Hooligan’s 2012 Ram build/assembly

[Hooligan]

Alright, this thread won’t be a technical hard core build...yet. For now will be a bolt on assembling of aftermarket stuff.

What it is:
2012 Ram 2500, 5.7 Hemi, with the 6 speed auto, Crew cab with 6’4” bed. 135,000 miles rolling on factory rims with wheel worn Cooper in 275/70/18.


Plans:
For mild off roading, consisting of snow days on Mormon Emigrant, Bald Mountain, and other moderate trails. Will eventually make its way to the Rubicon, but that’s a year or more away.

Aftermarket has so many things figured out, really just a matter of selecting the color you want.


Want to run a 3” lift in front, will most likely be Carli, but Thuren seems well respected also. Will also run their rear springs.

Read many good things about changing the sway bar, so already did that with a Thuren version. I think the tires are a factory size, but they rub pretty good on the control arm, and now they also rub the sway bar. The sway bar rub surprised me as some of my reading said no problem with factory rims. So, did some reading and factory rim offset was like 57. Seen recommendations for an offset between 18 and 22.
Browsed the FB marketplace and found some Racelines with +20 offset for $650. Now looking for either a 35 or 37” tire. Internet says a 37 fits with some minor fender mod and control arm rub. I’m okay doing fender adjustment, will most likely get a Carli high clearance control arm. There are many choices, Synergy, Metal Cloak, Thuren and a lot of cheaper options. Not looking for a low buck build but also won’t be smashing through the desert needing brute strength either.

Looking at sliders and see WhiteKnuckle, Randy Ellis and Maple Offroad. Think I like the WhiteKnuckle.

For front end bumper, I bought a Chassis Unlimited Octane, will install that this weekend and get pics.

I’ll leave rear bumper for now, if I get damage it gives me incentive to do some cutting. Ultimately will remove bed and shorten the frame, but that is next year.

Will need to regear, are 5.13 okay or any issues with strength just running a 37? If not I’ll do a 4.88. Which lockers to run? Go with AAM like the PowerWagon has? I’d be okay doing ARB, but cost wise might delay me a bit.

 

[Hooligan]

[No message]

 

[Hooligan]

This site is great for tire sizes and rim offset

 

[Hooligan]

I was going to start with a Power Wagon as the base, but not many around and they have very high price. Which, thinking about gearing and lockers, and a winch might have been cheaper. But...I want to run a deeper gear, and many internet stories about the factory locker wiring being jankey. I test drove a 2006, and couldn’t get them to lock up, so there is my one personal experience.

 

[Aggie06]

Had a 2018 Mega Cab with the 6.4L for a while. Pretty sure 275/70R18 was the stock tire size. I ran a 295/70R18 on stock rims without any rub.

My truck came with 3.73s from the factory and felt way undergeared. I was looking at swapping to 4.56 or 4.88s, but ended up getting rid of the truck.

The White Knuckle sliders are pretty beefy. From everything I’ve seen, they take abuse pretty well.

 

[Hooligan]

Installed the Chassis Unlimited bumper. Of the various aftermarket offerings, this seemed to tucked into the body the closest. So many stick out front way to far. This appears to be designed for the diesel and it’s intercooler as it sticks down pretty far. Not needed for the Hemi. Guess we’ll see over time if it needs to be cut down.
There was some difficulty on the passenger side, The fit was so tight it was binding on the body mount. I figure it was easier to trim the body mount than try to enlarge a hole (don’t have a step bit). Trimmed maybe a half inch of the body mount.

I didn’t measure approach angle, but the factory bumper hangs so low, crazy for a 4wd truck. Can see in the picture how much more tire is exposed.

 

[wvracer821]

Its cool to see a newer truck on here. I have a 2018 cummins. I just bought method 20" wheels with +18mm offset and 37 yokohama MTs I plan to run them with no lift until I get my shocks from Thuren. Lead times for custom shocks are stupid right now from both King and fox. Look into Dodge Offroad's 4 link kit. cheaper than carli arms and will offer more flex if your doing actual wheeling with this. Nitro makes a nice gear package for these trucks. I got 4.56 for mine but its my daily driver and tow rig. I'm looking forward to seeing this progress

 

[Hooligan]

I’ll be getting 37x12.5x17 Patagonia’s this week, though most likely next week. Would like to get control arms on before then, but with Christmas shipping who knows.

Not any comparison reviews on control arms, just specs. The only one that talks about flex is the Metal Cloak. Oddly, googling hadn’t brought up DOR so thanks.

Im sure you noticed a big difference going from 3.73 to 4.56.

 

[Elwenil]

I am also happy to see a DJ build on here. I bought my 35" BFGs last month, but won't be getting my rims until Taxmas. Mine is just a street truck with some towing, so I will be going light with my lift, just a Bilstein leveling kit with springs. I've had my fender flares for almost a year waiting on the rest of the stuff. When I get my lift and tires on, I will probably be getting a Blutooth OB2 plug and AlfaOBD on my phone to adjust my TPMS threshold and speedometer.

 

[montrose818]

tell Don (Thuren) Arthur from LA says whats up!

 

[surpip]

I’ll be getting 37x12.5x17 Patagonia’s this week, though most likely next week. Would like to get control arms on before then, but with Christmas shipping who knows.

Not any comparison reviews on control arms, just specs. The only one that talks about flex is the Metal Cloak. Oddly, googling hadn’t brought up DOR so thanks.

Im sure you noticed a big difference going from 3.73 to 4.56.

I'd stay away from the Patagonia's, wont even get 20k out of my set. They are garbage.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

I'd stay away from the Patagonia's, wont even get 20k out of my set. They are garbage.

I was going to say the same thing. I put them on my 4runner just to see what they were about. They seemed to do OK, new, but wore pretty quickly. No way I would consider them for a 3/4t. I always think of nitto or Toyo when I think of tires for a heavy rig.

Props to op for doing up a rig like this, this body seems massive, even compared to my 97 F350. Should be fun taking it places it shouldn't be

 

[surpip]

That's after just shy of 12k on my 2016 3500 diesel.

 

[Hooligan]

Consensus on Patagonia is good for off-road while they they last, they just don’t last. Internet and product reviews are all over the place, even for Toyo and Nitto.

this is a weekend only fun vehicle\ Home Depot runs. So, 12,000 miles is like 3 years, which is fine. Gives me a chance to change tires, if they lasted 50k I’d have them forever. This also has the gas engine, so there is 1,000 less pounds on the front compared to the Diesel.

This truck is gigantic, my prior wheeler was an 83 Toyota truck!

 

[Aggie06]

I was going to say the same thing. I put them on my 4runner just to see what they were about. They seemed to do OK, new, but wore pretty quickly. No way I would consider them for a 3/4t. I always think of nitto or Toyo when I think of tires for a heavy rig.

Props to op for doing up a rig like this, this body seems massive, even compared to my 97 F350. Should be fun taking it places it shouldn't be

They are huge. I really didn’t realize how big the newer generation trucks are until I saw one next to a early 2000s dodge 2500.

 

[surpip]

Consensus on Patagonia is good for off-road while they they last, they just don’t last. I

this is a weekend only fun vehicle\ Home Depot runs. So, 12,000 miles is like 3 years, which is fine.

I’ll give them that, they had decent traction off road.

Ha! I bought those in February, kinda why I’m listed they didn’t last so long. Rotated them every 3k too.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Consensus on Patagonia is good for off-road while they they last, they just don’t last. Internet and product reviews are all over the place, even for Toyo and Nitto.

this is a weekend only fun vehicle\ Home Depot runs. So, 12,000 miles is like 3 years, which is fine. Gives me a chance to change tires, if they lasted 50k I’d have them forever. This also has the gas engine, so there is 1,000 less pounds on the front compared to the Diesel.

This truck is gigantic, my prior wheeler was an 83 Toyota truck!

I wouldn't say they're that great off road. I've heard quite a fe reviews of them chunking easily on rocks. Also, they suck on wet, slippery surfaces. Again, I wouldn't put them on a big truck.

The only bad thing I've heard about Toyo or nitto is that they're heavy and don't bag well under light rigs. This obviously won't be an issue for you. I'd take the tougher sidewall any day.

 

[surpip]

Mine chunked a bit, but that's also with me with T/C off hanging the ass out on fire roads because the kids love it.

 

[surpip]

Oh, and be careful with your rear driveshaft, they’re expensive and hard to find.

 

[Hooligan]

Oh, and be careful with your rear driveshaft, they’re expensive and hard to find.

Ouch!

on theses full size rigs, there is a lot of driveshaft. I should start a Craigslist finder to keep a spare. What did you hit?

 

[surpip]

Tried to back into this spot and shouldn’t have. Hit a variety of rocks with it. It’s actually not terribly out of balance, put about 1k miles on it till I found a new one. It’s my daily/ only vehicle.

 

[Hooligan]

Got the Chassis Unlimited Octane bumper on. Went from this low hanging silly thing on a 4x4.

​To this, more suited to off-road adventures. Can actually see the tires!

not sure if they have gas or diesel versions, this hangs low to protect the Diesel intercooler but gas trucks don’t need it.

 

[Hooligan]

Poll the audience, in the Marketplace now a member is selling the electric TracLoc for $1k. This is pretty much same price as ARB, any reason to buy the e-locker over ARB?

Dont see any stories of either breaking in these 11.5 AAM axles, ARB has vacuum line versus wire to contend with. Front end will be ARB, so an air source is needed.

The TracLoc GTL is a limited slip when off, but if limited slip is needed easy enough to just lock the ARB. If I lived in a rain, snow, mud area with daily driving the LSD might be a bigger deal.

 

[Hooligan]

The 37” Milestars are on, have two snow trips on them and so far no complaints. Haven’t tested their limits on airing down. Also put on some Raceline 17x9 +20 offset, found them on FBMP these are the CJC Avenger version.

With the rim offset, and no lift these fit...but the rub on the control arms and fender liner was bad to me. The factory 275x70x18 with 57 offset also rubbed the control arms. To fix rubbing on the back of wheel well I did a permanent-temp fix by drilling some holes in the lining and zip tie ing it back to the body mount. Also, changed the control arms which helped a lot.

Control arms, I looked at the offerings from Thuren, Carli and Metal Cloak. I didn’t consider any of the adjustable versions, just doesn’t seem necessary. Some of the offerings seem to offset the lower control arm to reduce rub, which doesn’t make sense. The lower arm is tucked really far under, it’s the upper that gets the rub. Carli seemed to be the best at addressing this by offsetting the upper, and having the indented section. These aren’t cheap and aren’t true long arm, they are about 1/2” longer though. They are beefy, I didn’t weigh them but easily twice the weight of the factory arms.

Even with the rim offset and the arm carve outs, tires still rub. Can see the mark at the rear end of the carve out section. It needs to be extended about an inch.

 

[Boomtacoma01]

Bumper looks good. I ordered an Expedition 1 bumper for my 2017 cummins in February stupid 10-12 week lead time. I have the AEV Katlas with some Toyo 35/12.5/17s now. I want to swap out my leveling kit and get the ride a little more smooth down the road. Keep on working on it. Good progress so far.

 

[Hooligan]

Taking forever but finally partially installed some lights. Some Baja Designs in wide cornering lens and Diode Dynamics Pro in yellow fog lens. Using a Switch Pros to control. Nope, shit ain’t cheap but these items can be migrated to future builds.

Had to find a place to mount Switch Pro control. Next to brake booster and close to battery on the firewall looked nice. Don’t have a good way to bend metal, so I got crafty. Found some Simpson connectors, which are ‘L’ shaped and cut them up. Used an existing hole in cowl that holds down the wiper cowl trim, then drilled another. Fits real nice in there.

I did get fancy and painted the repurposed Simpsons, and even tack welded a nut on. I did use the Switch Pro aluminum bracket. Hard core fab baby!


I haven’t completed the wiring, need to play in the fuse box and find an ignition source wire. I did look in there, some fuse holders have fuses for options the truck doesn’t have...like heated seats. I’ll let you know which one I go with.

The firewall already had a pass through with grommet, I did have to remove the switch module plug. Large paperclip and the instructions made it easy.

 

[Hooligan]

 

[Hooligan]

I did get the lights in the bumper and wired. Currently wires are just sitting by the battery. Hope to wrap it up this weekend. Will need to also aim them. Both lights are the SAE lens. Ran the wire into 1/4” loom and zip tied it to little stick em thingies I stuck on the bumper.

 

[Hooligan]

Time for some hardcore mods...not!

My center console lid was broken, didn’t sit right and was latch to open was broken. The newer (2013+) trucks have a nicer lid, with cup holders. Been browsing CL and FB Marketplace for one, people wanted stupid prices. Found one on CL like a mile away. It was $150, but that is about half what others were listed for.
I used the new top, but kept my bottom part since it has a storage place but the 2013+ one doesn’t. The cigarette lighter plug was the same as my model so that plugged right in. The 2013+ has plugs for USB and AUX, which I didn’t use.
Hardest part was unbolting the middle seat to lift it slightly to run the wires under and over to driver side.

Console color wasn’t an exact match, but I don’t care. Function over form.

Old

New

 

[Hooligan]

A few gratuitous pics of Bald Mountain before it closed for April and May. Ya know, just in case ya’ll think this is a show queen. Was able to make it to the top, it’s not a tough trail but a few others at the top did ask how I made it. They were in Jeep’s and Toyotas.

Last hill at the base of the tower.