2016 RAM Power Wagon overland build

[crit_pw]

This is the ongoing build of my 2016 Laramie Power Wagon. I recently have gained a huge love of the overland lifestyle and it has definitely given me a new direction in which I will build my truck so the wife and I can enjoy more time away from the daily grind. In this picture the truck was only a few days old and is totally stock other than the wheels and tires. This was the first time the truck was taken off pavement. Since then the truck has been through numerous upgrades and modifications to suit my needs, wants and expectations. This is my daily driver, tow rig, camping rig, and family trip rig. My build is geared towards a vehicle that can go wherever I want to go on or off pavement yet not be so purpose built that it limits where I can go with it. This truck has been across a good portion of the western US since I bought it in late 2015. To date the following modifications have been made:

2016 RAM 2500 Laramie Power Wagon Overland Build
Current Modifications:

Powertrain
- 90mm BBK Throttle body
- Custom airbox to TB intake tube
- Muffler delete (OEM Resonator in place)
- Diablo Trinity Tuner with modified 91 octane tune
- Unlocked ECM
- 4.88 Nitro gears in front differential, 4.88 Yukon gears in rear diff
- OEM locking differentials
- OEM Electronic disconnect sway bar
- Yukon free-spin hub conversion

Suspension/Tires
- Thuren Coil springs front
- Thuren Coils springs rear
- Thuren Rear track bar
- Thuren Boogie Bump bump stops
- Thuren XHD sway links
- DOR rear control arms
- Bilstein 5160 Series Remote Res front shocks
- Bilstein 5100 Series rear shocks
- Thuren/KING 2.5" stage 5 tuned shocks
- Thuren/KING Steering Damper
- Thuren front axle truss
- Carli Track Bar
- 37x13.5x17 Toyo Open Country MT tires
- 17x9" American Outlaw Wheels

Interior
- Marine Style 8 switch accessory panel w/12v and USB ports and digital voltage gauge mounted in center stack
- GoPro Mount
- Tinted windows
- Column mounted digital/analog air pressure gauge
- Emergency flare/triangle kit
- 3 First-aid kits (light duty medical to first responder)

Exterior
- Addictive Desert Designs HoneyBadger rear bumper with lockable storage and recovery points
- MOPAR Tri-fold hard bed cover
- Shorty Antenna
- Peel coated grill shell
- Anti glare vinyl wrap on hood
- Deleted lower front bumper valance for approach angle
- Pocket style flares to cover larger tires

Lighting
- Customized factory headlight housings with multi-colored selectable LED backilighting
- Rigid Industries Grille with 30" RDS series light bar
- Rigid Industries 20" E-series Combo Light bar
- 4x Rigid Industries Radiance pods mounted on ZRoadZ hood hinge mounts
- 2x Rigid D2 flood pods mounted in rear bumper
- LEDMircy Rock lights. 12 pods mounted under truck with one additional pod mounted over the winch to backlight the spool in low light usage

Armor:
- OEM Power Wagon Skid Plate package (T-Case/Fuel Tank)
- Carli Front differential Guard
- AEV Nodular cast rear diff cover
- White Knuckle wheel to wheel sliders
- Dethloff Mfg Engine/trans skid plate

Recovery:
- OEM installed Warn winch w/ factory wired control
- Warn wireless remote
- Hard-wired winch controls
- Factor55 Receiver Hitch D-Ring
- Factor55 Prolink winch hook
- Various selection of D-ring shackles
- 2x Snatch blocks
- 4x 20' recovery straps
- 2x tree savers
- 20' chain
- 48" Highlift Jack
- Viair 150psi 100% duty cycle compressor with dual 2.5 gallon storage tanks
- 2 separate self coiling 50' air hoses with quick couple for running air tools or reaching longer distance from vehicle
- 2 dedicated regulated tire air up hose allowing for all 4 tires to be aired up simultaneously.
- Smittybuilt Trail shovel/trail axe
- Full-size trail shovel
- Double headed axe
- 2x Tire repair kit
- ARB Deflator

Comms:
- Midland GXT1000P handheld radios
- Wilson Cell booster

Future mods include;
Thuren high clearance front bumper
Thuren front track bar
Artec Industries rear axle truss
Custom Roof and Bed racks with area lighting
RTT rack mounted above bed
Rack mounted Awning
2nd compressor with 2 additional 2.5 gallon tanks
CB and HAM radio
Front camera
Internal Beadlocks
Rear winch
On board water storage with heating capability and pump
Solar charging with additional battery storage
12V fridge/freezer
Dyna Trac or Carli Ball joints
Slide out bed tray with built in outdoor kitchen
2nd fullsize spare
Snorkel intake
and who knows what else I will find I need/want along the way.


Below are more current pics of the truck in its current state.

 

[Red Beard]

Good to see full size rigs getting built. The Power Wagon is a good platform to start with. I had a second gen Cummins that I used heavily off road and it always took good care of me. I'll be following this.


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[300WMTUCK]

I second the sentiment on seeing the full size rigs get built. Great job so far!

 

[OffroadTreks]

Subscribed

 

[anotheraznguy]

just saw you are running 4.88 on 37's how is the rpm's at highway speeds?

 

[crit_pw]

just saw you are running 4.88 on 37's how is the rpm's at highway speeds?

At 80mph in 6th I am running around 2270 RPM. Shifts are much cleaner at higher speeds and doesn't downshift near as often to maintain highway speeds on steeper grades. I am right at 1500 miles on the 4.88 gears and overall my mileage is holding steady at 13.4mpg. I keep the bed pretty well packed at all times and live in the Colorado Rockies so I regularly see altitude changes from 11,000'+ to around 4000' when I am on the road and I tend to have a heavy foot otherwise I am sure I would see better overall mileage.

 

[crit_pw]

I second the sentiment on seeing the full size rigs get built. Great job so far!

Thanks, much more to come that's for sure.

 

[crit_pw]

The latest little mod. Mainly cosmetic but it was a must! Emblem installed!!

 

[Eric Haltom]

you have yourself a heck of a truck going there. I hope I can get to this level eventually. Lol

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[anotheraznguy]

I just now realized that a stock power wagon has 4.10's stock. Cant compare to the crappy 3.43 Gears that i have. So I was doing some weight capacity numbers and the GVWR of a Power wagon is 8510. Have you ever weighed the truck with all your gear? Just curious to see if you are worried about getting close to capacity

 

[crit_pw]

I just now realized that a stock power wagon has 4.10's stock. Cant compare to the crappy 3.43 Gears that i have. So I was doing some weight capacity numbers and the GVWR of a Power wagon is 8510. Have you ever weighed the truck with all your gear? Just curious to see if you are worried about getting close to capacity

No I haven't weighed it yet. I have no squat in the rear at this point and still rides and handles beautifully. The 2014+ Power Wagons have the same differentials as the CTD 2500 now so not worried about overloading the axles at all just the springs. As I increase the final running load on the truck I may move over to the Diesel springs in the rear to compensate for the additional load. Either way its getting Thuren springs all the way around just not sure whether its going to be the Diesel or Hemi springs in the rear when I am done.

 

[anotheraznguy]

i thought the power wagons had 10.5" aam rear axle vs the 11.5" aam.

 

[crit_pw]

i thought the power wagons had 10.5" AAM rear axle vs the 11.5" aam.

In 2014 they switched to the 11.5 with the E-locker. 2013 was the last year of the 10.5. I went through hell tracking down the correct parts and everything else to re-gear because everyone's catalogs don't show much for the new 11.5 rear end. They switched the pinion bearing size as well when they went to the coil rear suspension. But yes the PW has had an 11.5' Limited slip selectable locker since 2014.

 

[aearles]

Yup. GAWR Axle ratings on the wagon are a little weird though, not sure I understand why the rear is rated higher than a standard 2500, and the front is rated lower...

This image is an edited screencap to put the two side by side for direct comparison, the original is here.

 

[anotheraznguy]

Might want to check out the 2016 rams

https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2016_ram_2500_towing_charts.pdf

I am surprised at how many differences there are between a power wagon and a diesel truck. I wonder how much of a pain it would be to find some used 9 1/4 and 11.5 axles from a power wagon. Would probably be cheaper than a re-gear and locker swap

6.4L V8 HEMI A6 66RFE 4.10 8,510 1,510 6,996 4,139 2,857 4,750 6,200 17,500 10,030
6.7 DIESEL CUMMINS A6 68RFE 3.42 10,000 2,030 7,971 4,887 3,084 6,000 6,500 25,300 15,540

 

[crit_pw]

Might want to check out the 2016 rams

https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2016_ram_2500_towing_charts.pdf

I am surprised at how many differences there are between a power wagon and a diesel truck. I wonder how much of a pain it would be to find some used 9 1/4 and 11.5 axles from a power wagon. Would probably be cheaper than a re-gear and locker swap

6.4L V8 HEMI A6 66RFE 4.10 8,510 1,510 6,996 4,139 2,857 4,750 6,200 17,500 10,030
6.7 DIESEL CUMMINS A6 68RFE 3.42 10,000 2,030 7,971 4,887 3,084 6,000 6,500 25,300 15,540

Just keep in mind the axles changed in 2014. The 2013 and older still had the 10.5 and were leaf spring trucks. The 2014 and newer are the 11.5 and all of the hardware on the axle housing is set up for the 5 link coil. Same with the front as they switched to the radius arms. I am thinking (and I could be wrong) that since the 9.25 radius and 11.5 coil PW axles are still fairly new (only out for a few years) it may be hard to find them at a lower price point. Also you would need to configure manual wiring for the factory E-Lockers if you were to do a swap.
For the gear change your looking at $1400-$2000 in parts depending on brand and gear ratio. Lockers will be another story, that price point can vary greatly depending on the type of locker you choose and the brand. The nice thing about building vs buying a set of PW axles is you can get exactly what you want and have it configured to meet your needs. The $$ can add up really quick even on these new axles once you start modifying. I am right at the $2000 mark in the re-gear for both axles to 4.88's and as of yesterday just added another $2000 in parts to the front axle with Yukon lockout/freespin hubs. I do all of my own work so I have no cost involved in 3rd party labor and depending on where you live that price is all over the board.

 

[OffroadTreks]

Might want to check out the 2016 rams

https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2016_ram_2500_towing_charts.pdf

I am surprised at how many differences there are between a power wagon and a diesel truck. I wonder how much of a pain it would be to find some used 9 1/4 and 11.5 axles from a power wagon. Would probably be cheaper than a re-gear and locker swap

6.4L V8 HEMI A6 66RFE 4.10 8,510 1,510 6,996 4,139 2,857 4,750 6,200 17,500 10,030
6.7 DIESEL CUMMINS A6 68RFE 3.42 10,000 2,030 7,971 4,887 3,084 6,000 6,500 25,300 15,540

The going theory is that FCA derated the PW because of the soft suspension and lift. The lockers might be another aspect of that derating. The frame, axles, everything is the same as the standard 2500.

If you want to know what a good gear swap and locker install will cost, you can see this price breakdown on a build over here: https://americanadventurist.com/forum/threads/daves-torque-wagon-build.3660/page-46#post-93114

ARB CKMTA12 dual air compressor, $545
ARB onboard air tank, $153
ARB Air Locker (RD139), $1,200
Nitro Gear 4.30 ring and pinions, $1,500

I don't think he included labor.

 

[anotheraznguy]

Yeah i know the pain i priced it out by a reputable shop up in sacramento and they wanted 3k to just do a gear swap. then if i included lockers they were saying 6500 to just get the air fitting out the axle without any wiring. Sadly for the aam axles the only selectable locker option is either trying to use the oem power wagon or going with an arb. At this point regearing isnt much of an issue as the cummins even with its 3.43 can still turn the heavy 37's.

 

[Fred Austin]

Really nice rig. I'll be following your thread for sure. I'm building my 2017 Ram 2500 Cummins as I can afford. Plans include an AEV dual sport suspension, 37" Toyo Open Country tires on AEV 17's, 4:56 gears with Detroit True Trac LSD's front and rear, White Knuckle rock sliders, Decked bed drawer system, Bed rack, rooftop tent, etc.

What was you highway speed RPM's with the 4:10's. Did you have any shifting issued when you went up to 4:88's ?

 

[crit_pw]

so

Really nice rig. I'll be following your thread for sure. I'm building my 2017 Ram 2500 Cummins as I can afford. Plans include an AEV dual sport suspension, 37" Toyo Open Country tires on AEV 17's, 4:56 gears with Detroit True Trac LSD's front and rear, White Knuckle rock sliders, Decked bed drawer system, Bed rack, rooftop tent, etc.

What was you highway speed RPM's with the 4:10's. Did you have any shifting issued when you went up to 4:88's ?

With the factory gears (4.10) and 35's I was around 2100 RPM at 80mph. With the 4.88's and 37's I run about 2270 RPM @ 80MPH. I only had the stock tires on for a day so I couldn't tell you what my RPM's were like with them. Also with the shifting I recalibrated the speed sensors with each tire and gear change so I really didn't see any changes with the shifting till I went to 37's then the 4.10 gears just weren't low enough and the truck downshifted a lot to maintain speed, hence the reason I went to 4.88's. Now it drives and responds pretty much like it did when I bought it new.