2014 Ram Big Horn - Build out

OOOO, I’ll have to investigate that. I was looking under there for a spot that I could squeeze it in. Thanks dude, appreciate at.

Looking good. I have 2 weeks left before I head to get my camper

You’re gonna love it! Make sure to double check all fasteners on the frame before you leave. Your rig is gonna look bad ass with it!

2 Likes

Idle hands…pulled the rear bumper and running boards for some Raptor liner. Then after getting stuck on the weekend solo with the sled trailer I’ve pulled the trigger on a DIY winch bumper from a BC company Coastal Off-road. 4th Gen Dodge Ram 1500 Front Bumper Kit | Coastal Offroad




Got the primer on and hope to spray them on Friday. We’ll see how good of a job I did roughing up the Chrome to accept the Raptor liner. Have some colour match Raptor Liner for the rocker panels in the spring.

Bam!!!

Murdered out!



Waiting for my Coastal off-road bumper next!

2 Likes

Looks great!! I have plans for a chrome delete on my rig as well What material did you use?

1 Like

Raptor Liner, we’ll see how well it does on the Chrome bumper and running boards. I hit them hard with a 80grit flap disc. Then used a U-Pol 8 Acid etch primer. 2L of Black raptor liner for those three pieces.

Then for the badges and door handles I used Plasti Dip. Which is holding up ok on the badges and front grill. But I’ve ordered black handle covers because the drivers side handle got ripped during my GFC install. But honestly, now after seeing the raptor liner results I would use that on the door handles and grill.

When I raptor line the winch bumper I’m going to finish up the chrome by doing the mirrors. For the plastic you have to use the U-Pol adhesive promoter. I’m so stoked in how its all starting to look. I have Color matched Raptor liner to do my rocker panels but I’m going to wait until the summer to do that since the truck wont’ fit in the garage.

2 Likes

Looks great! Love the black on gray.

2 Likes

Next stage!

Prepping for the DYI High Clearance bumper build tomorrow from Coastal Off-road, installing the Warn Evo VR10S, and new lights.



2 Likes

Got it all welded up in one long day! It looks good, now comes the fun part….grinding



3 Likes

Oh…also got this installed while Graham was finishing the welds. We’ll see if this Etsy store more expensive decal lasts longer. Used a wet application method and a heat gun.

Back pain is an understatement…but I pretty much got the whole finished side of the bumper ground down. Definitely noticed a few things that we got wrong; but it’s hard to keep it all in check building these kits. It only looks like there are two or three spots that could use a little touch of weld.

Skiing tomorrow with the fam; but might have time to clean the steel before I prime it. Those buggers at Raptor Liner forgot my spray gun in my order. Luckily a buddy has one! Also noted that the light pods are going to be tricky to get mounted right. I forgot them at the house when we were building the bumper so I had to split the difference when I welded the light mounts. May have to get creative.

1 Like

It may be Christmas Eve, but still managed to clean, prime, go skiing with the fam, then get a full litre of raptor liner on the front side :sunglasses:


It is -20C btw, and 12C in the truck :smiley:

3 Likes

Well, that took some fighting, swearing, part grinding and brute force and ignorance. But got the bumper on in time to get out to the mountains (albeit it’s -41 with wind chill). It’ll be a true test of the rig :cold_face::cold_face:


5 Likes

Looks awesome! _____

1 Like

nice, yeah he’s got a good channel, I was more worried about Carbon Monoxide leaking through that hole, since you are pulling breathing air from the same area. I’ve built a bunch of these heater installs, so just looking out for ya. My design → Portable Diesel Heater in a box! - YouTube

@keeganbuilds The diesel heater sits outside the truck and pipes inside. Similar to your design, as we’ve discussed before the only thing that’s different is the exhaust connects inside the box. Which I believe is isn’t the best approach. But, I have not had any issue with my carbon monoxide detector going off yet. When this one dies, I’ll do a version 2 where the exhaust connection on the muffler is outside the box.

But the breathing air, and intake air are separate in the fact that one is outside the truck the other is inside.

In the video description. And obviously I’m local to you (seattle) if you needed pointers.

Starting the next mod, which will be begrudgingly installing a DC to DC charging system for the house battery. As a side note, if anyone is looking at buying a Renogy Heated battery, don’t waste your money. The heater function needs a 4A charge to operate, great except when the battery is charged you’ll never get that current. So you’ll always have a ‘Low temp’ warning. I’ve resorted to leaving a ceramic heater in the truck while on a Battery tender when the unit isn’t in use.

But…the purpose of the DC to DC charger is as a result of realizing that early to mid winter there is not enough sunlight to recharge the battery back to 100% when it’s below 0C. So this will be my solution, using the Renogy 40A DC to DC charger.

I’m in the process of building the #4AWG, 16AWG +12V trigger wiring harness. The plan is to use a chassis ground to cut back on cabling. I went with a 100A ANL fuse block off the battery, and will be running a 60A ANL fuse after the charger. I think in the summer when things warm up, I’ll redo all the house electrical in a more organized fashion.

And I’ve also installed @jedgar prototype 1 (which you can get the 3D print file from him) on the rear doors of the V2 with no problems. Be a good test this weekend driving out to the ski zone in the snow.

2 Likes

Good to know about the heated battery. I was interested, but also not $600 interested.

What are your thoughts on the $300 amazon LiPo batteries?