Custom Night Edition build (Chrome Delete)

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Hey all, first time truck owner here and I never thought I’d own one. I’m coming from a 2000 Mitsubishi eclipse GT to a 2010 Toyota Prius (ironic) and now a 2019 1500 Laramie. I was actually looking for a charger or challenger but decided to take a test drive in a Ram and instantly decided I needed one. This is the pavement princess I came out with.

My eclipse was named Sarabi and she served me well. As I laid her to rest, Nala is stepping up to pick up where Sarabi left off.

4x2 Hemi w/ eTorque 3.21
Level 2 equipment group, 12 in screen
Tow package.

While I think chrome looks great on this truck, after seeing night editions, I’d prefer the black. Maybe you’re wondering why I didn’t just buy one. Well, I wanted to buy used so my options were already limited. Also, I needed a new vehicle asap so I didn’t have much time to shop around. Plus, I actually prefer a satin/matte black look over all the gloss so that’s going to be the goal of all this.

I’m new to the truck scene and new to customizing so I’m sure there are much better and cheaper ways of going about this than what I’m doing. Im going to share my thought process and give a brief review of the products I went with. A lot of the things I’ve already done so I’m just going to be updating as I have time and as the parts come in. Hope you enjoy the transformation.

- Mopar sport hood
- Body color bumper
- Side RAM debadge
- Mopar hood deflector
- Mopar rain guards
- Bakflip MX4 Matte black tonneau cover
- Painted grille (satin black)
- Fender flare, window trim, rocker panel, rear bumper wrapped (satin black)
- Nfab Epyx side steps
- Tail light/ Tailgate handle dip
- Borla S-Type catback exhaust (black tips)
- Dipped mirror covers
- Dipped door handle covers
- Reflective Concepts grille overlay
- 4th gen Ram front license plate
- Cargo light Lasfit LEDs
- Mopar textured black applique
- Headlight tint
- leveled w/ Bilstein 5100 fronts and rear
- Mopar UCA
- 20x9 Fuel Vapor +1 offset wheels
- 275/65r20 Continental TerrainContact A/T
- Dipped tow hooks
- Brow Tint

 

[billfraley]

Nice truck

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Here I am at the midpoint in the build. The very first thing I did was order the sport hood and a new bumper from the dealer. Not much to say here. Got it painted, ceramic clear coat, and slapped it on. $1900 in all.

Wrap job - wrapped the fenders, rear bumper, window trim, and tow mirrors. Extremely happy with the job. It completely changed the look of the truck. Satin black seems to match the plastics from the hood bezels and the rear emblem very nicely. The guy said he couldn’t wrap the grille as there wasn’t enough surface for it to wrap around to avoid peeling. He convinced me he could paint the grill and that it would be permanent. More on that later. $920 in all.

Debadged the side RAM lettering. This truck is hellbent on reminding you that you’re driving a Ram and it got excessive. Used some fishing line and went with a sawing motion through the adhesive. Some alcohol took off the remaining pretty easily.

Rear Ram Emblem swap - thought about dipping the chrome emblem but found a new blacked out emblem on eBay for $25. Seemed worth it. I did end up dipping the chrome handle on the tailgate.

Bakflip MX4 Folding Tonneu Cover: Next thing on my list was a tonneau cover. A soft tonneau cover would have been budget friendly but I’ve seen way too many on the road that have gotten warped. I wasn’t sure what caused that and I’m in this for longevity so I went with hardcover. I wanted easy access to my bed so I looked at retrax, paragon, and other retractables. Most of them seemed to take up a lot of the space in the back of an already seemingly small 5’7 bed. Paragon looked great but it would still take some room in the bed once taken off... and it looked like it would trap a lot of heat. I went with a Bakflip MX4 to keep in line with the flat black look I’m going for. I couldn’t be happier with it. Pretty easy installation. 3 quick pulls of a cable and I have full bed access. It still traps heat but I should have guessed that. I didn’t expect it to be so heavy so any hopes of increased mpg were shot down with that. I get a little nervous not being able to see the bed with loads but it’s just more motivation to make sure I tie everything down right. It keeps a decent amount of rain out but In really bad rainstorms (I live in southern Florida) some water gets in. You’ll be able to tell I park on an incline so I’m sure that doesn’t help. $958 americantrucks

N-Fab Epyx cab length side steps - I actually wasn’t planning on getting new side steps. I was going to plastidip the ones I had but they weren’t working for me. I’m a shorter guy (5’7) and either found myself sliding in and out of the truck or hitting my head on the roof. I hoped a drop step would fix this. N-Fab seemed to have the deepest step and I wasn’t worried about ground clearance (all pavement). HDX had some good looking ones with a slightly bigger price tag. N-Fab was on sale at the time so I went with those. Result? Success. No more awkward sliding. Perfect step up and down every time. I would maybe like a wider step but otherwise it’s perfect. $356 americantrucks

Mopar hood deflector - I was considering the Mopar and the weathertech. Mopar has the satin black look I was going for and I really liked the aggressive angled edges that conformed to upper grille guard. From some angles, it almost looks like a hood scoop. Mopar should be an easy install right? It ended up being the most frustrating thing I’ve done. According to the directions, It’s supposed to come with 4 screws that screw into the weather strip under the hood and 2 clips that you violently jam onto the hood. Instead, mine came with 4 clips and 2 screws. These hold the deflector onto the hood. It’s hard to explain, but it’s really not a good design. From what I understand, weathertech only uses screws that screw into the weatherstripping which is a much safer method. I also don’t like how the mopar doesn’t cover the entire width of the hood area (weathertech does). It just looks awkward from some angles. If I could do it again, I think I would go with weathertech and have the deflector wrapped or dipped. $92 Amazon

Mopar rain guards - I bought these the same time I bought the hood deflector so my reasoning is mostly the same. I just knew I wanted in-channel. The install wasn’t bad. The front window guards just sit on the window but I didn’t like having to pull out the weatherstripping of the rear windows to attach those. It just so happens that they match the factory tint so that’s a plus. I do notice some wind noise from the front windows but it’s not noticeable with music on. I’m curious if anyone who went with weathertech rain guards noticed wind noise - $115 dealer

More updates soon. Let me know what you guys think so far.

 

[Neurobit]

Sweet truck, and the perfect color btw

Pls add your truck's vitals to your signature when you have a moment.
This makes it easier for other folks to help in case you have questions or concerns about your vehicle.

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Borla S-Type black tips - coming from a v6 to an electric to a hemi, I wanted to hear that I was driving a hemi so I needed an exhaust. I debated between Carven, Magnaflow, Borla S-Type/Atak. I had a magnaflow on my V6 eclipse and the sound clips that I listened to from Rams had something similar that reminded me of my eclipse. It just didn’t seem like enough rumble or growl or something. I had to keep in mind that sound clips don’t really do an exhaust justice but I found better sound on other exhausts. Carven sounded great maybe a bit loud, but the installs looked a little more than what my abilities and equipment would allow. I was left with Borla. Great sound and easy looking install. I read that the touring, s-type, and atak were all much louder in person. I live in a neighborhood so I wanted to take my neighbor’s sanity and sleep schedule into consideration. I pulled the trigger on the s-type, had a buddy who knows this stuff better than I do come over, bought him lunch and a 6-pack and we spent an hour and a half on it. Even though I read so many times about how much louder these exhausts are in person, I was still shocked after my first start up. Driving around, I thought I’d ruined the in cab comfort with the new sound. After driving it around about 500 miles, it settled down and it is an absolutely perfect note, sound, and growl. Even hearing it rev down and kick in and out of MDS is nice. The cold starts are still pretty loud (you can’t have a conversation standing outside the truck). My neighbors probably don’t like it but it’s a sacrifice I’m going to have to make (could have gotten an Atak). $928 from autohance. They didn’t charge tax or shipping. Had it in 5 days somehow.

A quick cold start. Maybe I’ll get some revs when I’m in a more remote area.

In my 5 years of living in Florida, I’d never participated in Lovebug genocide, so it’s only natural that I would partake in this... right of passage, directly after a new wrap job. Because of my lack of experience, I didn’t realize how detrimental bug guts were to wraps or paint. After cleaning them off, I was left with this

Had some permanent marks and chips on the painted grille also, but I’ll tackle that much later in the trucks life. Quick story for anyone debating ceramic clear coats. When I got my bumper and hood painted, they threw in ceramic coating. When I was cleaning off all the lovebugs, the panel under the headlights, the mirrors, everything took some intense scrubbing to get them out. There are a bunch of marks, rock chips, and scratches on that panel under the headlights, but when it came to my coated bumper, the bugs came off much easier. No chips, no scratches. Safe to say I’ll be coating the rest of my truck soon.

For the mirrors, I decided to get some mirror covers. I couldn’t find anything for tow mirrors in this gen but I found some on eBay for around $40 that were labeled for 2012-2018. Had them in 3 days. They looked similar enough so I gave them a shot. Turns out they fit perfectly but they were also extremely glossy.

They matched the tint and the rain guards well but it looked weird coming off of the plastic arms of the mirror so I dipped them.

Better, not great. I may look into a glossifier which I hope will match the plastic a little better. There is a terrible whistle coming from them that happens above 30mph. I’m going to get some silicone to fix the gaps that must be causing the whistle.

Door handle covers - there’s some chrome trim on the door handles that was bugging me so I contemplated dipping the handles, just the trim, or buy handle covers. I can’t give any reasoning behind getting covers. I just wanted to.

They came in from China after about 2 weeks. The edges looked kind of jagged and sharp so I sanded them down a bit just in case those edges may harm the paint. Dipped them and put them on. The handles took a little bit of force to put on which more than likely ended up scratching the paint. Because of that, it’s probably best just to skip the covers and directly dip or wrap the handles. But I’m actually surprised at how much I like the look of the handles after the mirror cover disappointment.

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Some small add on updates for today

Grille emblem overlay - ReflectiveConcepts has a pretty large assortment of overlays, inlays, and decals for the Ram. They come in reflective colors, non reflective gloss, Metallics, and textured. I wanted to break up some of the satin black cluster I have in the front. So I tried reflective black. It ended up blending in with the satin black but at night it looks pretty cool. I may try reflective silver later and maybe something for the hood bezel emblems. Can’t go wrong with the price - $15

Front plate - also you can see I have a new front plate. CarID has different front plate designs if your state allows. I found one that matches my color scheme. Flat black background and a shiny gloss original ram design. - $45

Tail light dip - something that sets night editions and rebels apart is the blacked out tail light in the middle. I looked at spray on tints and regular tints but I wanted to stay true to the satin look, so I tried dipping. I wondered if it would effect the Blind Spot Monitering in any way but it still works as it used to. It’s not perfect as my prep work was lazy but overall I’m happy with it. The pic makes it look like I got dip all over the taillight but I promise it wasn’t that lazy...

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

I’ve been waiting a month and a half for my bilsteins to come in to start my wheel set up, so ironically, the first thing I wanted to do is going to end up being one of the last things I do.

While I wait for it all, I’m expecting my wheels to sit outside the flares about an inch or less so I used that as an excuse to wrap my rocker panels for more “protection”. But really I just like the two tone look. Satin look of course.

I was hoping to save some money and try doing this myself but after attempting to tint my headlights, I decided to let the professionals do it.

Yeah, so I tried using Luxe to tint my headlights and it just wasn’t working out for me. I also got rained on in the process so it just wasn’t meant to be. Took it to a shop to handle the headlights and the wrap. Asked for the lightest tint possible and I’m really loving both.

Also, here’s a sound clip of my S-Type’s warm start w/ revs.

 

[RAM Patriot]

Looking good....

I went the same route with the Matte/Satin Black & Billet Silver.

Great color combination.!!

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Looking good....

I went the same route with the Matte/Satin Black & Billet Silver.

Great color combination.!!

Thank you! Wow, I like what you’ve done. The tonneau cover, shield, headlights, stripes, everything. Truly unique. And major props for pulling off the rocker panels yourself. The black really pops on the silver of these trucks!

 

[RAM Patriot]

Thank you! Wow, I like what you’ve done. The tonneau cover, shield, headlights, stripes, everything. Truly unique. And major props for pulling off the rocker panels yourself. The black really pops on the silver of these trucks!

Thanks for the props.

I really did the rocker panels myself out of desperation. The vinyl shop that helped me with the stripes did not want to do the rocker panels. Told me to have them painted.

I was not confident that the paint would match the matte black of the vinyl. So I ordered a roll and did it myself. (Took me a day per side) I understand why they did not want to do it.

How much did you have to pay to have yours done? if you don't mind me asking...

 

[PorBoy]

Wow well done and welcome to the Billet silver Laramie crew OP...

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Thanks for the props.

I really did the rocker panels myself out of desperation. The vinyl shop that helped me with the stripes did not want to do the rocker panels. Told me to have them painted.

I was not confident that the paint would match the matte black of the vinyl. So I ordered a roll and did it myself. (Took me a day per side) I understand why they did not want to do it.

How much did you have to pay to have yours done? if you don't mind me asking...

Oops I usually put the prices in there. $650 plus tax. I figured it must have been a frustrating job. The shop said they’d have it done in 4 hrs, called at 1pm saying it’s taking longer than expected, finally had it finished at 5. An hour before closing. And I dropped it off at 9am.

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Wow well done and welcome to the Billet silver Laramie crew OP...

Thank you and thank you!

 

[RAM Patriot]

Oops I usually put the prices in there. $650 plus tax. I figured it must have been a frustrating job. The shop said they’d have it done in 4 hrs, called at 1pm saying it’s taking longer than expected, finally had it finished at 5. An hour before closing. And I dropped it off at 9am.

I'm sure they had two guys working on it as well.

 

[RAM Patriot]

Oops I usually put the prices in there. $650 plus tax. I figured it must have been a frustrating job. The shop said they’d have it done in 4 hrs, called at 1pm saying it’s taking longer than expected, finally had it finished at 5. An hour before closing. And I dropped it off at 9am.

I would have gladly paid $650 for that job.

It looks like they did a good job.

Did they do your door jambs as well?

 

[PorBoy]

Op will you be doing anything with your chrome tow hooks ?

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

I would have gladly paid $650 for that job.

It looks like they did a good job.

Did they do your door jambs as well?

They just neatly cut it off.

Hoping it won’t peel. Looks like a shallow cut off.

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

Op will you be doing anything with your chrome tow hooks ?

Ideally I want them black. Preferably painted, if not then dipped. I haven’t researched my options yet.

 

[RAM Patriot]

They just neatly cut it off.

Hoping it won’t peel. Looks like a shallow cut off.

When I started I was going to go the same direction as your installers bu then I decided to go a little higher to prevent peel back and protect more of the door jamb inside.

They have been on the truck for a year and have held up pretty well.

 

[LessDodgeMoreRam]

It’s been a bit since an update. I’ve just been waiting on my bilsteins to come in. Finally got word that they’re in after literally 2 months and I’m scheduled to go in on Tuesday. I’m extremely excited as I think the wheel set up will tie everything together.

Coincidentally, my tires came in as well so I thought I’d share about those. I ordered them separately since 4wheel parts doesn’t carry the brand. I went with 4wheel parts because I was able to find a coupon code that took 15% off of the shocks and wheels which is huge. If you haven’t already, I recommend the Honey browser add on. It gathers a bunch of coupon codes and tries them out to see if any of them can save you money.

But here’s my tires that came in.

Continental TerrainContact A/T.
275/65R20.
34.1 inches tall and 9.5 inches wide

I never would have considered these as I hadn’t heard anyone talk about them. I was trying to decide between BFG KO2 and Nitto Ridge Grapplers. The same guy that helped me with my exhaust installation recommended these saying the only area KO2s or Ridge Grapplers were better than the continentals was in off road use. In road noise, comfort, and rain, the terraincontacts would supposedly be the better option. He didn’t say anything about snow use since we’re in Florida. After doing my own research, I found that it’s really hard to find a bad review of these. He hasn’t steered me wrong yet, so I’m giving these a shot. If I don’t like them, I’ll be eager to try KO2s for my next set.

The biggest downfall of these tires off the start is the available tire sizes. There aren’t any 35x12.5 options. This size I have here is the tallest tire for 20s and they have a 285 33 inch option as well. I’m a little afraid of the narrow wheel look but we’ll see since I don’t mind it with the stock set up.

These are also heavy. 60lbs per tire which is probably normal for A/T. They have a highway version of the tire which nearly slashed the weight in half but I worried about durability.
$276 per tire with a 50k mile warranty.

These are the wheels that I’m going with

Fuel Vapor D560 20x9
I wanted 20x10 but those were always sold out no matter where I looked. It’s probably best since my tire is only 275.

While scrolling through the customwheeloffsets website, I found myself always taking a second look at Fuel wheels so I narrowed down my filters. I was trying to find something with as little chrome trim as possible and these caught my eye. They’re clearly popular as I’ve seen other users on the forum with these and they’re always sold out. I usually like to keep away from what’s popular or common but I love the look of these too much. A little over $1020 with my coupon code.

Can’t wait to put these on, take some pics, and give my impression of the continentals.

I’ve read different thing things that the ecu needs to be calibrated for a bigger tire and the only option is a programmer with Rough Country. I’ve also read the ram does it automatically. And I’ve read that the dealer can do it but will only calibrate up to 33 inches. If anyone who’s gotten bigger tires has any tips, I’d greatly appreciate it.