Don's 2024 Ram 3500

[JR]

That intercooler looks like and accident waiting to happen, way to low.

[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

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

Good work chief

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You can get the

You can get the pilot out of the cockpit, but hard to get the cockpit out of the pilot.
;-)

[Flyin6]

That intercooler looks like and accident waiting to happen, way to low.

It's not as low as you'd think, but in any case, there is about to be some significant steel coverage for it ;-)

[TexasRedNeck]

Looks good.  Like the lights.


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[Flyin6]

Looks good.  Like the lights.


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...Your recommendation!

[Flyin6]

I pushed to the finish line today, completing the bumper and the winch installation.

Some progress as I installed the wiring harness, redid the winch installation and added the bumper clevis plates.

[Flyin6]

I had to modify the bumper to frame mounts. The factory uses two big through bolts and three 3/8" bolts on either side to mount the stock bumper. Expedition One uses three massive through bolts and then 8-1/2" bolts on each side to mount their bumper. It is ridiculous how much stronger this is than the stock stuff.

Here is a shot of a tricky extra mount that tucks inside the factory mount with a through bolt carrying its load. It gives the new bumper a much more solid mount.

[Flyin6]

I used the tractor to hoist it into mounting position, then I loosely joined to the truck with a couple of bolts. I aligned everything inside the garage later on.

[Flyin6]

Once back inside out of the sun and heat, I installed a few more of those 16 mounting bolts then ran the winch cables and hooked that up.

[Flyin6]

The winch works well and sounds very powerful. I played out some rope, then attached the clevis, then winched it back into it's docking slot in the hawse head.

[Flyin6]

The bumper was drilled and tapped for some #10-24 screws to then attach the winch control module. This thing is IPF68 which is pretty waterproof.

[Flyin6]

Then for the next couple of hours I donated skin and blood to various parts of the Ram but ended up after trimming the fender inner liners with a finished installation. Man, it looks so much better!

The body guard tubing fits the contour very well!

[Flyin6]

Those Clevis mounts are super beefy. Some of the largest I have seen.

[Flyin6]

Finished product:

[Flyin6]

Before and after:

[JR]

I like the clevis mounts, with handle to pull or butts up!

Clearance looks better, how are the lights?

[Atkinsmatt]

Looks good.

[stlaser]

I concur, much better looking 

[oklawall]

You should send pictures to Ram and tell them this is how it should come

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[Flyin6]

I like the clevis mounts, with handle to pull or butts up!

Clearance looks better, how are the lights?

I just finished it last night and was pooped! I just crawled inside, showered, and veged out on YouTube until the sleep monster got to me.

Thinking about scouting out some LED rounds to go in where the fog lights used to be. I lost all that so probably need something in those bumper holes...

[Flyin6]

You should send pictures to Ram and tell them this is how it should come

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Roger that.
Or have Ram offer this as an option, especially on that Power Wagon truck

Did I mention I REALLY like the PW??

[oklawall]

You should send pictures to Ram and tell them this is how it should come

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Roger that.
Or have Ram offer this as an option, especially on that Power Wagon truck

Did I mention I REALLY like the PW??

I don't think you have said that before.

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[Flyin6]

I was over at Harbor Freight looking at their new HE IP69 (waterproof) LED lights. They have a 6-cell unit retailing for $159 (ea.) that puts out 7200 lumens and is both a spot and a flood light.

Anyway having looked at them, I can say the quality is way up there but the price of $270 for the pair is scaring me off for now. I wanted to put something back into the holes in the bumper where I would have remounted the stock fog lights. I might as well add some additional lighting for those off-road nights which I seem to find myself in mostly during the winter months down at the farm.

Anyway, I noticed these high-quality clevises with a 7/8" pin for $19.99 so I picked up one.

[Bigdave_185]

The lights you looked at Harbor freight are about direct copies of the Baja design lights at more then double the price. Have great light output

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/lp9-pro-led-auxiliary-light-pod/

I’d say buying the lights from harbor freight is worth it.  That’s not even a tank of fuel considering what driving off the road would cost ya


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[Flyin6]

The lights you looked at Harbor freight are about direct copies of the Baja design lights at more then double the price. Have great light output

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/lp9-pro-led-auxiliary-light-pod/

I’d say buying the lights from harbor freight is worth it.  That’s not even a tank of fuel considering what driving off the road would cost ya


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OK, thanks for the advice.
And I have looked at the Baja Design lights, and concur, they are very similar.

[Bigdave_185]

There a few YouTube videos that compare the HF units and the stack up really well.


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[Flyin6]

I took my Frau out to see the new movie: Horizon with Kevin Costner.

How does that fit in this thread, you ask?

The movie is three hours long and started after 1900. So yes, it was dark when we drove home. I purposely selected that time so that I could get some back-road driving with the new Morimoto headlights.

All I can say at the moment is that I am stunned!

In a very BAD way! Those headlights are awful. Truly awful. When we were clearing the mall parking area away from the overhead lighting it seemed as though I only had parking light illumination, something less than a cheap flashlight. I stopped and got out of the truck to see if the lights were even on, and sadly, they were.

The light output is less than the stock halogen, and the beams are aimed a little high. You can only see the headlights on a backroad where no other lights exist. At the moment I am sick to my stomach after having paid $800+ for totally insufficient lighting.

And the amount of work ahead of me to get those things back out and the stock headlights back in is daunting. I recall seeing these Morimoto lights as having normal power LED bulbs installed that do not blind other drivers. But I doubt other drivers will even see my headlights, and once off the highway, I had to drive 35-40 because I could only see a hundred or so feet ahead and the deer were out and all over tonight.

Does anyone, anywhere make anything that works correctly anymore?????????

[JR]

Hmm, just wanted a late night drive with the frau was all I was thinking.

To bad about the lights, sure like my LEDs. They could be easier to replace though. I have to do similar on the Tahoe.

[Flyin6]

Hmm, just wanted a late night drive with the frau was all I was thinking.

To bad about the lights, sure like my LEDs. They could be easier to replace though. I have to do similar on the Tahoe.

I bought those powerful LEDs earlier. I'll switch them out today
but
I hate the extra (unnecessary) work.

[Flyin6]

Well, I can't switch those LED bulbs out! It turns out that the Morimoto lens has the bulbs permanently sealed into the housings or at least it appears to be. Where the cap would be located to access the actual bulb(s) there is something that looks like a potted area with a bunch of wires coming out. It looks like poured resin.

I did re-aim the lights lower, much lower. We noticed that the cutoff line for the projector lenses was so high up that it was hitting a couple hundred yards down the road, and was not very visible. Thinking that I may have been illuminating (hoping so anyway) I pulled them down perhaps 15 or more degrees as measured on the wall of my garage.

So tonight, I'll grab the pretty girl and go for another drive. I'm thinking Grater's ice cream this time. And get another drive in the dark on hopefully, highway and back roads too.

I'll check in here after the test sometime tomorrow.

[JR]

I go to a local place and park on the level ground near a wall. I was trying the garage method but never seemed to be right.

[TexasRedNeck]

Sorry to hear Chief.  Hope it works out.  Graters is amazing.  Black cherry chocolate chunk…for the win


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[Flyin6]

I did some re-aiming of the headlights and am getting much better results. Not an abundance of extra light, but it is more now where it needs to be.

I need additional lights if this setup is going to work for back roads driving or there are going to be more dead deer.

[Flyin6]

I purchased two of the four-element Harbor Freight Road Shock lights and tried to install them.

These look and act a lot like the Baja Designs top-notch lights but for 1/3 the price.

My truck has the factory-installed auxiliary switch panel allowing me to control six additional lights or things. I tried to use that using the provided factory wiring terminal blunt-ended wires. I could not get the lights to simply switch on and the installation needs some additional time. The thing is, I am out of time for a project with the approaching trip. The thing that makes installing these lights a more difficult proposition is that they have a "low beam" position as well as a high beam mode. You cannot engage both at the same time or damage will occur. So I need to set up some sort of multi relay system or use the additional cost Road Shock harness ($70). But that harness supplies its own switch that is a three position unit, and figuring out how to wire that into the factory switch and still retain the dual modes is about impossible without spending some time sorting through it.

So the lights are presently installed but are not hooked up to anything.

[Flyin6]

Moving right along, I wanted a stronger Cell phone antenna so I purchased a We Boost system.

It has an antenna, cabling, a processor, and a cell phone holder.

[Flyin6]

The antenna has a powerful magnet that just sticks to the roof. I routed the wire through a convenient roof clearance light fixture.

[Flyin6]

The system is a plug-and-play affair. I removed some trim pieces to route and hide the wiring harness

[Flyin6]

And just like that. I had yet another screen mounted in what is really becoming an EFIS cockpit.

My phone showed two bars all by itself and when mounted showed the SAME TWO BARS!

Later on, it was showing four bars, so, who knows???

[Flyin6]

I monkied around with the rear springs, removing one spacer from the rear of the overload spring since it was engaging before the front. It took some clanging sound out of the ride afterward.

[JR]

You said you had like 6 aux switches in the cab, can't you use 2 of them for L/H?

[Sammconn]

And just like that. I had yet another screen mounted in what is really becoming an EFIS cockpit.

My phone showed two bars all by itself and when mounted showed the SAME TWO BARS!

Later on, it was showing four bars, so, who knows???

They do work.
I have an older version of that same booster.
They can’t fix it there is zero however.

You’ve got a lot of screen there for sure.

[Flyin6]

You said you had like 6 aux switches in the cab, can't you use 2 of them for L/H?

I'm gonna, I think
But
Just no time left to get to it
So
I'm
Doin
this
trip
mostly
during
the
d
a
y

[Flyin6]

And just like that. I had yet another screen mounted in what is really becoming an EFIS cockpit.

My phone showed two bars all by itself and when mounted showed the SAME TWO BARS!

Later on, it was showing four bars, so, who knows???

They do work.
I have an older version of that same booster.
They can’t fix it there is zero however.

You’ve got a lot of screen there for sure.

Well when you live eight miles north of nowhere, cell service hasn't even been invented yet!
;-)

[Sammconn]

You said you had like 6 aux switches in the cab, can't you use 2 of them for L/H?

I'm gonna, I think
But
Just no time left to get to it
So
I'm
Doin
this
trip
mostly
during
the
d
a
y

Not sure what these switches look like

But

The marine world has the two position rocker switches that may solve your problem when you have some time.

Kind of like this…

https://www.amazon.ca/Polarity-Reversing-Momentary-Actuator-Aluminum/dp/B0957BR3XD/ref=asc_df_B0957BR3XD/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=682988143836&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16473136606316653451&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1002451&hvtargid=pla-1912215006140&psc=1&mcid=5f57feacd3613afcbe89e3c4aa464ef3&gad_source=1

[Flyin6]

You said you had like 6 aux switches in the cab, can't you use 2 of them for L/H?

I'm gonna, I think
But
Just no time left to get to it
So
I'm
Doin
this
trip
mostly
during
the
d
a
y

Not sure what these switches look like

But

The marine world has the two position rocker switches that may solve your problem when you have some time.

Kind of like this…

https://www.amazon.ca/Polarity-Reversing-Momentary-Actuator-Aluminum/dp/B0957BR3XD/ref=asc_df_B0957BR3XD/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=682988143836&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16473136606316653451&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1002451&hvtargid=pla-1912215006140&psc=1&mcid=5f57feacd3613afcbe89e3c4aa464ef3&gad_source=1

The HF harness has a built-in rocker switch, but I do not want to punch a hole in the firewall, and then add a non-factory switch to my brand-new paid-off (keeper) truck. Not when it already has six additional factory-prewired switches with fuses and relays already terminated out in the engine bay.

I'll look at it again when I return. I'll, or all of us together, will figure out the answer.

But thanks for the link just the same.

[Sammconn]

May need to drop it to five switches and use two circuits on a two position switch that fits the same spot one of the six currently occupy.

[Flyin6]

May need to drop it to five switches and use two circuits on a two position switch that fits the same spot one of the six currently occupy.

It is a single solid-state unit, so doesn't work like that.

[Sammconn]

May need to drop it to five switches and use two circuits on a two position switch that fits the same spot one of the six currently occupy.

It is a single solid-state unit, so doesn't work like that.

Well there ya go.
That really is too bad.

[oklawall]

I think that would be an easy fix when you get back. Depending on the signal that those switches send out

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[Flyin6]

I think that would be an easy fix when you get back. Depending on the signal that those switches send out

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