adeluca73's Build - 2014 POWER WAGON SLT - FLAME RED TWO TONE

[adeluca73]

Installed my MyYoung locker by-pass kit earlier this spring, think I received one of, if not his last kit. Install was straight forward. Just had to fish all the wire harnesses & zip tie them to existing wiring. Used a 6" driver bit on my Dewalt driver to run the sheet metal screw into the fender to secure the control box. Setting the relays was straight forward. The 2014/15 install varies a bit from the instructions...the control box doesn't fit exactly as the diagram
Shows, but you can wiggle it in behind the air box. The check-out procedure is completely different for the front locker because of the CAD in the new PWs.

[adeluca73]

MOD: installed bed mounted LED pods under the bed frame caps.

MFGR: Truxedo. 2 strands, 4x light pods per side, 4 LEDs per pod

Install: about 3+ hours. I fished the light wires through the rear stake holes at the rear of the bed, ran the wires from each side together, cut the passenger side RAMBOX spare 12V connector ( don't have RamBoxes) which passes a ground & 12V hot (tied to a timing circuit which activitates with lock/unlock key fob or door opening) from the battery to the connector, spliced pass side of lights into the cut connector 12V & ground, spliced the driver side of lights into the pass lights, & then a 3rd hot back up through the pass side stake holes & mounted to a 2-pole switch I screwed into the rear of the bed hidden awAy to protect it. Lights work off the switch,but will turn off on time because it's tied into the RamBox circuit, which is timed to protect the battery from accidentally leaving it on.

[adeluca73]

MOD: installed rock sliders / side steps

MFGR: WhiteKnuckle off-road. Ordered the .120" DOM bare metal sliders w/ plating. This is stronger steel than HREW, but not as strong (or heavy) as the optional .188". I but don't think I need that hefty of a tube for my usage. I also ordered the full length diamond plating to cover the rails, giving a true front to back step surface.

White knuckle shipped the sliders direct to a local LINE-X dealer, & I picked them up from the LINEX place.

Install: about 3-4 hrs, 2- people is almost mandatory to maneuver the rails (120+ lbs each), & help get the mounting plates & bolts aligned in the tight spots. A floor jack & 2x jack stands are also compulsory items to assist aligning & holding the rails in place while getting the first bolts installed. The driver's side was much more difficult & took about 30-40min more than the passenger side due to the wiring loom running along the top of the frame. I did not remove the fuel tank skid, but removing it would give some more room when mounting the drivers side rear 3 plates. I did remove both in-floor storage bins, & I don't think you can install these w/o removing them. The opening also allows you to get to some of the hidden top bolts from inside the truck.

[TheWorstKind]

Hi adeluca73. It has been a little over a year since you had the opti-coat pro applied. From everything I have read, watched, and 'internetted', it seems like this stuff is the cat's meow. Do you still like it? Are you satisfied with its durability (I know it is "only" one year old, but that is more experience than anyone else I know)?

[gun45boat]

Wish it worked with rock rash;) I'd be all over that shit....

[adeluca73]

Hi adeluca73. It has been a little over a year since you had the opti-coat pro applied. From everything I have read, watched, and 'internetted', it seems like this stuff is the cat's meow. Do you still like it? Are you satisfied with its durability (I know it is "only" one year old, but that is more experience than anyone else I know)?

Yep, it's awesome. Water still beads off, don't have to wax ever, & it shines up easy with liquid spray detailer & water mixed. Still has that nice enamel look. I'm happy with it, great protection, & a permanent paint investment. Going back to the opti dealer Monday to have it detailed & the coating warranty inspected

[TheWorstKind]

Made an appointment for next Saturday to get an estimate for the opti-coat pro. Will have to travel almost three hours to get to detailer. Nobody around my neck of the woods is qualified.

[adeluca73]

Nice, as a reference, I paid $395 + $100 for the lifetime warranty (if I recall correctly).

[TheWorstKind]

Nice, as a reference, I paid $395 + $100 for the lifetime warranty (if I recall correctly).

Thanks for that. I doubt I'll be able to negotiate such a sweet deal, as both the detailer and I know the detailer is the only one in within one hundred miles of home able to do this. I do have a limit of what I am willing to pay, so I'll just have to wait and see how things turn out next Saturday.

[adeluca73]

Someone's got the authorization to drop of their PW at the AEV Build plant in Michigan over Christmas break....

[gun45boat]

OH DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! Do tell of what they are doing:):):):)

[adeluca73]

Ok so here's the AEV part of my build out, since I didn't have the guts to do the cuts myself, I had the AEV plant in Michigan do the install for me. So here' just pics of the final product.

[adeluca73]

Added some front and rear diff protection.

Front: AEV Cast Iron High-Cap Front Diff cover
Rear: Purple Cranium half-spyder protector

[coder]

Some nice mods looks good!

[Will]

So you couldn't get up up the nerve to cut the panel but you'll bash the under carriage enough to need guards?

Looks good man

[adeluca73]

So you couldn't get up up the nerve to cut the panel but you'll bash the under carriage enough to need guards?

Looks good man

Hehe, yeah. The sliders protected my rockers when I slid sideways down a slippery snowy hill & hit a giant stump, got the diff protection after I thought I bashed my front hitting a hidden hole that had a huge eff'ng Boulder in it & figured I had ruptured it. I was going too fast

[Mr.Smith]

Looking good Sir! I had know Idea they made differential protection...

[gun45boat]

Great looking,,,, but be careful!!!!!!!! I am actually a little disappointed in AEV right now!!!!!!!! I cant freaking believe they would run Ductile/Nodular Cast (KEY WORK "C A S T") Iron for a diff protection cover........... I understand that it may be "stronger than stock" but damn!!!!!!! I also understand that many here will not severely bash there front diffs into a rock, like some others on here,,,, but that thing would not last a day in my world.. Looks great and cool features,,,, but at least they could have done it in 3/16 or 1/4 thick plate steel (like most of the other competitors REAL diff protection covers)

Ever seen Cast iron take a hit;);)););) it aint pretty, and there is usually a mess of gear lube involved...

Looks great though, and I like the fill hole big and high like they did it..

[Will]

Great looking,,,, but be careful!!!!!!!! I am actually a little disappointed in AEV right now!!!!!!!! I cant freaking believe they would run Ductile/Nodular Cast (KEY WORK "C A S T") Iron for a diff protection cover........... I understand that it may be "stronger than stock" but damn!!!!!!! I also understand that many here will not severely bash there front diffs into a rock, like some others on here,,,, but that thing would not last a day in my world.. Looks great and cool features,,,, but at least they could have done it in 3/16 or 1/4 thick plate steel (like most of the other competitors REAL diff protection covers)

Ever seen Cast iron take a hit;);)););) it aint pretty, and there is usually a mess of gear lube involved...

Looks great though, and I like the fill hole big and high like they did it..

Cast steel or cast aluminum?

[nts007]

Says cast iron. But gunboat is right. It's a bump away from a nasty crack. But it would be a massive hit that only 2-3 pws on here are really at risk for. Honestly just purple cranium front diff guard would be better for most. But adeluca is happy with his new diff cover and it looks great! And something tells me it's gonna stay minty for a long time.

[gun45boat]

Nodular Cast Iron.

But shit.... It looks good, and a hella lot easier to swap fluid than most diff guards out there..

[adeluca73]

Well, let's see, it's cast, yes, but from an engineering perspective, high-strength nodular iron is a type of reinforced ductile iron, whose iron structure is infused with spheroidal graphite and quenched--the composition of the graphite (the quality of it's spheroidal shape) determines the matrix structure which set the material properties, and then the quenching properties set the hardness--it's the birnell hardness rating that's more important than the yield strength, and this type of nodular iron is built to take hits. This isn't a load bearing piece, it needs to facilitate radative and conductive heat transfer of the hot gear fluid, and protect from intrusions. In the few months it's been on, I have bashed it a few times already. No cracks, a few scuffs and a little ding along the fastner edge, but nothing major. But I don't live out west, YET, so we'll see once I retire from the military and move west...

[FirerescuePW]

And then he drops the mic...

[RustyPW]

Too bad they don't make the Rock Crusher diff covers any more. I've beat the sh!t out of mine.

[adeluca73]

Too bad they don't make the Rock Crusher diff covers any more. I've beat the sh!t out of mine.

What About the DTProFab or the DOR covers, they look massive