Shifts and Grins Fabrication 2019 Rebel Build Thread

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Hello,

My name is Ryan. I currently own and run a business called Shifts and Grins Fabrication. I have mostly been building items for Toyotas however my passion has always been MOPAR. I have owned several Ram trucks and Jeeps throughout my life. Currently I own a 2019 Ram Rebel and decided I am going to look into pivoting my business to focus on Rams. The first step of that is building out my truck. If things go well and I and the Ram community like what I have to offer, that is what I will focus on. My plans are to do the following:

1) Rock sliders for 33 gallon tank Ram trucks
2) Bed rack for mounting roof top tent and accessories
3) High clearance rear bumper with dual swingouts (Tire carrier and hi lift jack and jerry can set up likely) This bumper will be aggressive and may not ever be offered to the public since it will require some cutting of the bed. (toyota peeps do it but I'm not sure my Ram family will be on board)
4) Hybrid plate and tube front bumper with hidden winch mount
5) Lift (I want to figure out how low I can go and stuff 37s in this B!tch) I currently have air suspension. I havent decided if I am going to keep it or ditch it.
6) Black widow exhaust "super custom setup" with 3" exit out he passenger side.
7) Wheels and tire. I want to stuff 37s on it but keep it as low as possible. No decision on wheel or tire brands at this time.
8) Roof Top Tent. Haven't decided on a brand or style yet.
9) Lots of lights everywhere. Most likely Rigid Indistries since they are local.
10) Everything else I am missing and not thinking of right now.

I am currently not selling anything. Before I do I will get a vendor account. This is just to document my build and see what kind of interest there is. Should I jump ship from the Toyota craze and focus on Rams or stay the course with what has been bringing money in the door???

 

[Mustangmike66]

As a 2019 Rebel owner it’s hard to for me to recommend to not build Ram parts. But if your making a good living it’s hard to step out of that. But sliders sounds awesome.


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[Shifts And Grins Fab]

This is what my truck looked like when I bought it with the exception of adding air ride lift links that I built.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Here is what I have so far for my sliders. I will build these as bolt on sliders since nobody builds them that I can find. My metal supplier was sold out on the materials I needed to finish the job so I bought what they had.

 

[Mustangmike66]

Those definitely look like they’ll handle the tough stuff. Nicely done.


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[Shifts And Grins Fab]

I'm fairly new to tig welding but I have decided to tig weld most of my build to get the practice I need to be able to confidently offer either mig or tig welding to customers in the future. I currently do mostly mig welding.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Those definitely look like they’ll handle the tough stuff. Nicely done.


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Thank you. They are strong for sure. I will add some bracing in the middle as well.

 

[MG99]

Good luck with the build and the business. I’ll be following for sure. Interested in seeing the bed rack you come up with.

 

[DSN46]

Wish you luck in your new venture. The Rebel community really needs more fabricators to step up. I'm certainly interested in your front bumper project! I've always ran a winch bumper on all of my trucks and SUV's.... I just don't like anything out there right now for the Rebel... whatever you do, please make sure it has a very high approach angle, not the kind we see now with a huge lip hanging down in front.

 

[RebelWraith]

View attachment 79113 View attachment 79114 View attachment 79115 View attachment 79116
I'm fairly new to tig welding but I have decided to tig weld most of my build to get the practice I need to be able to confidently offer either mig or tig welding to customers in the future. I currently do mostly mig welding.

A lot of dimes lost their lives in the making of these parts. Welds are looking pretty good!

 

[Desert Dawg]

Totally onboard and excited to see what you come up with! Best of luck!

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Thank you all. Not much progress today. I finished up and delivered one swing out receiver hitch for a 4Runner customer and started the rock slider build on a tacoma that agreed to do a while back. Soon I should have all of my promised toyota work done and be able to focus more on my truck/ 5th gen Rams.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

I was able to do a test fit/mock up tonight of the sliders and get a little bit of work fone on some bolt on mounting brackets. If I was building this for myself I would do wled on but looking at the big picture, more people want bolt on. My metal supplier was out of DOM tubing so I have a bunch on order since I need to build two toyota sets of rock sliders and finish mine.

 

[drm96]

I think you could really tap into the prerunner/over landing tube bumper style that is really popular on Tacoma’s and tundras right now. Westin makes one for regular 1500’s but with an ugly up-turn on the front giving it a mustache look. Idk why they couldn’t just go straight across the front of the truck and plastic pieces under the lights??

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

I think you could really tap into the prerunner/over landing tube bumper style that is really popular on Tacoma’s and tundras right now. Westin makes one for regular 1500’s but with an ugly up-turn on the front giving it a mustache look. Idk why they couldn’t just go straight across the front of the truck and plastic pieces under the lights?? View attachment 79638 View attachment 79640

I'm not a huge of fan that one either. I plan to offer three different styles of front bumpers eventually. All tube, hybrid plate center and tube outers and all plate. I think I'll start with a hybrid similar to the toyota one you posted.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

I was finally able to get some more progress on the Sliders. Passenger is mounted and almost done other than powder coating. Really happy with how they are turning out. A few more welds and a few more gussets and passenger side done.

 

[kapinallinen2]

RTT rack that I cooked up, might give you some ideas. 2x4x0.125 wall 6061-T6 rectangular with 1.5 OD tubing. Tigged and riv-nutted.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

RTT rack that I cooked up, might give you some ideas. 2x4x0.125 wall 6061-T6 rectangular with 1.5 OD tubing. Tigged and riv-nutted.
View attachment 79948 View attachment 79949 View attachment 79950

Very nice! Looks great!!!

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Prototypes take forever. I appologize for the slow progress. Here is what I have for now. I am really liking the final product so I will make a jig to make it repeatable.

 

[kapinallinen2]

Prototypes take forever. I appologize for the slow progress. Here is what I have for now. I am really liking the final product so I will make a jig to make it repeatable.
View attachment 80030 View attachment 80031 View attachment 80032

Beefy!