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Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 6:55 pm
by Ramajama
Is it steel or al u min ium?
On the new ones,,,,
Thanks!

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 7:02 pm
by pdavey
Ramajama wrote:Is it steel or al u min ium?

Thanks!
My guess is steel but could depend on the year. Pretty sure the 2005 is not aluminum.

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Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 7:14 pm
by Ramajama
Im sorry I did not specify in the first post, Ive since edited. I meant on the latest models.

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:14 pm
by RustyPW
It's steel. You won't see aluminum panels on the Rams trucks until 2018.

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 1:04 am
by Ramajama
Thank you sir.

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 7:26 pm
by 2202bblx2
put a magnet to it and find out...

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:21 pm
by Ramajama
LOL! Well I already know my 1500's hood is aluminum. But since I dont have a PW just yet.....I just have to ask questions. :D

The reason I ask is because Im already planning out mods. I am going to get a AEV heat reduction hood. Its steel, so I assumed the stock hood is steel but just wanted to confirm.

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:55 pm
by DamageWagon
Ramajama wrote:LOL! Well I already know my 1500's hood is aluminum. But since I dont have a PW just yet.....I just have to ask questions. :D

The reason I ask is because Im already planning out mods. I am going to get a AEV heat reduction hood. Its steel, so I assumed the stock hood is steel but just wanted to confirm.
as soon as I saw that AEV used 23ga steel on the hood I looked up at my sheet metal chart at work and though "damn, that's thin." I don't know how thin the factory hood is, but 23ga is .025". The strength really comes down to layering and reinforcements, but that is going to dent EASILY. Just want you to know. We are the largest user of stainless steel in California and we make some thin stuff, but frankly we almost don't go below 20ga (.036") because it dents too easily. And our 304 stainless is a lot harder to dent than steel. AEV usually makes nice stuff, but my opinion of them has really changed since I learned how they operate vs how companies like Thuren operate. The end goal of AEV is not to create as functional of a vehicle as they say.


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Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 am
by Juday
It's definitely steel. Having been through a hail storm a couple years ago, the Wagon got the crap beat out of it. Then again, quarter sized hail will do that..... :( The hood dents as easily as the body panels.


But, I can understand that. We all would like our shit to be 3/4" steel, armored to the max, but really, how much weight are you willing to put on this truck? Christ, it already weighs 8,000 pounds!! Thankfully, the PDR method removed them quite easily!

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 12:30 pm
by DamageWagon
Juday wrote:It's definitely steel. Having been through a hail storm a couple years ago, the Wagon got the crap beat out of it. Then again, quarter sized hail will do that..... :( The hood dents as easily as the body panels.


But, I can understand that. We all would like our shit to be 3/4" steel, armored to the max, but really, how much weight are you willing to put on this truck? Christ, it already weighs 8,000 pounds!! Thankfully, the PDR method removed them quite easily!
Are hail storms why people rhino line their whole jeep? :)


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Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:55 am
by Ramajama
DamageWagon wrote:
Ramajama wrote:LOL! Well I already know my 1500's hood is aluminum. But since I dont have a PW just yet.....I just have to ask questions. :D

The reason I ask is because Im already planning out mods. I am going to get a AEV heat reduction hood. Its steel, so I assumed the stock hood is steel but just wanted to confirm.
as soon as I saw that AEV used 23ga steel on the hood I looked up at my sheet metal chart at work and though "damn, that's thin." I don't know how thin the factory hood is, but 23ga is .025". The strength really comes down to layering and reinforcements, but that is going to dent EASILY. Just want you to know. We are the largest user of stainless steel in California and we make some thin stuff, but frankly we almost don't go below 20ga (.036") because it dents too easily. And our 304 stainless is a lot harder to dent than steel. AEV usually makes nice stuff, but my opinion of them has really changed since I learned how they operate vs how companies like Thuren operate. The end goal of AEV is not to create as functional of a vehicle as they say.


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You think they use that gauge to keep weight reasonable? Im not super concerned about denting. I mean hail is going to do its thing if you get caught in it ( we get plenty of that here) and I can deal with that.

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:57 am
by Ramajama
Juday wrote:It's definitely steel. Having been through a hail storm a couple years ago, the Wagon got the crap beat out of it. Then again, quarter sized hail will do that..... :( The hood dents as easily as the body panels.


But, I can understand that. We all would like our shit to be 3/4" steel, armored to the max, but really, how much weight are you willing to put on this truck? Christ, it already weighs 8,000 pounds!! Thankfully, the PDR method removed them quite easily!
Yep and with all the mods people like to do, they never get lighter. LOL!

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:25 pm
by DamageWagon
Ramajama wrote:
DamageWagon wrote:
Ramajama wrote:LOL! Well I already know my 1500's hood is aluminum. But since I dont have a PW just yet.....I just have to ask questions. :D

The reason I ask is because Im already planning out mods. I am going to get a AEV heat reduction hood. Its steel, so I assumed the stock hood is steel but just wanted to confirm.
as soon as I saw that AEV used 23ga steel on the hood I looked up at my sheet metal chart at work and though "damn, that's thin." I don't know how thin the factory hood is, but 23ga is .025". The strength really comes down to layering and reinforcements, but that is going to dent EASILY. Just want you to know. We are the largest user of stainless steel in California and we make some thin stuff, but frankly we almost don't go below 20ga (.036") because it dents too easily. And our 304 stainless is a lot harder to dent than steel. AEV usually makes nice stuff, but my opinion of them has really changed since I learned how they operate vs how companies like Thuren operate. The end goal of AEV is not to create as functional of a vehicle as they say.


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You think they use that gauge to keep weight reasonable? Im not super concerned about denting. I mean hail is going to do its thing if you get caught in it ( we get plenty of that here) and I can deal with that.
Not for weight savings. They chose to stamp the hood, which is the right way and really the only way to make a proper one, but stamping is a very expensive investmentImage. Even for the thin, ductile 23ga steel they probably paid over $100,000 for the stamping die, plus you need a large working area press to do the stamping with. We run 8.5 million pounds of sheet metal annually at our facility and we run two punches that are 176 and 220 tons force. You wouldn't need nearly that much force to form that hood, but the dies for that hood are probably 3-4 times the length and width of our work areas. The machine to press that would be a few hundred grand if it was a few decades old. AEV couldn't afford that, I'm sure they contract out.

I considered making a cut and bolt kit for heat reduction on the factory hood instead of paying $1400 haha, but that AEV hood does look beautiful!


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Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 6:14 pm
by Ramajama
DamageWagon wrote:
Not for weight savings. They chose to stamp the hood, which is the right way and really the only way to make a proper one, but stamping is a very expensive investmentImage. Even for the thin, ductile 23ga steel they probably paid over $100,000 for the stamping die, plus you need a large working area press to do the stamping with. We run 8.5 million pounds of sheet metal annually at our facility and we run two punches that are 176 and 220 tons force. You wouldn't need nearly that much force to form that hood, but the dies for that hood are probably 3-4 times the length and width of our work areas. The machine to press that would be a few hundred grand if it was a few decades old. AEV couldn't afford that, I'm sure they contract out.

I considered making a cut and bolt kit for heat reduction on the factory hood instead of paying $1400 haha, but that AEV hood does look beautiful!


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Thats interesting stuff!

Did you see the hood on the SEMA "Macho Power Wagon"? It looks like they cut out the vent stamps in the hood and made their own functional vents, like you mentioned...it came out pretty nice.

Youre right, the AEV hood is a beautiful looking piece of kit that you definitely wont see on every other truck. $1400....plus the paint match, is steep but hey, sometimes you just gotta open up the wallet....Ill be taking it one project at a time.

Re: Power Wagon hood?

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 6:31 pm
by DamageWagon
Ramajama wrote:
DamageWagon wrote:
Not for weight savings. They chose to stamp the hood, which is the right way and really the only way to make a proper one, but stamping is a very expensive investmentImage. Even for the thin, ductile 23ga steel they probably paid over $100,000 for the stamping die, plus you need a large working area press to do the stamping with. We run 8.5 million pounds of sheet metal annually at our facility and we run two punches that are 176 and 220 tons force. You wouldn't need nearly that much force to form that hood, but the dies for that hood are probably 3-4 times the length and width of our work areas. The machine to press that would be a few hundred grand if it was a few decades old. AEV couldn't afford that, I'm sure they contract out.

I considered making a cut and bolt kit for heat reduction on the factory hood instead of paying $1400 haha, but that AEV hood does look beautiful!


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Thats interesting stuff!

Did you see the hood on the SEMA "Macho Power Wagon"? It looks like they cut out the vent stamps in the hood and made their own functional vents, like you mentioned...it came out pretty nice.

Youre right, the AEV hood is a beautiful looking piece of kit that you definitely wont see on every other truck. $1400....plus the paint match, is steep but hey, sometimes you just gotta open up the wallet....Ill be taking it one project at a time.
I saw that hood, that's what it looked like to me. I really don't think the trucks need them, but people would buy it if I made one. I think it would be nice to make a cutout kit you could bolt on, then you wouldn't need the new hood. Unless you screwed up lol, but factory hoods are affordable.

There have been turning points to me where I used to think there was no way I would spend $200 on a functional upgrade on a vehicle because I thought it should be good to go from factory, and now I'm at the point of throwing thousands into the front suspension because it would be better. Not needed, but better. Thankfully I've learned some skills and have tools available to design and make some of this stuff myself. That saves me some coin haha. But once you find the vehicle you love, maybe a $1400 hood is just a small token to make it yours.


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