Don's 2024 Ram 3500

[Flyin6]

Zinc plated and powdered, do it right

If I do all that, I'll have to do it after the trip. No time between when it arrives and when I shove off for any lengthy anything. Slap a coat of paint on it and bolt it on. Just as easily, I coat it myself, but the larger and more involved processes will have to wait.

[JR]

Are you in a bad enough to climate to justify zinc plating?

[Flyin6]

Are you in a bad enough to climate to justify zinc plating?

Well, we do have salt on the roads in the winter, and a friend zinc coats the custom trailers he builds, so, maybe??

[Bob Smith]

Zinc plated and powdered, do it right

If I do all that, I'll have to do it after the trip. No time between when it arrives and when I shove off for any lengthy anything. Slap a coat of paint on it and bolt it on. Just as easily, I coat it myself, but the larger and more involved processes will have to wait.

Never enough time to do it right, always enough time to do it over.

[Flyin6]

Well, the bumper coating poll is about split. If I had the option of powder coating up there I believe most people would have gone with that.

It should get here somewhere early the third week in June, so I can take a hard look at it then to see if I have any time to get it powder coated, but I sincerely doubt it.

The epoxy paint is a pretty good alternative, as I have had great results in the past doing that to bumpers.

I selected and ordered a 13,500 X-Bull winch yesterday. It shipped the same day from Kali, so it should be here in time for the bumper install.

I went with a well-known less expensive winch because first of all there are really just very few winch manufacturers. I think the people who build the HF winch I have on my Jeep also make this and about a hundred other brands of winch. I did not go with a premium winch because I will probably never use it.

The purpose of this winch is obviously, self recovery. Since I do not plan to get in any crazy off-road places, I likely will not need it for that. But I will probably have to pull a fallen tree off the trail once or twice, so for that reason, I think I need one.

The OX has a straight-line pull of 13,500 pounds and will winch around 2 FPM at that load. The duty cycle is not great, 60 sec on/10 min off at max line pull, but pulling a tree where it is not straining it should be able to run a long time without overheating. It has 85 feet of 3/8" synthetic rope and a cool hause head that integrates a hook as one neat package.

Other than that I will toss a couple of auxiliary lights in the bumper, then call all that good.

[Flyin6]

Poll results:


How should I coat the new bumper

Paint it Epoxy gloss black                                              2 (33.3%)
Paint it the same color as the truck and use a hardener   1 (16.7%)
Rino-line the thing                                                        1 (16.7%)
Professional urethane spray coating                               2 (33.3%)
Leave it bare steel and top coat in clear                         0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 5

[JR]

I like the idea of a coated bumper, need a good base though. Epoxy primer?

Heard good things abou tthe X Bull winches, but I agree I think only a few companies make em and they are branded from there.

I got a HF on the Sub, works great so far. I got a Vevor for the trailer, but may save that for another use since it has the syn cable, steel is fine for the trailer.

[Flyin6]

I like the idea of a coated bumper, need a good base though. Epoxy primer?

Heard good things abou tthe X Bull winches, but I agree I think only a few companies make em and they are branded from there.

I got a HF on the Sub, works great so far. I got a Vevor for the trailer, but may save that for another use since it has the syn cable, steel is fine for the trailer.

Like you, I seem to have extra winches sitting around. I have a 10K Superwinch which has been collecting dust for nearly 10 years. I was thinking of mounting it in the dump trailer to allow me to winch stuff up on it, but then I thought I'd buy another utility trailer and bolt the winch onto that...

It's there if I need it, I guess.

[JR]

Funny, I have like 3 of the little 2500# units, served me, 1-2 still new.

I have a superwinch (syn) 4500# I was going to put in a Samurai build and an off brand 5k here too. That is probably going in the sons Sonoma (3k truck) with syn line I have laying around.

The HF 12k just pulled the Sub back onto the flatbed with no issues but we had to rewind the line. I have kept a small solar panel on both the Sub and the trailer and neither battery has let me down yet.

[Sammconn]

Funny, I have like 3 of the little 2500# units, served me, 1-2 still new.

I have a superwinch (syn) 4500# I was going to put in a Samurai build and an off brand 5k here too. That is probably going in the sons Sonoma (3k truck) with syn line I have laying around.

The HF 12k just pulled the Sub back onto the flatbed with no issues but we had to rewind the line. I have kept a small solar panel on both the Sub and the trailer and neither battery has let me down yet.

It was my 12k HF that got me out of this.



If you look in the back you can see the pumpkin hole. I was on the frame rails and going down.
Once o got here I could breath again as it was on a bit more form ground.


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[Flyin6]

Funny, I have like 3 of the little 2500# units, served me, 1-2 still new.

I have a superwinch (syn) 4500# I was going to put in a Samurai build and an off brand 5k here too. That is probably going in the sons Sonoma (3k truck) with syn line I have laying around.

The HF 12k just pulled the Sub back onto the flatbed with no issues but we had to rewind the line. I have kept a small solar panel on both the Sub and the trailer and neither battery has let me down yet.

It was my 12k HF that got me out of this.



If you look in the back you can see the pumpkin hole. I was on the frame rails and going down.
Once o got here I could breath again as it was on a bit more form ground.


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Good report! From what I have played with, that Badlands winch is very good for the $$$$

[TexasRedNeck]

How about a vote to put it back stock…..


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[Flyin6]

^^^ If that was intended for me

1. Have you lost your mind? ;-)

2. Stock, what's that?

3. New semi-custom bumper in queue for delivery in 2-weeks.

[Flyin6]

I had not checked emails for the past few days while I was away. Checking tonight, there was one with a tracking number for that new bumper.
Whoa, that was quick!
So, time to get my stuff together to decide what I am going to do to prep/coat it before installing it.

Driving the truck a bit over 500 miles a day X2, around 80 mph, I was knocking down 13.5-14.2mpg. So with the camper, I am likely going to be sitting around 12.5mpg...Ouch!

The torque of that truck is amazing. Just touch the throttle for an instant 5 mph!

[JR]

Once you pass 65 or so it kills the MPG, all vehicles have that sweet spot. I have been watching the tahoe, anything past 70 and it goes down under 18.

[Flyin6]

Once you pass 65 or so it kills the MPG, all vehicles have that sweet spot. I have been watching the tahoe, anything past 70 and it goes down under 18.

Concur!

@65 I would be 15-16mpg!

[cj7ox]

It seems the sweet spot for the Cummins is 1800-2000 RPM. At least that's what it is on mine.

[JR]

I bet adding a sail is not the beast either,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Flyin6]

I bet adding a sail is not the beast either,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

No, I doubt that will help at all!

Today I drove a highway course at 65MPH and the thing netted 16.5-17.3. It was just loafing along with almost no strain at all.
I love this motor/ASIN transmission combo.

[Flyin6]

The stock headlights ought to be illegal! They put out so little light that the truck is not all that safe to drive at night

To correct this, I ordered a pair of Morimoto replacement headlights. I had purchased some LED bulbs some months ago, but because of the terrible halo effect that I hate so much, I decided to do this one right and be a friendlier driver to the others out there.

[JR]

Nice, been looking at similar for the tahoe. Dang I hate DRLs.

[Flyin6]

Nice, been looking at similar for the tahoe. Dang I hate DRLs.

The Morimoto assemblies get pretty high marks and good comments, but they are very expensive, be careful! Tex recommended them, and no, I do not want any flame thrower lights, just something that will get the job done and be reliable.

[Flyin6]

The Expedition One bumper has arrived at the local freight terminal

Yippee

Going to get it this AM

So, the winch is here, the bumper is here, Morimoto headlights are here

Time to kick it in gear

And we have something called a "heat dome" parked overhead!!!

[Flyin6]

And I picked it up and brought it home

[Flyin6]

I built a hurried rack to suspend it from while I prep and paint it.

It was obviously mig-welded. I'd say the welds are average to good, not great.

[Flyin6]

I spend some time prepping the metal and removing all traces of oils and grease. Then I sprayed it with a good base of zinc cold galvanizing spray. I added more to the inside than to the outside.

This bumper will get a topcoat over this and then get installed. I am getting short in the tooth before a trip's departure, so I may come back to this later and blast it and have it powder-coated. That is all TBD, but for now, the mission is to get it presentable and get it installed.

[Flyin6]

I came back a second time with a good acid etching primer around all the edges and anywhere where to first coat looked thin.

[Flyin6]

On the inside, I sprayed an enamel with hardener mixed very thick to blow out with texture and thick. It worked and the inside looks like a properly Rhino-lined part.

Next, I'll top coat the outside then get after all the sundry brackets and small parts that are not already coated

[oklawall]

Good work

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[JR]

Looks good, never thought about cold galvanizing for a primer. Looks busy in there. Always wondered why the insides are not braced more?

[Atkinsmatt]

Great progress. Looking good so far.

[Flyin6]

And it continues...

The bumper sanded and prepped for the topcoat

(Yea, I know, some bare metal poking through...But the warrant officer ran out of primer and was too lazy to go out and get some more :-(  )

[Flyin6]

A quick wipe down and blowing off with high-pressure air and it was on to the top coating.

I am using my favorite "Truck bed liner" product, the cheapo HF stuff. Seriously, you can spend hundreds or just dozens of dollars and get the same results. I discovered and used the HF stuff years ago and used it to top coat the bumpers on my Duramax truck which I owned and (ab)used for 11 years. I pushed stuff out of the way like trees and deer. I spilled gasoline and diesel on it regularly. I climbed all over it and at times my bumpers have been a gymnasium for both teenagers and curtain climbers. And through all that, the stuff held up just fine.

So I am using it again on this rather spendy bumper. If it should fail, then I will snatch off the bumper and have it powder-coated at some future date.

I purchased four cans and it was a good thing. Three of them refused to spray below 1/2 full but started puking up tar-like material which clogged the nozzles. I had shaken the cans for more than 70-year-old wrists would comfortably agree to, but the stuff still clogged. Perhaps just a tad more thinner pretty-please Mr. Harbor Freight?

[Flyin6]

Some shots of the results after the initial spraying:

[Flyin6]

I use a 50% over succeeding pass technique but will still miss a spot here and there. Therefore, I always go back over it again then I use an evening technique.

Hold the can a good two feet or more from the surface and waft the material back and forth to allow it to land randomly. This will even up shiny and dull areas and add a bit of texture to the final product.

Here are some detail shots after that:

[Flyin6]

After I finished I jumped on the mower and drove around in circles for about 1.5 hours. I came in and ate a delicious plate of Chicken Alfredo my Frau just whipped up, drank a cool flavored water, and then got back on the build.

The coating was hard already so it was onto prepping the winch.

Here's the new X-Bull 13,500 unit. This thing looks to be very well built:

[Flyin6]

Right away I noticed the thing was clocked for installation in a bottom mount configuration. My bumper, however, has a forward mount setup. That required me to re-clock the clutch/gearbox before moving on.

[Flyin6]

I mounted the hawse head next:

[Flyin6]

Then mounted the winch to the winch mounting plate that is integral to the Expedition One bumper. With four moderately easy bolts, that assembly was married to the bumper:

[Flyin6]

The clevis hook mounts are 1" thick steel plates (Massive). I painted them a contrasting Massey-Furgeson gray color out of a rattle can of Rustoleum. (I hope it works out...

[JR]

Coating came out nice.

[Flyin6]

The bumper has provision for the proximity sensors. There is a nifty steel insert that I stuck in place with two small dabs (ea.) then an aluminum piece secures the assembly. The actual sensors are still in the old bumper and will soon be transferred to this bumper.

[Flyin6]

So next I removed that hideous ground clearance robbing hunk of cattle killin' iron off my otherwise beautiful truck.
Honestly, the truck looks better with no bumper and just, well, nothing than toting around that cow-catcher battering ram thing.

[Flyin6]

With the bumper gone, it was the perfect time to get those Morimoto headlight assemblies installed.

[Flyin6]

And having completed the swap, I can report, that is no small task!

No telling how many fasteners hold all that together, but I think the count was around 60ish!

But bit by painful bit the front end gave up the space and eventually yielded the stock halogen low-power headlight units.

[Flyin6]

Then more and more until finally I had it all stripped down.

You get a good picture of those active slats to regulate airflow to the radiator. Fully open this time of year to fully closed during early morning cold day startups.

[Flyin6]

I had to swap some mounts from the factory buckets to the Morimoto units and toss in four amber turn signal bulbs, and then I reversed the process. I tested the new headlights prior to reassembly and for some strange reason, everything worked the first time!

I'll go back and change something to get them properly semi-inoperative and non-dependable.

[Flyin6]

After about another hour, I had it all reassembled and just in time for some home made fajitas.

[Flyin6]

I mounted a separate iPad screen to use for navigation off-road

I started a thread about the adventure mods I am doing to the truck here:

http://real-man-truckworks-and-survival.com/index.php?board=71.0

[oklawall]

I mounted a separate iPad screen to use for navigation off-road

I started a thread about the adventure mods I am doing to the truck here:

http://real-man-truckworks-and-survival.com/index.php?board=71.0

Starting to look like a flight deck. When will you be adding the cyclic and collective? LOL

Good work chief

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