New to me 2016 PW

[16PW]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum as I have just stumbled across it a couple of weeks ago when I bought my 2016 Power Wagon. I have been doing tons of reading on here trying to learn as much as possible about this amazing truck. I really love the truck and have already taken it off road after just a week of having it. I did Broken Arrow Trail in Sedona this past weekend and the truck did it with ease all in 4H. It is rated as a "difficult" trail and my PW is bone stock. I didn't even get to play around with the lockers or sway bar disconnect.Now come the upgrades.37" tires will be for sure going on in the near future and will most likely be the Cooper STT Pros. I know the gears could be a slight issue, but since I hardly ever tow I'm sure the 4.10 will be good enough for now....until I get my list of stuff done...then possible regear.

Armor:
White knuckle sliders
Carli front diff cover
Purple Cranium rear cover
Transmission skid plate
Low profile/heavy duty front and rear bumpers (If I can find some I like which seems to be a problem with the PW's)

Suspension....???? (I'm stumped with what I want to do and need suggestions)
Thuren
BDS 4" lift (Has anyone heard any reviews on this since it was just released?)

If I don't go with BDS, I will for sure do Thuren as that seems to be loved across the PW owners on here. I have read so much about the 2.5 kings and of course 3.0, but the $$$ is crazy! I'm sure the ride is amazing, but I will not be doing any high speed runs as I bought this for the crawling. I was thinking of doing the 2.0 kings because I'm sure they will fit my needs and not cost an arm and a leg. What are your thoughts on the 2.0 kings? Besides the 2.5/3.0 being way better. lol Also would the BDS 4" lift on 37s be too tall for off road crawling? I stepped up to the PW over a 1500 for the off road capabilities. I have no clue how crazy I will be getting with crawling, but just want to make sure I do things right.

Any suggestions and opinions would be highly appreciated.

[OffroadTreks]

If I don't go with BDS, I will for sure do Thuren as that seems to be loved across the PW owners on here. I have read so much about the 2.5 kings and of course 3.0, but the $$$ is crazy! I'm sure the ride is amazing, but I will not be doing any high speed runs as I bought this for the crawling. I was thinking of doing the 2.0 kings because I'm sure they will fit my needs and not cost an arm and a leg. What are your thoughts on the 2.0 kings? Besides the 2.5/3.0 being way better. lol Also would the BDS 4" lift on 37s be too tall for off road crawling? I stepped up to the PW over a 1500 for the off road capabilities. I have no clue how crazy I will be getting with crawling, but just want to make sure I do things right.

Any suggestions and opinions would be highly appreciated.

BSD is utter f**ing garbage, please don't chose it.

That being said, STOP RIGHT THERE.

Congrats on doing Broken Arrow, now you know how capable these trucks are bone stock. My advice, is the advice I keep giving people in other places all the time about their vehicles and the rush to do mods.

I wrote this on another forum, and it still stands >>

I'd say it's a safe wager that most don't even bother to attempt to wheel their rig in stock trim. I've done a ton of trails stock. That's how you learn your rig and it's limits. And that is the best way to plan a build, with experience.

But most just get online and start looking for tires and lift, BECUASE that's what everyone does, right?

Get out there and use your truck. The mods you have now are great for protection. As you wheel and use your truck, let that determine what you need as far as suspension goes.

Don't be in a rush. That's the mistake of the amateur. And they never learn how their vehicle handles or responds or how the mods they've done effect things.



And welcome to the forum.

That being said, I didn't actually answer your questions

I have read so much about the 2.5 kings and of course 3.0, but the $$$ is crazy! I'm sure the ride is amazing, but I will not be doing any high speed runs as I bought this for the crawling. I was thinking of doing the 2.0 kings because I'm sure they will fit my needs and not cost an arm and a leg. What are your thoughts on the 2.0 kings?

I'm running a custom tune 2.5 setup and all I do is crawl and go slow. The 2.0's are soft and aren't going to serve you well for crawling, IMO and from discussions. Maybe DamageWagon can follow this up.

Besides the 2.5/3.0 being way better. lol Also would the BDS 4" lift on 37s be too tall for off road crawling? I stepped up to the PW over a 1500 for the off road capabilities. I have no clue how crazy I will be getting with crawling, but just want to make sure I do things right.

That 4 inch lift will translate to 2 inches over stock and also it will ride like crud and handle terribly. The COG on these trucks will work against you over 3 inches. All you need to do is level your truck. If you want to do serious offroad, you have to accept that 4, 6, 8 inch lifts work against you. You can be a bruh or you can be hardcore offroad. Pick one.

Follow my above advice before slapping the wrong lift on your truck and regretting it.

[16PW]

That 4 inch lift will translate to 2 inches over stock and also it will ride like crud and handle terribly. The COG on these trucks will work against you over 3 inches. All you need to do is level your truck. If you want to do serious offroad, you have to accept that 4, 6, 8 inch lifts work against you. You can be a bruh or you can be hardcore offroad. Pick one.

Follow my above advice before slapping the wrong lift on your truck and regretting it.

Thank you for all of the input. I actually follow you on Instagram and have for quite a while before getting my power wagon. You have a bad ass rig! I was definitely afraid of the BDS not being as good quality as Thuren. My build will definitely progress over time, especially with how much some of these upgrades cost. I do want to put on 37s asap as the tires that came with the truck suck which are Ironman AT in stock size and only an 8 ply tire. I aired down for broken arrow to 30 psi and was surprised how much the tires were bulging just sitting on flat dirt. That had me a bit worried with it being an 8 ply. I plan to keep wheeling it and hope to do Crown King within the next couple of weeks. I am going on a fishing trip tomorrow for a few days and will be driving across some washboard dirt roads. Maybe those washboards will encourage me to spend more on suspension. I did just read from DamageWagon today that the Thuren springs work with 2014+ stock shocks so that could be an option for the time being till I figure what shocks I want to go with and to get the front up a little.

[RustyPW]

Welcome to the forum.

As you found out. The stock PW can go a lot of places. Take your time with the mods and watch your budget. (can't believe I sad that) As it will take a hit real quick if you ain't careful. You won't find any PW's on here with big lift kits. As Mike said. They will work against you off-road.

[Mule007]

Welcome to the forum, Enjoy

[Bill2014]

Like everyone said: Lifts will work against you - AND A LIFT ISN'T REQUIRED TO RUN 37'S ON A 14+ POWER WAGON.

[TankerZak]

I somedays really wish I woulda created a build thread. I did all my mods in a nice progression that I think is nice in these kinds of scenarios.

If you want armor, doet, no regrets.

When you get to suspension buy the Thuren front springs to get your nose up a hair to level it. If being a hair nose high with anything in the bed bothers you put a 1 inch spacers in the rear. See how it rides on 37s with that height. See how you use it.

Then you can determine if the wheel rub is too much and you want better backspace wheels (or TR beadlocks, lol).

And then you can pick shocks. Once you pick shocks you'll need to do rear springs and sway bar extension. But it's a nice progression and you don't repeat any purchases.

Oh and Thuren rear trackbar should be installed from the factory... and Duratracs should be illegal...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[16PW]

I somedays really wish I woulda created a build thread. I did all my mods in a nice progression that I think is nice in these kinds of scenarios.

That is exactly how I plan on doing it. 37s might go on next week. Then eventually Thuren front springs, armor, and then see what shocks I want to go with. The rear spacer would probably go on with the front springs since I have read from quite a few people that the truck may be a bit nose high or even just appear that way. I don't mind having a little rake in the rear. Diff covers and rock sliders would be nice sooner than later for that peace of mind.

I did get plenty of dirt road time this past weekend and I was amazed how good the truck felt stock, especially with it being a 2500. I drove down bumpy dirt roads 30-40 mph and it was surprisingly smooth, and I had the front tires at 50 and rear at 45. I know it would have been much better if I was lower. I could only imagine what King 2.5 or 3.0 would feel like! I got to finally play around with 4low, lockers, sway bar disconnect and hill descent control. This truck is an absolute beast in 4low. It really is hard to bring it to a stop. It crawled up some steep hills with no tire slip and that is with just AT tires. I was amazed how steep the truck will climb in 4low without even giving it gas! I let the truck climb in 4 low up a hill with big ruts on 1 side all on its on, all I did was steer. The truck was so smooth going in and out of the ruts. It didn't even feel like there were ruts there. My dad was with me and was completely amazed. He kept saying he has never seen or felt anything like it. He also kept asking "wasn't there a big rock there" or "wasn't there big ruts there". lol I'm loving this truck more and more.