going to be a lot more finiky. You can 1) get new quality HID's or 2) just put in a resistor.

I read some things on putting in a resistor...I'm just afraid of how bad this might have been done. I hate leaving crappy wiring alone...

I've never heard of a CANBUS system though, I'll do some research. I'm already going to have to get new bulbs, the current ones have no brights which drives me crazy when I'm driving home late at night fifty miles from a single person or light source in any direction....

 

[angusdevil]

Resistors are pretty common. Nothing to be afraid of as thats what the mid-range kits have in place, just in a fancy package.

Our trucks PCM and FCM read a resistance measurement through the headlight and tail light bulb filaments. When a filament blows the resistance drops and this lets the PCM/FCM know a bulb is out and two things happen here.

1) the modules reduce voltage and
2) the Lamp Out on the dash comes on to notify the driver

So because HIDs are gas filled and not a filament type bulb, when you plug them in the PCM/FCM module does not see "bulbs" and those two things stated above happen.

But because the voltage has been reduced, the HID kits will normally strobe or flicker.

The OEM filament type bulbs are 55w/65w bulbs. One the headlight harness plugs there are three wires. There is the low beam (12v), the high beam (12v) and the common (-).

So my taking 50 watt load resistors and adding them onto the HID harnesses, we can used them to replicate the resistance needed to trick the PCM/FCM into thinking there are bulbs there and that will reciprocate the two issues stated above. In other words, full voltage will be supplied and no Lamp Out light on the dash.

Specifically, the resistors get wired as such. We know there are two ends to each resistor and there are three wires on each headlight. Take one load resistor and splice it to the low beam (12v) wire and the other end to the common (-) wire. The other resistor goes with one end spliced to the high beam (12v) wire and the other to the same common (-) wire.

Go to ebay and use the keywords "load resistor" and you will find some 50 wat resistors sold in pairs. You need 2 pair

-------------------

As for CANBUS, it's the style of computer the truck runs on. Basically 02-05 1500's run on a different type of computer setup compared to the 06-08. A little bit more involved than previous years.

 

[Snafu]

I'm so happy with buying this truck...So far I've added some custom scratches from creosote and mesquite bush and I've managed to rip of the front license plate in a ditch! Made for a fun thirty minute game hide n go seek to get it back

I just got my CB radio and 5' whip antenna and I'm about to install all of it real soon. Someday in the future I'll add a dual band HAM radio as well.

Hoping to put a few lights on in the near future...sun goes down too soon this time of year!!

 

[Snafu]

Did I mention that I love these tires? They're doing great in loose sand and the mud!

This is when I realized that the front license plate was gone...doht!!

 

[poriggity]

very nice truck! I've got an 04 2500 myself.. glad to see I'm not the only Dodge guy out there!
Scott

 

[Phreak480]

very nice.

sure is nice to see more dodge trucks doing what they do best