Options at cost

[A4Owner]

Are the spray in bedliner, bed utility group, tonneau cover, class IV receiver hitch, Harmon Kardon Audio system, all weather floor mats and trailer brake gain controller best to order int he after market? Seems like you would want color, sunroof, rear gear set ratio and any suspension options done by Chrysler at the factory level no? Like with the Audio system HK system is good but you have to be a fool to believe there aren't (way) nicer systems on offer. Also in my market, all weather floor mats and the class IV hitch are like a thousand bucks together. Aren't those hitches like $150? And mats even top of the line ones would be what $300 tops?

 

[boogielander]

it all comes down to what you plan for your truck.
for me I ordered my truck as seen in my signature because I already planned out my build before I ordered the truck.
Basically this is how I envisioned it before I ordered it.


Therefore, I only ordered it with what I have in my signature.
Can you add bed utility group (basically bed rail + LED light) later? Sure you can. Which is what I did aside from the light is useless in my case
Can you do bedliner after? Yes, but if your local shops are charging you less than $600. For me I planned to put in the Decked drawer so it doesn't matter whether I spray it or not. Even if the drawer scratch the bed I can always spray it later... you gotta sand the bed before spraying anyways.
Tonneau cover you can add later. Plenty of other options.
receiver hitch is something I'd just have the factory do... so your tow rating sticker is correct.
HK audio. Sure there are plenty other options but for people like me who don't really mess with audio the HK is plenty good. Is it the best of the best? probably not, but audio upgrade is one can of worms that I don't want to open at all so I went with it.
Floor mat can go aftermarket. Mine came with the truck for free so...

Trailer brake: this is one thing that you can add yourself but if you use the OE system you will need to code it in. If you go aftermarket... why go aftermarket if OE has that option to integrate it to your interior?

Now, here are the things that I think is better to get done by factory:
Body work stuff - color and sunroof
Driveline - rear gear ratio, 4x4, and locker (you can change it after but it's a lot of work and it costs way less to have the factory done instead)
Fuel tank - lots of work to swap gas tank (well, I hate swapping gas tank. done a few on customers' vehicles and absolutely hated it so maybe i'm biased) and you need to code it in

For me the one thing that I don't care about is offroad group and wheels and tires. You can always get aftermarket ones. In my case, suspension came off the truck with only under 400 miles on the clock and the skid plate came off a year ~12k miles on the clock. Wheels and tires came off at around 5k miles or so. These are the stuff that you can get way better aftermarket so no need to spend money on those.

Hope that helps.

 

[bigdodge]

Are the spray in bedliner, bed utility group, tonneau cover, class IV receiver hitch, Harmon Kardon Audio system, all weather floor mats and trailer brake gain controller best to order int he after market? Seems like you would want color, sunroof, rear gear set ratio and any suspension options done by Chrysler at the factory level no? Like with the Audio system HK system is good but you have to be a fool to believe there aren't (way) nicer systems on offer. Also in my market, all weather floor mats and the class IV hitch are like a thousand bucks together. Aren't those hitches like $150? And mats even top of the line ones would be what $300 tops?

most people do not know you can order what you want. so they buy off the lot and update with what they want.

me I ordered what I wanted so I would not have to look around to get stuff installed later

 

[CalvinC]

I suppose its all about how you value your time, and how much of it you have.
It could be worth paying a little extra for some not to have to shop around or do additional installs.

Regarding the HK, that really depends on how important car audio is to you.
Of course a better system can be assembled in the after market, in which case either base radio is probably a better starting point.

 

[Darksteel165]

You just need to look at what the options are and cost.
If you are getting a rather optioned truck it's hard to NOT be forced to upgrade to the HK system among other things. Suspension also doesn't matter to most people unless you go offroad and I hear most of them change the suspension anyways. If you do a build on the website it's pretty easy to see the price breakdown and make your decision from there. I did a bunch of mods to my truck but the core items that I could have already on it I got from the factory.

Spray in bedliner is one that I would always get from the factory as it has the best possible chance to be perfect as the bed hasn't been exposed to the elements yet.
Tonnu cover as oem is a waste but also is often forced on you (I had to get a soft trifold because that's how it works for Limited with Ramboxes)

Floor mats are cheaper aftermarket but the ones Ram provides have great coverage and are not crap.
Good luck finding the lvl iv receiver cheap and in stock anywhere.
Bed utility group depending on the trim gives you different items. Mine was way cheaper to get the bug then add after the fact as it was like $500 and it came with a step, and the rails with a bed extended which msrp around $900 with no aftermarket rails or bed extender available.

 

[A4Owner]

Yeah spray in bedliner, trailer brake control and Class IV receiver hitch I'd order from the factory. When I think about car audio and what a pain it could potentially be, you are right HK system is more than enough. Sunroof is one option I have always, always enjoyed in my vehicles however rumor has it the Ram ones leak???? Any truth to that and is the sunroof leak related to the rear window leak? My garage couldn't fit half a 1500 with the 6.4 bed so this thing will be outside for ever. Also, given the out door parking situation, where do you guys stand on ceramic coatings?

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Easier to order what you want. Let Ram mess with it and get it ready made. More $? Maybe a little but it's convenient.

If they sold a real lift, had a good selection of rims and tires I would have gotten them from Ram too.