Rambox Panel Warping

[OffroadTreks]

My research so far has indicated that RamBoxes would serve me very well in getting all the misc. tools, oil, axes, straps, etc. somewhat organized and stored so they are not cluttering the floor in the back seat or loose in the truck bed.

I like to keep my vehicles long enough & with the road salt that can't be avoided they will start rusting in 10 years or so; so if I do get a new truck with RamBoxes and the metal body color pulled away bad enough I could see putting some (several) stainless screw, nuts, & washers right through the metal & ABS to hold it together - but this would most likely (hopefully never) be years down the road.

thanks for the Exploded View & hope the OP gets his issue resolved quickly to his satisfaction

It's disappointing to here about these Ramboxes since I have them on my 2015 PW. But I also had them on my 1500 which was a 2010 and never had any problems with them. I'll keep my eye on the new one.

That said, I love them. They're great for fast access to tools and recovery gear. Since we are full-timers pulling an Airstream, I use one side for tools/recovery and the other side for camp setup gear. Have served me well.

[olyelr]

My research so far has indicated that RamBoxes would serve me very well in getting all the misc. tools, oil, axes, straps, etc. somewhat organized and stored so they are not cluttering the floor in the back seat or loose in the truck bed.

I like to keep my vehicles long enough & with the road salt that can't be avoided they will start rusting in 10 years or so; so if I do get a new truck with RamBoxes and the metal body color pulled away bad enough I could see putting some (several) stainless screw, nuts, & washers right through the metal & ABS to hold it together - but this would most likely (hopefully never) be years down the road.

thanks for the Exploded View & hope the OP gets his issue resolved quickly to his satisfaction

It's disappointing to here about these Ramboxes since I have them on my 2015 PW. But I also had them on my 1500 which was a 2010 and never had any problems with them. I'll keep my eye on the new one.

That said, I love them. They're great for fast access to tools and recovery gear. Since we are full-timers pulling an Airstream, I use one side for tools/recovery and the other side for camp setup gear. Have served me well.

Are the doors on your pw bigger than the ones on your half ton (did you have that really short box)? If so, i wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Ram boxes have been around a while now, and it seems like the warping issue is kind of a new thing. Hmmmmm.

[olyelr]

On a side note, I'm sitting at the local hot rod shop while they build my custom exhaust, so I can at least sound good while my Ramboxes fall apart.

Specs please!

[OffroadTreks]

Are the doors on your pw bigger than the ones on your half ton (did you have that really short box)? If so, i wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Ram boxes have been around a while now, and it seems like the warping issue is kind of a new thing. Hmmmmm.

Yes they were smaller on the 1500, I had the 5.4 box as opposed to the 6.4ft bed on the new truck. But they look assembled the same way minus the power locks.

[Chromolykid]

On a side note, I'm sitting at the local hot rod shop while they build my custom exhaust, so I can at least sound good while my Ramboxes fall apart.

Specs please!

Had the factory muffler and resonator removed, then welded in an Aero Turbine (Jones) 3.5" resonated muffler. Also had the tailpipe hung higher (closer to the bumper) and angled toward the brakelight instead of that weird balogna cut behind the tire that the factory does. Sounds incredible (I like loud but not raspy or open header-ish), and the mileage is getting better every day. So far I've increased my average by 1.5mpg. Can't post videos from my phone here but you can find a clip and some photos at www.instagram.com/noshiftmotorsports.

The dealer is ordering all new lids and panels, both sides. Will update you all on what happens next. I believe if you've had your Ramboxes for a while and haven't experienced issues, you simply won't. There has been a change in quality and only a batch of new trucks seem to have this problem.

[PWJouster]

2018 and my drivers side Painted panel is peeling away from the plastic rambox top front to back. It must be the Black or dark colored trucks.

What is the best body panel Tape/Glue for this application?

Im sure the wind will grab it and fly away if i dont secure it with tape.

I dont really believe the rambox is warping...I believe the tape/glue they use to affix the painted panel is shit.
Thats not to say i dont believe the rambox was engineered poorly for a heavy duty.
They surely cant handle being slammed over and over, and they were never level.

i love them and i hate them.

[olyelr]

2018 and my drivers side Painted panel is peeling away from the plastic rambox top front to back. It must be the Black or dark colored trucks.

What is the best body panel Tape/Glue for this application?

Im sure the wind will grab it and fly away if i dont secure it with tape.

I dont really believe the rambox is warping...I believe the tape/glue they use to affix the painted panel is shit.
Thats not to say i dont believe the rambox was engineered poorly for a heavy duty.
They surely cant handle being slammed over and over, and they were never level.

i love them and i hate them.

Agreed. While mine havnt started delaminating, they never have been “fit” perfectly to the box. That is the only thing I hate about them. Love the rest of it.

[PWJouster]

i purchased a 3m marine silicone adhesive 5200 i think.

[OffroadTreks]

Mine haven't delaminated either, but I have some bow and I suspect that's my fault for standing on them. You can adjust them with the adjusters on the sides, and I've even played with adjusting the lock to get them tighter fitting. There is a lot of play in adjusting these.

They might be overall better if they had just made them out of aluminum or something instead of molded plastic. But I suspect that's to cut down on costs/ weight.

[Low_Sky]

Mine haven't delaminated either, but I have some bow and I suspect that's my fault for standing on them. You can adjust them with the adjusters on the sides, and I've even played with adjusting the lock to get them tighter fitting. There is a lot of play in adjusting these.

They might be overall better if they had just made them out of aluminum or something instead of molded plastic. But I suspect that's to cut down on costs/ weight.

The lids bow because they're a long plastic part, latched in the center, with the opening torque from the torsion springs applied at the ends. Redesigning the torsion springs to lift from the center of the lids instead of the ends would probably fix the problem. Or redesigning the hinges and torsion springs altogether with a camming spring mechanism that holds the lid open, but when closed pushes the ends of the door down instead of up.
I've toyed around with the idea of trying to stiffen/straighten my lids, but they haven't got bad enough to motivate me to really dig into that yet.

[PWJouster]

If i push down in the center of the rambox, the ends sit level. Again, Built october2018-now with 20k miles, no bowing of the Box plastic.

my overall complaint of the box is that the latch does not latch Down tight enough for the adjuster bumpstops to help at all.

If i could adjust the latch to engage with a tighter seal, then perfect the level of the ends with the bump stops, it would be ideal.
Is this possible without disassembling the Rambox? @BoldAdventure

[Low_Sky]

no bowing of the Box plastic.

Just wait.

If i could adjust the latch .... Is this possible....

Yes.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OffroadTreks]

Yes, you can adjust it. Matter of fact, my damn latch came off while we were off road in Colorado. I'm not a fan of how the latch is bolted. But it is what it is. I've upgraded the hardware.

[PWJouster]

i guess i need to remove the rambox dont i.

[olyelr]

my overall complaint of the box is that the latch does not latch Down tight enough for the adjuster bumpstops to help at all.

If i could adjust the latch to engage with a tighter seal, then perfect the level of the ends with the bump stops, it would be ideal.

^^^^^^ this is exactly how mine seem to be.

[PWJouster]

seems like there are two sets of nuts holding the box side hook in place, and the hook plate has 4 ovaled holes.....all maxed out to the lowest point.

great job engineers.
i could bend the hook downwards and adjust up from there.. pretty easy fabwork for someone anyway

[Low_Sky]

seems like there are two sets of nuts holding the box side hook in place, and the hook plate has 4 ovaled holes.....all maxed out to the lowest point.

great job engineers.
i could bend the hook downwards and adjust up from there.. pretty easy fabwork for someone anyway

I'd probably try to elongate the slotted holes before trying to bend the hook lower. Don't get too carried away trying to get it tight. If it's tight enough that the bump stops at the ends of the lid are doing any work, you're just helping them bow faster.

I still love them, but the design is a little lacking in some respects.

[PWJouster]

right now, i can push all four corners down onto the bump stops...partially because they cant go high enough to even make contact when closed.

[olyelr]

Ive nevrr bothered to try and raise the stops, because the lid isnt closing enough as it is to actually line up with the boxside. When i push down on the lid, hoever, it lines up great.

[olyelr]

Ive nevrr bothered to try and raise the stops, because the lid isnt closing enough as it is to actually line up with the boxside. When i push down on the lid, however, it lines up great.

[scoutpappa]

So I'm one of the one's that posted about my ordeal with the covers. In fact there is a replacement box for the passenger side I have not let them touch at the dealership due to incompetence. First and foremost you have to decide that they are in fact toolboxes and as such they won't be perfect. Then you need to do the following:

Pull the cover yourself (download the part blowout so you know what to pull and whatever you do, don't get excited when it sticks and forget to reattach the lever mechanism otherwise you will have a two inch hole through the bottom of the fender and the rambox so you can stick your paw through to unlatch the box.)
If you need directions to do that I can step those out as well.
Pull the cover and remove the BS adhesive.
Sand the cover down
Wipe it down with alcohol
Buy 3M ProBond (It's expensive)
Wipe it down with ProBond
Buy your favorite plastic epoxy
Have your wife or significant other or friend over to help
Sand the box cover down and wipe the it down with the above two products as well
Now the fun part
Apply the epoxy (which probably has a flash/working time of a few minutes if you're lucky)
Slap the cover on and work it down from the top lip moving from the top right down and across working it all the way to the back
Pull on it after two minutes because you will need to satisfy you're OCD.
Put all of the parts back together INCLUDING THE LATCH MECHANISM (see above)
Revel in your slightly warped but really stuck on cover that won't come off in the wind or the car wash.
Know that the dealership tried three times on the drivers' side and failed each and every time.

PM me if you need anything else because typing all of this out takes too long.

[Chromolykid]

Scoutpappa, man I hear you on the dealership incompetence. My truck went through 2 complete sets of Rambox lids and 3 sets of panels. They were NEVER installed correctly by the “factory certified technicians” and the truck hasn’t been back since for so much as an oil change because they can’t be trusted to do the simplest of tasks.

I am satisfied with my boxes now, knock on wood, after squeezing a whole (small) tube of gorilla super glue under each corner and clamping them overnight. Haven’t lifted in over a year now and been through all types of weather. The lid is warped of course, but nothing can be done about that, it’s a long piece of plastic being held down in the center and pushed up on the edges by a spring. If I knew then, what I know now, I’d have pulled the spring out when the lids were new in an attempt to keep them straight. Heat and the rubber gasket probably would have warped them anyways, though.

I’ve toyed with the idea of attaching some kind of stiffening “rib” to the underside to straighten them out, but honestly just don’t care any more. They are utility storage and the truck is scratched and dented from doing truck stuff, so my obsession with straight body lines has diminished. However, if someone ever makes replacement lids out of aluminum or fiberglass, I’ll probably be the first one to buy them.

Not sure if I touched on it before, but the design flaw plaguing the 2500 Ramboxes is not present on the 1500’s. They have molded tabs on the panel that lock the corners under the lid, so worst case scenario the lids warp and the panels just go with them, no separation. Maybe the newer generation lids will have addressed this and can be retrofitted to our gen?

I did adjust my lids by moving the latch around, they both close with equal pressure but don’t have to be slammed. The rubber stops are useless, the gasket limits the travel of the lid anyways. I toyed around with adjusting the stops but as mentioned already, they will only help the lid warp faster. If you could figure out how to convert those into latches, though, you may be on to something...

[FordyceCreekTrail]

They forgot Ram Boxes on mine( actually dealers fault) but, maybe that was lucky.

[scoutpappa]

I can't say they aren't awesome for what they are. For me, I keep everything that used to hang out in the back of the cab there and it stays safe and is protected from the elements. I was aware that this was a 2500 problem and as I use the truck for work and fun (tow and offroad) well, lets just say the paint and metal aren't perfect anymore. I will never have a truck without them again but I was stuck on the covers as I just didn't want them to fly off and whether the bodylines are perfect or not don't count so much for me now. I hear you on the latches as well and I have them set to where there is no pull, but that also increases the gap at the bottom and (at least for me) shows the line discrepancy even more. Still love the convenience, as well as still aggravated that they aren't better.

[SeppW]

I have a warp issue, but it was the lid assembly itself. Dealer mucked it up from the get go. Only ordered the "appliques," the outer panel that matches the truck's color. The tape released and it started to separate from the lid. Then dealer ordered the lids and reapplied the other panels. Never fixed the warping issue and panels were separating when I picked it up.

The lid surface has to be prepared a certain way for these to stick right. The dealer has no body shop, so they send to local body shop. The local shop jacked it up worse. I wound up buying the appliques and took it to a body shop I have used in past where they painted and mounted them. Shop manager said they had use autobody panel bonding adhesive to get them to stay on. Seem the lids has a slight curvature in all directions and despite prepping them per the installation specs, they ran a small bead of the adhesive along the top. Held like a charm, but they'll never come off without breaking them.

Good idea, poor design.