Stickman's Daily Driver/Weekend Warrior Power Wagon Build

[Stickman]

Figured I would make my own build thread. Isn't going to be nearly as big or extravagant as the other guys on here. Also won't be nearly as fast, this is going to be a fairly slow build since I have a normal job and my massive truck payment as well as a few other bills and toys to pay on a monthly basis that drains my account already. Once I get it paid off it should pick up though. Anyway there should be plenty of pics and reviews/updates on how this are working out. I'll try and keep the pictures of just the things I add and some good flexing pictures since I takes lots of pictures of this thing. Ask me if you want more pictures or a better review of something. Thanks for any comments and support guys! Here's the rough list of things I got in store for it. Remember I'm not planning on any hardcore off-roading in this thing, I would like it to be able to incase I can someday, but not right now. So it will look good and perform decent off road in rocks and everything. Some of the things I list are small and might not have anything to really do with the truck, but I figure if someone sees I'm going to get it and they want it also, they might wait to see how I like it before they get it.

Done List:
Line X Bedliner
WeatherTech Floor Liners
Cover King Custom Neoprene Seat Covers (Black/Gray)
WeatherTech Side Window Deflectors
Flowmaster American Thunder Dual Exhaust (45s out the back w/ slant cut tips)
Tinted Windows all around (5% on back/rear side windows and front tint strip, 35% on front side windows)
DiabloSport Trinity Tuner
B&W Tow & Stow Hitch & Draw Bar (2" and 2 5/16")
Monster Hook
Big Bubba Rope w/ Red Eyelets
Retro Shop Custom Red & Black Headlights (5000k HIDs w/ Morimoto Projectors & RGB Halos)
2" Mopar Leveling Kit
Line X'd Grille
Line X'd Factory Bumpers Front/Rear
Black Plasti Dipped Factory Rims
Flowmaster Y Pipe
PIAA 9005 Super Plasma GT-X High Beam Bulbs
Lamin-X Smoked Fog Lights, Taillights and 3rd Brake Light
Recon Industries LED Interior Lights
Craven Speed .50 Cal Bullet Shorty Antenna
Mopar Remote Locking Tailgate
Custom Painted Red RAM Express Badges
De-Badged Chrome HEMI Badges
Red LED License Plate Lights
WeatherTech Bug Deflector
Recon Industries Smoked Clearance Lights
Lamin-X Smoked Door Mirror LED Turn Signal Covers
LED Concepts LED Footwell Kit (Hooked up to my headlights to know what they are doing)
First Alert 8 Pound Fire Extinguisher (mounted just inside drivers door)
Red Powder Coated Front Tow Hooks
Bully Dog A Pillar Gauge Pod Mount
DiabloSport Trinity Pod Mount
Warn Wireless Winch Remote Kit
ARB Ultra Lite 9000 Snatch Block
Bubba Rope 10' Tree Hugger
Smittybilt 3/4" Black D-Ring Shackle
ARB Winch Cable Dampener
Red Daystar D-Ring Isolator
E3 Spark Plugs
Line X'd 2014 SLT Power Wagon Grille w/ Red Inserts
Red Powder Coated Factor 55 Prolink
Line X'd Bushwacker Pocket Style Flares
CajunPW Locker Bypass Kit
20x9 -12mm Ballistic Jester Black/Red Rims
37x12.50x20 General Grabber Tires
2 Black Factor 55 3/4" Crosby D-Ring Shackles
Factor 55 Shorty 3 Strap
Bubba Rope Gator Jaw Soft Shackle
Bubba Rope 6' Tree Hugger
Mopar Locking Gas Cap
2 Filtermag GP101s
Amsoil 75w-90 Severe Gear
Red Powdercoated DT ProFab 10.5 Rear Diff Cover
Red Powdercoated Ballistic Fabrication 9.25 Front Diff Cover
Retro Shop LED Fog Lights

Coming Soon:
Line X'd Rockers and Bottom of Doors
Line X'd White Knuckle Sliders

Want List:
Synthetic Winch Line
Airaid MXP Series Synthmax Cold Air Intake
Load Flat Floor
Rigid LED Fog Light Cubes (in place of factory)
Diamondback HD Line X'd Tonneau Cover
Custom Painted Engine Cover
Hi-Lift Handle-All
315-70-17 Studded Duratracs on Factory Rims for Winter
LED taillights (not sure on brand yet)
Carbon Fiber Hydro-Dipped Dash Pieces? (not sure on these yet)
Mopar Upfitter Aux. Light Switch Panel
LED Bar?
Electronic Cut-Outs (probably Quick Time Performance)
Escort 9500ix Radar Detector
Dash Camera (unsure on brand right now)
Aftermarket Bumpers? (may or may not get, maybe Iron Cross, Road Armor, Fab Fours)
Carli Long Travel Air Bags (for towing)
Aftermarket Head Unit? (may just stick with the factory unit for quite some time)
Cowl Induction Hood?
Moe's Performance Throttle Body
JBA Headers? (maybe, not sure)
BT Oil Catch Can
Hemifever/White Lightning Tune
ARB Diff. Breather Kit
Dynatrac Free Spin Kit
Carli Ball Joints
Eventually Doing a Full Thuren Front End (Track Bar, Drag Link, Springs, Boogie Bumps) and Probably Fox Shocks
Carli/Deaver Leaves In The Back (Matched to the front and shocks)
Different Sway Bar or Removed Sway Bar
Maybe a Wrap (To help protect the paint and look better)

Here's the day I picked it up from the dealer with 42 miles on it




Cover King Neoprene Seat Covers w. WeatherTech Floor Liners




Stock Flexing Pics








Monster Hook and Bubba Rope


Retro Shop HID Projector Headlights (LOTS OF PICS, I feel I may have too many )

[Hemi46]

Lookin good

[BANGG]

That's a big list! You will have fun. And by the way, yours may not be as fast or extravagant as others but that doesn't matter. It is your truck and build therefore it is awesome!

[05PWrockcrawler]

Looks good make it your own. Rome wasn't built in a day lol. Took me a lot of saving up to get to where my truck is now. At least you have a plan of attack and a goal to strive for. Good luck.


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[Stickman]

Thanks guys! I figure by the time I get it half way done I'm going to want to trade it in for the newest Power Wagon and then have to start all over again, lol. We'll see how these new wagons work out. I also forgot a few things on that list so it may update from time to time. LED bar was 1 thing I forgot, I'm sure I'll remember more.

[Stickman]

Ordered the Mopar 2" leveling kit yesterday to get things moving in the direction I want. Hopefully I can get that on before the end of next month. Not a whole lot of spare time from work now since we are on 6-7 days a week, 8-10 hour days. But atleast I'll have moore money!!

[Stickman]

Got my kit today. I was just wondering if there is an easy way to take the spring out and put the spacer in and re-install the spring. Will disconnecting the sway bar and the flexing the truck with a jack provide you with enough room? Or will a spring compressor be the better option? The Mopar instructions say to basically disassemble the entire front-end, which is what I expected, but what is the bare minimum you have to remove to get it in? I was just going to have the dealer install it and align it while they had it there to fix the 3rd brake light gasket and get it sealed. Just kill 3 birds with 1 stone. But if I could install the level I could save some money and time since they would only need to align it. I have all the tools since we farm, but this is my first time working a 4x4, I installed a 3" spindle lift on my old Ranger which was easy as pie, but these are much bigger and complicated front ends (in a sense, more parts for sure). I've also only got Sunday off from work and can't get any help so could I get this in by myself in 1 day? Or should I just take it to the dealer and have them install it so they won't give me any hassle over the warranty later on down the road?

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

Got my kit today. I was just wondering if there is an easy way to take the spring out and put the spacer in and re-install the spring. Will disconnecting the sway bar and the flexing the truck with a jack provide you with enough room? Or will a spring compressor be the better option? The Mopar instructions say to basically disassemble the entire front-end, which is what I expected, but what is the bare minimum you have to remove to get it in? I was just going to have the dealer install it and align it while they had it there to fix the 3rd brake light gasket and get it sealed. Just kill 3 birds with 1 stone. But if I could install the level I could save some money and time since they would only need to align it. I have all the tools since we farm, but this is my first time working a 4x4, I installed a 3" spindle lift on my old Ranger which was easy as pie, but these are much bigger and complicated front ends (in a sense, more parts for sure). I've also only got Sunday off from work and can't get any help so could I get this in by myself in 1 day? Or should I just take it to the dealer and have them install it so they won't give me any hassle over the warranty later on down the road?

Well, from my experience, I wouldn't do this by yourself. It'd be much easier with at least one other person. Also, I found I needed a lift and a spring compressor. I tried to cut some corners myself and ended up needing to follow the instructions to the letter. It took myself and a friend about six hours to complete at a shop with a full compliment of tools. Again, this is just my experience, but I hope it helps you avoid some frustration and disappointment.

[bryanh416]

I have the DayStar 1" Level: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I imagine the Mopar 2" level are polyurethane pucks, just like the DayStar.
I installed it myself in my garage, with a floor jack, 2 tall jack stands, and simple hand tools. Pretty simple overall. Just jacked the truck up high enough to get the axle to full drop, and supported the truck with jack stands on the frame rails. Only things I had to disconnect were the sway bar end links, tires, and the shocks of course. Passenger side gave me a little headache because the axle wouldn't drop enough to get the coil out, so I had to go buy a springcompressor. If I had that to begin with, it prolly would have taken 1.5hrs. I think the instructions say 45mins, but I like to take my time.

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

I have the DayStar 1" Level: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I imagine the Mopar 2" level are polyurethane pucks, just like the DayStar.
I installed it myself in my garage, with a floor jack, 2 tall jack stands, and simple hand tools. Pretty simple overall. Just jacked the truck up high enough to get the axle to full drop, and supported the truck with jack stands on the frame rails. Only things I had to disconnect were the sway bar end links, tires, and the shocks of course. Passenger side gave me a little headache because the axle wouldn't drop enough to get the coil out, so I had to go buy a springcompressor. If I had that to begin with, it prolly would have taken 1.5hrs. I think the instructions say 45mins, but I like to take my time.

The Mopar 2" kit is all steel. It's really stout.

[FirerescuePW]

My son and I did springs, 4 shocks, limit straps, and a trac bar in one long day. Dropping the track bar, shocks, and end links made the axle practically fall out of the truck, allowing the springs to ALMOST fall out. We used ratcheting straps to compress them the very little we needed to get them out of the buckets. Of course, you wouldn't want to use straps without removing all parts listed first and dropping the axle way down.

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[flattire]

What's up with that Monster hook and Bubba rope? Never saw anything like that here in SoCal.

[Prairidawg]

Those headlights are wicked!

[Stickman]

The monster hook is just a better recovery point than the D-rings shackles that people put on the receiver, it has a breaking strength of 45k pounds or something. I mainly bought it just so I could use bigger tow straps when my buddies get stuck, it's also easier to use than messing with a shackle. The bubba rope was just the same sorta deal, an extra heavy duty recovery rope that uses kinetic energy to "snatch" the stuck vehicle. It's basically a big rubber band, lol. Bought the rope because I kept snapping those smaller $30-$40 straps from the local farm store, and those huge semi rated straps were $150, so I figured I'd just get that instead and not have to worry about it again. And thanks for the liking the headlights! They came from a fellow members PW, myoung84 had them on his and then parted everything on it out when he bought his new truck. I wanted them back when I first got on here but figured I would have to make my own similar to them because he would never sell his, and then he did, lol. Very happy with them, matches the truck perfectly. They look much better in person.

[05PWrockcrawler]

Bubba Rope work great!!!


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[Stickman]

Well I ended up only having about 6-8 hours of free time on Sunday, so I just dropped it off at the dealership this morning to get everything done. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow morning.

[Stickman]

Well they didn't get to it until yesterday and got it done while I was at work so I went and picked it up earlier. Looks really good, now the rear almost looks like it needs a 1" block or an add-a-leaf or something. Maybe it just needs to settle, but I wouldn't think there is anything to settle since it was just a steel spacer and bump stops. They charged me $328 I had to bite my tongue when they said that. I'll definitely be trying to do it myself next time, double the price of the kit just for them to install and align it. The alignment was $80, labor was $206 and $40 in taxes and shop fees. The shop supervisor said they had a heck of time getting it in there but they still charged me the same as they usually do (like he was thinking about charging me more but he was being nice) also re-aligned my headlights, which was nice I guess. Anyway here is a couple quick pics, I'll try and get it some better ones when it's not so bright out.

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

Congrats! I'd say the price is fair. I spent $180 renting some shop space, $80 on an alignment, and six hours of my time doing mine, so I'd say you made out pretty well. The truck looks great. I'm sure you noticed it while driving, but the nose sure does seem higher now huh?

[Stickman]

Oh yea, as soon as I got in it at the dealership I felt like I was staring at the sky, but I got used to it pretty quick. It does ride slightly stiffer also, but it's a truck so I don't expect it to ride like a Cadillac. I also forgot the post the measurements. I took measurements from the ground to the bottom edge of the fender flare and the front was 40 1/2" before and 42" after. So it does give you nearly the full 2". Can't see how it's still 1/2" higher in the back, looks like it's squatting now. I also have a question now. Since they say these trucks sit 2" higher from the factory, does that mean 2" higher front and rear, then they raise the rear more to compensate for towing? Or do they just not raise the front the full 2"?

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

Oh yea, as soon as I got in it at the dealership I felt like I was staring at the sky, but I got used to it pretty quick. It does ride slightly stiffer also, but it's a truck so I don't expect it to ride like a Cadillac. I also forgot the post the measurements. I took measurements from the ground to the bottom edge of the fender flare and the front was 40 1/2" before and 42" after. So it does give you nearly the full 2". Can't see how it's still 1/2" higher in the back, looks like it's squatting now. I also have a question now. Since they say these trucks sit 2" higher from the factory, does that mean 2" higher front and rear, then they raise the rear more to compensate for towing? Or do they just not raise the front the full 2"?

All trucks have a rake from the factory for towing/hauling. You've just leveled the front with the rear. PW's come stock with 2" of extra lift over a stock Ram 2500 and now you've made it a 4" lift in the front ... Still 2" in the rear though

[Stickman]

Okay, so a little of both. Thanks for clarifying that.

[2wagons1driveway]

This truck looks familiar ! Lol I like the hid's and the tints looks sharp that hook is nothing to laugh at either!! Nice build


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[Stickman]

Lol, I always get weird looks and questions/compliments on that hook. I always have it on unless I have my B&W on to pull a trailer. I'm sure people see that and think I'm crazy or something, and that if they rear end me that thing is going to punch one hell of a hole in their radiator. I always tell people it's to pull semis out with, since they are bigger vehicles It's always some pencil pusher or someone that drives a Prius that asks. Here's some more pics, I tried flexing it out on an old concrete foundation for a shed we had but it still wasn't enough for me. I'm also fairly certain I have a nail or something in my right rear, loses about 5 pounds over 2 days. I don't think I've ever had a set of tires that doesn't get a leak in it within the first year of having them. Also think my clearance lights may be leaking water inside now after I got my cargo light sealed Gunna have to keep and eye on that now.

[05PWrockcrawler]

Nice


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[Stickman]

Think I'm going to Line X the grille this coming week, may also do the bumper while I'm at it. Curious about opinions on if I should get it in the textured black or have them do the smoothed version to kind of blend it with the paint. I plan on eventually (if not now) doing the bumpers and I'll do textured on them, also having the Bushwhacker flares and rockers Line X'd so it will blend in well. Doing it smoothed will kind of bridge the gap between them nicely (or atleast in my mind)