new pw owner in georgia

[hunter2500pw]

hi guys im new here and i bought a new 2012 pw about three weeks ago. Its a dream long in the making. Its black with sunroof,nav,dvd,sat radio,power seat,alpine system,back up camera and way more stuff than i need but im starting to like the extras. Im looking at a ranch hand brush guard,6“lift,37“ bfg ats, and a are camper with roof rack. Any ideas/suggestions?

[Cactus Red]

We can spend your $$$ for you!

IMO, you don't really need a 6" to run 37's, but that's up to you. There are lots of really high quality 4" systems that will keep the center of gravity down and still give you the room to run 37's. Heck, some stock 3rd Gens run 37's without a lift at all. Take a look at Carli, Thuren, and ICON Vehicle Dynamics for top quality stuff.

I personaly dislike the BFG A/T with a passion. To me it's a poor compromise at best. They chunk terribly in any kink of rocky terrain, and truely suck in mud or deep snow. If you want an A/T, look at Toyo 2's, Falken Wild Peak, or Nitto Terra Grapplers.

Mark

[hunter2500pw]

thanks for the advice. Im saying 6“ lift because those kits im looking at are for regular rams. Hopefully ill get four mabe five inches. The reason i dont go with a true pw specific long arm is need to keep the facory brackets so i can put the truck back stock for any major warranty issues. Do the companys you listed have kits that use the factory brakets? I deff want a true spring kit. No blocks or ad a leafs. On tires im thinking 60% on milage and 40% on off road use. Here in georgia we dont see much rocks. Mainly red clay and soupy swampy mud wich ill be avoiding until some of the new wears off the truck. How do the tires you listed do on milage and off road conditions like i listed? Ever try the pro comp extrem at or goodyear mt?

[VA_Wagon Man]

Welcome, looking forward to your build. The Goodyear mts have great reviews, my buddy ruins them on his truck.....no complaints.

Sent from the middle of nowhere.

[hunter2500pw]

thanks, what kind of mileage dose he get from the goodyears? Ever seen those michilin xzl’s? Whow those are nice and get like 80k miles. Dose any one know if the come in 17“ wheel sizes? I can only find 17“&20“.

[MSparks909]

IMO, stay away from the Ranch Hand bumpers. They stick out WAYYY farther than the stock bumpers and really hurt your approach angle. No use really in going with them. They're overrated for what they are and are ugly IMO. Not trying to push any of your buttons. If it's what you like then good for you, but the stock bumper tucks up much nicer than the Ranch Hand. Have you ever heard of Aluminess Bumpers? Might want to give them a look. They make some really nice bumpers for our PW's. Carli Suspension is top-of-the food chain in the Dodge suspension world. Thuren is close but his website is vastly outdated and takes a while to get parts, etc. If I was doing it again I would have went with all Carli parts. You can run 37's with 3" Carli Hemi coils, Carli leaf springs, 1/2" longer Carli control arms and a Carli adjustable tracbar. Add some Bilstein 5100's and you would have an amazing riding PW with added suspension flex and improved driveability.

Aluminess 4th Gen PW bumper on a Carli Suspended PW on 37" Toyo's with stock wheels:
http://carlisuspension.blogspot.com/201 ... ition.html

[hunter2500pw]

wow thats the look im going for. That white fourth gen in the pics looks tough but ready for anything from street comuting to a expedition. I didnt mean the ranch hand bumbper, just the brush guard. Sorry bout that. But on close look the brush guard looks like it hangs down real low. Ive got a baja light bar i took of my Z-71 i sold some years ago, i might see if it will fit. I plan on taking of the plastic air dam on the bottom of the bumper anyway. Carli is nice. I wrote down those parts you listed and will call them this week to check price and avalability. Preciate the advise and the link.

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Another thought on bumpers is Road Rhino. One of our members here is a vendor. Go to the Vendor page and look him up. If I ever decide to do any suspension work on my truck it will be Carli.

[hunter2500pw]

sounds good. Im thinkin 3“ all carli, 37“ BFG KRAWLERS on factory rims and a baja/light bar that i allready have from a previous truck. Sound good? Have any info on the Krawlers? I need to know the expected mileage. Im seein 20k to 30k on other sites but id like to hear yalls input. I promise ill figure out how to post pics and ill take and post them at each stage.

[MSparks909]

I think you'll be very pleased with the Carli stuff. The leaf springs are necessary because they push the axle 1/2" rearward so you can stuff 37's into the fenderwells without rubbing. Same for the control arms...move the front axle 1/2" forward so you won't rub the bottom of the fender at full droop/turning. And the tracbar will center the axle side-to-side. Set the length of the trackbar 39 1/8" center-to-center on the bolt holes. You can go balls-to-the wall as far as shocks go too. 5100's are entry-level Carli. 7100's are a great all around shock with great street and DD manners. If you ran Baja all the time I'd recommend some King 2.5's or better (Bilstein 2.65's/King 3.0's). And I'd look into those Toyo MT's and Cooper STT's. Great 37" tires.

[Hilldweller]

Tire:
http://www.treaddepot.com/tire/76101.html



Long life tires won't get you out of mud usually.
You start losing treadlife warranties at 35s ---- the Toyo AT2 has a 50,000 mile warranty but I don't think it comes in a 37...

where in GA are you?
Camp much?
We're always doing something in the mountains. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/f ... n-Society)

[hunter2500pw]

im 45 minutes south of atl. Where are yall? Yea l love to camp but im working out of state till may of next year. I will deff get together with you guys then. Ill probably do my build here but wait till ive got about 5k miles on the pw because of break in and all. Where do yall camp/ride at? To bad tacoa is closed. Ill probably go with the KRAWLERS in a 37“ and hope for 25/30k out of them.

[Hilldweller]

im 45 minutes south of atl. Where are yall? Yea l love to camp but im working out of state till may of next year. I will deff get together with you guys then. Ill probably do my build here but wait till ive got about 5k miles on the pw because of break in and all. Where do yall camp/ride at? To bad tacoa is closed. Ill probably go with the KRAWLERS in a 37“ and hope for 25/30k out of them.

I don't think you'll get that many miles from Krawlers... ...or anything that's good in mud, for that matter.

I live in Canton, 1/2 hour NW of ATL. We usually camp near Amicalola/BloodMnt/SpringerMnt but often go up around the old Tellico trails too; our friends with Mogs live in TN and SC and we try to shorten their trip when we can.
If you like Tacoa, there are nice FS roads off War Woman Rd and around Charlie's Creek still. Nothing too extreme or technical but you can spend a day wandering around and I can show you a few places to camp near Lake Burton. We usually don't go that far west unless we plan to end up at Mt Pisgah or something afterward.

[jeepxj13]

I'm in Auburn, AL, so I'm not to far from you.

[Hilldweller]

I'm in Auburn, AL, so I'm not to far from you.

C'mon out!

We're camping for Thanksgiving (Sourwood Camp, near Tellico) ---- New Year's is likely and then Country Fried Weekend happens toward the end of January. CFW is a potluck, some wheeling, and a big fire...
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... discussion

Here's a slideshow of last year's CFW; needs more Power Wagons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krd0qtLqPjM

[hunter2500pw]

sounds great yall. Ill be back in state early may of 2013 and ill deff get together with yall both. Itd be nice to get some pw together in the south east like they do in moab and up at raush creek. Hilldweller, what is the technicality of the trails yall are runnin? Will a stock truck do them or minimum 35“s or what? Man wish i was there for the thanksgiving ride. How many pws yall runnin? How many rigs in general? You are probably right on the krawlers too. The more i look and think about it the toyo 37“ would be a ok trade off on mileage vs prowess off road. What all is done to your pw?

[Hilldweller]

sounds great yall. Ill be back in state early may of 2013 and ill deff get together with yall both. Itd be nice to get some pw together in the south east like they do in moab and up at raush creek. Hilldweller, what is the technicality of the trails yall are runnin? Will a stock truck do them or minimum 35“s or what? Man wish i was there for the thanksgiving ride. How many pws yall runnin? How many rigs in general? You are probably right on the krawlers too. The more i look and think about it the toyo 37“ would be a ok trade off on mileage vs prowess off road. What all is done to your pw?

How many PWs? Ha. One.
Two or three Unimogs, a whole bunch of Jeeps, Land Rovers, Yotas, a couple of Lexuses (Lexi?), one lonely Pinz every now and then, a 3500 diesel, a Subaru, an Eagle (seriously), a couple of Ford products of various vintage...
But Power Wagons are like unicorns.

The trails aren't even really trails anymore. Most everything has been closed or graded; there's one spot left that we're trying to "adopt" before the road gets disappeared.
You can run it in a stock PW. It's a cross-axle paradise and sometimes muddy.
It's become more about the food, beer, and company these days. We go on longish roadtrips for adventures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gKrjVGM-pI

[hunter2500pw]

and a good time was had by all! Sounds like fun. I also got a 1983 F-250 diesel with dana 60 SAS 3“ lift 36“ tsls and a 10,000 winch. Oh yea and a 110 fuel tank for refiling heavy equipment. To be honest i was thinking about selling it to finance pw parts! no bs! Keep in touch and come may or so well show them two unicorns!