DamageWagon's Build - 2011 "AdventureWagon"

[DamageWagon]

Hey my name is Marcus Dethloff, owner/operator of Dethloff Manufacturing. I've owned 1st and 2nd gen Cummins Rams, and lucked out and made the jump into a 2011 Wagon. Even with how revered the older trucks are, I have to say these newer trucks are an improvement in almost every way. My truck was used for law enforcement by the Apache tribe in New Mexico until the day it hit 100,000 miles. Then it went to a rasta dreadlocked dude in Mendocino county who sells huge industrial hydroponics equipment to pot farms ^smiley83.gif who beat it up more and wrapped a chainlink fence around the drive shaft ^party0031 . I flew to him, loved the truck, brought it home, and have since removed or modified about every part of the suspension

Truck Information

Model:

2011 2500 Power Wagon

Engine:

5.7L Hemi

Transmission:

545RFE

Body/Exterior:

My ultra-high clearance hybrid plate/tube bumper.
White with the sexy Power Wagon hood decal and base strip

Suspension:

Thuren 3" springs
King 3.0/2.5-Bypass shocks with custom valving
My shock towers
EMF Ball Joints
EMF Drag Link
Thuren rear shackles

Exhaust:

Angle-Grinder modified stock exhaust, following a chain link fence being wrapped around the driveshaft...

Wheels/Tires:

Ultra Maverick 17x8
Toyo M/T 285/75-R17

Exterior:

Ultralight pop-up camper built by yours truly

Interior:

Driver seat ripped open by cop's sidearm. Gun rack holes in headliner. Big holes in the roof from radio mounts ^jerkit Cloth 40/20/40, just like everybody else

Electrical/Lighting:

I put one'them fancy Amazon LED bulbs in my cab light... some real tuner stuff right there

Sound system:

Factory "Alpine" system. The cops bought every. Damn. Option.

Accessories/Options:

SPOTLIGHT! ^fuckyeah And remote start.

Performance:

I cut half my exhaust off so it goes faster! Weight reduction?

Pictures:

[DamageWagon]

So the goal with this truck is to build a good, all-round rig that we can use to take camping every weekend. We typically go out quite a bit, and we do several pretty long road trips every year. This truck will also take us on a more special tr pretty soon here. We are moving from SoCal up to Portland, but as soon as we move our stuff it goes into a storage unit and we will be taking a 3 month or so road trip around the West. We are starting our trip with the GTG in Barstow! Then Mojave, Death valley, the Sierras, northern Nevada, Southern and Eastern Utah, North Rim Grand Canyon, Overland Expo in Flagstaff (We're right there, why not... even if everybody is old and we couldn't find night life there last year) maybe Sedona, then up to Moab for the Power Wagon meet, then Southern Colorado, then Yellowstone and the Tetons, Glacier NP, Couer d'Aleine, Washington and Oregon, then home! Basically all I'm saying is we're going to be two jobless hippies for three months, moving to a town of jobless hippies.

Sooo my friend was an Engineer at King Shocks, and uh... I kinda got a massive fucking discount on shocks. So I went from buying Thuren's Overlands to replace my 5100's to buying King 3.0's up front and 2.5 2-tube Bypasses in back ^dancing-banana I like to go fast when i get the chance, which is a new thing for me, and after selling my 1992 W-250 Cummins to buy this truck I LOVE that I can go above 15mph offroad and not lose a kidney or a retina.
https://vimeo.com/199432925

[NickPic83]

This maybe the best first post of a build thread ever

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[DamageWagon]

This maybe the best first post of a build thread ever

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Haha thanks man! It's taken me way too long to finally put this stuff in writing.


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[DamageWagon]

Well Rusty, your trackbar's Heim joint made it about 3,000 miles https://vimeo.com/199493487


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[Reloaderguy]

The front King's will be in conjunction with 3" coils? You might consider some short arms too. Your towers are pretty cool!

What track bar is that? Carli?

[DamageWagon]

The front King's will be in conjunction with 3" coils? You might consider some short arms too. Your towers are pretty cool!

What track bar is that? Carli?

Thanks! I designed the towers at work, modeled after Thurens. Cut them on the laser and welded them up on Thursday. Lasers rock.

Yes, 3.0"x10" Kings paired to Thuren's 3" coils. I have short arms designed and will be cutting them out at work. Need to save up for the joints, I'm going to run Thuren stuff there as well.

It is the older style Carli bar, I bought it off Rusty 3000 miles ago and installed t with new bushings. I went to break the heim bolt loose and it popped right loose, could have used a 1/4" socket there was a piece of fabric wrapped around it... It was the the heim ball liner, the joint is toast haha. Hence the video. I think I'm going to buy the EMF replacement heim since I have their TRE's and they look well built. I'm also going to buy Thurens bushings and liner so when the Carli bushing goes out I can swap them, I hear Thurens lasts way longer.


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[DamageWagon]

Shock test fit and spring comparison. King 3.0"x10" in towers that should be identical to Thuren towers, taller than Carli towers. Springs are factory Power Wagon 4th gen springs next to Thuren 3" springs.


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[2011TXPowerWagon]

I'm still confused on the spring heights. How much over stock with those 3" springs result in?

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[DamageWagon]

I'm still confused on the spring heights. How much over stock with those 3" springs result in?

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I'm not sure. I'm a little worried now that I compare them. I believe Thurens site said 1.75" for 4th gen PW's, above the PW's regular height. I think that is 3.75" lift for a Hemi 2500. My front sat very low with stock springs so I thought I would be getting lift plus some of my sagged height back. I only had 2.5" before I hit bump stops. Maybe my bumper really is affecting my height that much, but I doubt it. We will find out.


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[RAM4ROKS]

I'm still confused on the spring heights. How much over stock with those 3" springs result in?

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I went Carli front and rear with Thuren's shackles but still, this should give you a general idea.

before lift:
LF: 40.365" RF: 40.625"
LR: 42.25" RR: 42.875"

After lift (this includes Carli lift springs (coil front, leaf rear) and Thuren shackles on center holes):
LF: 42.365" RF: 42.5"
LR: 43.125" RR: 44"

This yields about 2" of lift up front and about 1" of lift out back. If just the front were done, the truck would sit pretty much exactly level. Doing this rear setup yields a truck that still maintains a little rake for load carrying.

[RAM4ROKS]

Looking awesome DamageWagon!!!! Those are some SICK shocks!!!! I look forward to watching your build progress!

[DamageWagon]

Thanks for the numbers Ram4Rocks! I took measurements before starting as well.

Yeah I'm really looking forward to these shocks. These came straight from King, my friend had one of the shock tuners valve it to fit my truck. They are basically off the shelf Kings with a little love, definitely not Carli or Thuren tuned. I went with 3.0 over 2.5 because they will ride smoother on little stuff and offer more bottom-out resistance on the big stuff, all in one package. I went 2-tube bypass in the rear because I will have a camper in it, but I am realizing that may have been a mistake. With the last 4" of travel being the bump zone, my ride height with just some weight in the bed puts me right at the start of bump so the rear rides stiff, but even with it being in the bump zone it is still waaaaay more compliant than the smooth 5100's I had. It's a crazy difference in how it feels. It's stiffer, but still better.


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[DamageWagon]

HHOOOOLLY CRAP. So uh... Apparently what "3 inch springs gives the 4th gen PW a 1" to 1.5" lift" means is that "3 inch springs" give you a 4" lift. Read that again. I had to use a hi-lift jack to get the truck high enough to start. When I was done I let it down and it barely moved. My stock springs must have been super sagged out, because I don't think there is any way these Thuren springs are going to break in more than .75". I was looking for no more than 2", I really wants to keep the nose lower and have rake. Now with only my rack in the bed (200 lbs) I have a slight "California rake".

Current suspension setup and feel:

Front:
Thuren 3" springs
King 3.0 x 10.75" remote reservoir (Valved by King for application. Internal spacer removed for extra .75" stroke.)

Rear:
Stock Power Wagon leaves
Stock shackles
King 2.5" x 10" 2-tube Bypass

The suspension definitely feels sportier. I left my swaybar detached, and it feels exactly like I had my swaybar on with 5100's. Very nice feeling. In comparison to the front 5100's, the 3.0's have a softer entry feel to every bump but also compress less than the Bilsteins did, giving a smoother ride while also leaving me with more suspension to keep from bottoming. The rear 2.5's currently ride very bad. Something I did not think about until installation was that because the bump zone in the bypasses is roughly the last 4" of travel, this puts my unladen ride height very close to entering the bump zone. I can hit even small bumps and feel the rear is very harsh. This gives me a "jitter" in the rear which I think can be helped by opening the rebound tube. Overall, the truck feels like a monster now, in a good way. The semi-stock Valving from King is stiff, but smooth and comfortable, but also had a huge resistance to bottoming out. My springs I believe we're so sagged from my heavy bumper that I think their effective spring rate was actually much softer than normal on the Power Wagons. This led to a very comfortable ride. I believe part of my now stiff feeling front is from stiffer springs.

Driver front fender stock springs

Driver front fender new springs

Factory air box clearancing
battery box sits very close to the driver shock tower. 1/8" clearance. These may contact during hard driving.


Material removal from coil buckets. Long arms require less. After cycling with factory arms I determined that removing the inner lip was not enough and I had to get as close to the bolt hole as is safe. Then decided to do this clearancing around the whole perimeter, on both sides. Also had to grind my shock towers a fair amount. I made my own towers. Thuren/Carli setup probably require no clearancing of their towers but will require the same coil bucket clearancing. I used an angle grinder to cut the buckets and a die grinder to smooth the edges.

Shock angle, full extension
King 3.0 x 10.75" next to Bilsein 5100's. Also note my shock towers versus factory pintop towers


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[RAM4ROKS]

Nice work!!!! Looks great! I guess your front springs were crazy sagged out, that's a nice ground clearance gain now!!!! For the rear, some of Thuren's shackles would help you get your Wagon back to sitting level, I use mine on the middle holes and they work great! (I wanted to keep some rake when I did my Carli setup that is actually designed to be level, the Thuren shackles let me do so!) Those shocks are SICK!!!! I can't even imagine the difference in ride before/after! Those towers came out great, nicely done!

[Reloaderguy]

Did you buy 2" or 3" softride springs?

[DamageWagon]

@ram4rocks thanks for the kind words man! The gain in ground clearance is awesome, definitely unexpected. I was unhappy with the stock springs because I only had 2.5" of travel before hitting bump stops. With that little movement it almost wouldn't matter how nice my shocks were. I needed spring first. I have my own shackles designed already. Going to see if Thuren will sell me just his tube and bushings. I'm going give the rear quite a lift because we will be putting the camper back there.

@reloaderguy I went with the 3" springs. I figured there was no point to paying that money for no lift that might be stiffer to boot.


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[olyelr]

Holy taleetha, are you sure he didnt send you his 6" coils?

[DamageWagon]

Holy taleetha, are you sure he didnt send you his 6" coils?

Well the box said 3", and when I set the springs next to each other his springs were less than 2" taller than mine... For sure though, the spring rate is way more than I expected. I was told his springs were almost identical to PW springs but it does not feel like it. This must mean my springs were the most comfortable springs you could get haha. Does anyone want some Cadillac springs for their PW? Seriously, they were cush


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[Reloaderguy]

Those are diesel coils.

[DamageWagon]

Those are diesel coils.

Thuren only makes diesel coils. They are a much softer spring rate, should come out almost identical to the stock PW spring rate.


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[DamageWagon]

Well I've started a trouble ticket with USPS and EMF started one on their end for the Canada Post. I received my EMF joints a few weeks ago, but the drag link is nowhere to be seen. They were both dropped off on January 3rd. Drag link was scheduled to be here the 11th but nothing has happened since it hit the border. This isn't much fun since I already waited 6 weeks longer than I was initially told by EMF before they shipped them.

On a separate note, these EMF joints are suhweet!



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[RAM4ROKS]

BLING BLING!!!! looking forward to your write up on that install! Seems like an awesome setup! Hope it comes in soon for you!!!

[DamageWagon]

BLING BLING!!!! looking forward to your write up on that install! Seems like an awesome setup! Hope it comes in soon for you!!!

I'm looking forward to having a drag link that doesn't have 1/4" vertical play in both joints haha. The price they gave me for it was unbeatable, it was $250 for two EMF TRE's and a solid 1.5" drag link bent with tapped ends. Clay said in Canada they can't use welded bungs, everything has to be tapped, which is exactly what I wanted. I was also going to get an EMF heim joint for my Trackbar since I found out mine disintegrated last week but they won't be in for a few weeks. I can't wait that long without parking the truck. $40 for an FK heim was doable for now.


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[RAM4ROKS]

BLING BLING!!!! looking forward to your write up on that install! Seems like an awesome setup! Hope it comes in soon for you!!!

I'm looking forward to having a drag link that doesn't have 1/4" vertical play in both joints haha. The price they gave me for it was unbeatable, it was $250 for two EMF TRE's and a solid 1.5" drag link bent with tapped ends. Clay said in Canada they can't use welded bungs, everything has to be tapped, which is exactly what I wanted. I was also going to get an EMF heim joint for my Trackbar since I found out mine disintegrated last week but they won't be in for a few weeks. I can't wait that long without parking the truck. $40 for an FK heim was doable for now.


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YIKES!!!! Yeah, I'd say you're due for new!!!!