swirvin 21's build thread

[swirvin21]

Also managed to install the Road Armor on the White Ram.....looks weird to me after having seen it on only lifted trucks, but I know it'll grow on me!

[DoubleTakeDodge]

so is one of the trucks a daily driver and the other a toy? or both? lol

[swirvin21]

I've had the Black Ram since 2005, it was a dual-purpose rig for years, but my old job included a company car so I did some upgrades to make a more capable offroader. After I injured my back and lost that job, I looked around and picked up the White Ram for cheap. It had a blown head gasket and some other issues, so I started rebuilding it slowly at my house using as many craigslist parts as I could. I only recently got it driving, after I had to redo the valve body. It will be nice having a regular sized truck for driving around and will double as a tow rig since my wife is getting a yearling that I'll need a horse trailer for.

Thanks for the compliments! After I make a few more mods, I'm hoping it will look 10X better!

[ramthis9501]

Nice!

[Lt.Dan]

I want your bumper bad

[DoubleTakeDodge]

Gotcha! Both are lookin good man! Keep us informed!!

[BMRbrnSNRbrd]

You are a busy man!

[swirvin21]

It's actually a Rough Country bumper for a 2008 Chevy 2500/3500 truck. I found it cheap on Craigslist and really liked how beefy the winch plate was, so I've been planning out how to mod it to fit ever since. Having the 2" body lift really gave me the room to move it up and will give me clearance for moving the body mounts. The radiator support body mounts are notorious for being too low and in the way when you go to larger tires, they also hit when you push the axle forward. I'll detail what I'm doing so other can follow.

For anyone wanting an inexpensive version of my Road Armor bumper, check out Dodge Offroad: http://www.dodgeoffroad.com/store.php

My buddy Danny runs it, a small shop in Arkansas that deals solely in Ram trucks and he sells a Road Armor knockoff called Road Rhino bumpers. http://www.dodgeoffroad.com/store_roadrhino.php

Great price for the product and it comes in a Weld It Yourself kit if you want to make something custom for yourself! You guys should check it out, there are a ton of parts that work on both lifted and lowered Rams. I help him with sales, so if you have a question or want to plan some upgrade feel free to PM me here or even come by and I'll walk you through everything!

[swirvin21]

I have the front bumper welded up and painted roughly, will do some small stuff over time to finalize it. A few more panels under the headlamps, maybe a few more brackets and such. If anyone has any ideas I'm open to hear them! Hear it is before I painted it up some...




Here she is all painted up!! I'm very happy with it and look forward to playing with it more




I also managed to move the evap charcoal cannister up a few inches. I couldn't get as much as I hoped, but the article on Pavementsucks is for a regular cab w/ 3" body lift, my quad cab w/ 2" body lift couldn't be moved forward due to an additional body mount in the way.




Also got some new bling for the White ram! It's a gooseneck from Blue Ox. Haven't heard much about them, but the design is solid, weight rating is the same as everyone else, the ball is designed so it can be removed and locked without pulling a lever under the bed and the best part is it's designed to push the ball back about 4" farther than the others from B&W/etc so it's perfect for my short bed!!



They also had some great customer service! Which makes their product that much better!

[swirvin21]

And now for the BIG REVEAL!! I went ahead and threw on a set of 37" Bajas and 24 bolt beadlocks for "Wheelers For The Wounded" event tomorrow. They look awesome! I will weld on my rock rings and cut the runflats later, so I can't air down too much just yet. What do ya'll think? Looks murdered out in Black now!!!!








This is with 2.5" spacers in the front. I will install dually hubs when I get a chance, just happy to finally see them on there!