What did you do to your Ram today???

[HEMIJAKE]

Got back from camping yesterday around noon and spent the afternoon putting the level kit in. Not the worst thing in the world, definitely easier than the one in my ranger, but I'm getting too old for this . All in, it was off the jackstands in about 4 hours with chasing tools, watching kids that were off school, cussing, and having a beer or two to regain my composure. Putting a couple miles on it now to get the suspension settled back in, then I'll have my buddy align it and swap the tires over when he has some free time. I'll put in the rear wheel liners at that time, too. I've got my winter beater in the mean time.

 

[Mopar_maxi]

What made you pick SW headers over Kooks or ARH?

I’ve had ARH before. Kooks are way overpriced. SW are nice, a lot sweat by them and I like the X pipe setup that comes with their kit.

 

[Nsleone]

Busy morning working on the truck. Few things to button up and we are good! View attachment 140761 View attachment 140762

Now this looks exciting!

 

[MikeyHo808]

Haha, what did I do to my RAM today…let’s see…
please excuse the rant, as all it seems i have been doing lately to it is drive it back and forth from service.

Dealer called this morning, said truck is done. 4WD system is good to go. Roger that. Go to pick up. Service write up says all is repaired, codes cleared, no more issues. Jump in, start it up, put into 4WD Auto and I still get the blinking indicator light. Get to the back of the dealership, light still blinking, and now service light pops up. I turn it around and go back to service. Go back inside to see my advisor, she comes out, jumps in and takes it to the service area in back. She drives back up about 5 minutes later and says this first…
“What does the manual say, because the shop supervisor who worked on it says it’s all good, and you might be switching it wrong”, followed by, “…we pulled into the dirt patch behind the shop and it switched fine, so don’t switch it on pavement…”
OMG she did just say that…. I have switched into 4WD Auto doing 55mph+ without any issues. No where in the manual does it say that that’s bad to do, no where does it say you need to be on dirt to be in 4WD Auto.
And which, BTW, the manual states “if the transfer case does not shift into the desired selection, one of the following may occur-2) the selected shift position indicator light will continue to blink-service may be required”
Every time prior to now, it has engaged and stopped flashing when it did.
So, service advisor leaves truck to me, and I proceeded to video it with my phone. I started it when I left service, and only got around to the back of the dealership. The end of the video is when I turned around…again…and went back to show them the video and the manual. Left it there and asked for my free Lyft ride home. Told them to please call me when you got it figured out. Funny, just commented to my bro about how good service has been recently…may have spoke too soon.

I deleted the audio because there was quite a bit of profanity in that short period, and then went all demon potty mouth at the end, lol

 

[ayoslickxd]

installed some core 4x4 control arms
next would be installing my bds uca and. raising my suspension a few clicks

 

[Bpebler]

I’d sit in the passenger seat & tell them “show me how you switch it then if I’m doing it wrong” & go from there.

“Don’t switch it on the pavement.” Just wow. I won’t even get into that. Wow.

Of course it’s fine after they clear the codes…until they come back. Lol & if it was that quickly, then I doubt they correctly performed any kind of remedy.

What does your service sheet say? I’m guessing they drove it around while playing with the 4wd, cleared the codes, said it’s working fine, but didn’t really do anything.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

I deleted the audio because there was quite a bit of profanity in that short period, and then went all demon potty mouth at the end, lol

 

[Rick3478]

Spotted a friend looking for a ride in a dangerous spot. He eventually crawled out. View attachment 140784 View attachment 140786

We have one hanging out in the evergreen bushes in front of the house, think they like to winter in there.

 

[MikeyHo808]

I’d sit in the passenger seat & tell them “show me how you switch it then if I’m doing it wrong” & go from there.

“Don’t switch it on the pavement.” Just wow. I won’t even get into that. Wow.

Of course it’s fine after they clear the codes…until they come back. Lol & if it was that quickly, then I doubt they correctly performed any kind of remedy.

What does your service sheet say? I’m guessing they drove it around while playing with the 4wd, cleared the codes, said it’s working fine, but didn’t really do anything.

Yeah, that was amusing and insulting all at the same time.
Is my guess as well, they just cleared the codes and drove a mile in 2wd.
Funny how last page says, vehicle now able to drive in 4WD, high and low...cant even get it into autoIts kinda contradictive, really...they said dont switch on when on asphalt, but then where did you do the road test.
Seems the Gremlins have returned, because it will not drive in 4WD.

 

[2019Raven]

Winter arrived with snow and slick roads. Added 360lbs of traction sand over the rear axles to get just a smig more rear traction.

 

[MikeyHo808]

I wish I didnt overwrite the original video.
Forgot to "save as"
But that was some of my best work in a while. Keeping it PG, it started out with hair and a type of job, and ended with the best use of the "c" word I have ever been able to slide into a sentence, with an overuse of different versions of the f word throughout. Surprised me, really. Had no idea that came out at that time, seems I wasnt really paying attention to what I was saying and was really pissed at the service 4wd light. Thats why I said demons, because I think I was possessed at that particular moment. Wow. My bad.

 

[MidnightExpre$$]

Winter arrived with snow and slick roads. Added 360lbs of traction sand over the rear axles to get just a smig more rear traction.

where is it winter already?

 

[JamRam]

Winter arrived with snow and slick roads. Added 360lbs of traction sand over the rear axles to get just a smig more rear traction.

Can you show us what 360lbs look like? I put 4 bags from the gas station last winter and it didn't make as much difference as I hoped. But I don't know if I was ever told how much each bag weighed.

Also, please feel free to keep winter where you are. Thanks!

 

[HEMIJAKE]

Got wheel liners put in last night. Not too bad. Just a little wrestling to get them in.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Can you show us what 360lbs look like? I put 4 bags from the gas station last winter and it didn't make as much difference as I hoped. But I don't know if I was ever told how much each bag weighed.

IIRC, the Boy Scout sand bags are typically 40lbs so I'm guessing 8-9 bags. I used to run 8 at a time in my 1/2 tons and the equivalent of 16 in my 3/4 and 1-tons.
With 16 bags in my 95 Ram 2500, I could push snow with my bumper and stay in 2wd 99% of the time.

I got tired of buying new bags every other season so I made my own out of Inner tubes. Depending on the size of tube you get, cut them in 3 pieces, seal up the ends with bolted together strips of wood or UHMW and then transfer all your sand into them. They last a few decades and grip the bed better so they don't slide around although I also had a wood frame that dropped around the wheel wells to keep them directly over the axle and from sliding around.

Something like this, just tune the weight for what you are comfortable with. Mine were typically 120lbs each.

 

[Bt10]

I’d sit in the passenger seat & tell them “show me how you switch it then if I’m doing it wrong” & go from there.

“Don’t switch it on the pavement.” Just wow. I won’t even get into that. Wow.

Of course it’s fine after they clear the codes…until they come back. Lol & if it was that quickly, then I doubt they correctly performed any kind of remedy.

What does your service sheet say? I’m guessing they drove it around while playing with the 4wd, cleared the codes, said it’s working fine, but didn’t really do anything.

This is what happened. Otherwise parts and specific labor would show on the repair order.

 

[Bt10]

installed some core 4x4 control arms
next would be installing my bds uca and. raising my suspension a few clicks

I am curious if you would give any reviews of these - install, ride, towing, etc. What level of joint did you go with? Panhard rod as well? I'm considering to improve towing.

 

[Bt10]

I also have used the Defender LTX on an suv and now just got them on my ram. I have the ORP and use MI orv trails, but try to stay out of mud and only drive in sand. Hoping for good wear and rain and snow combo.

For info - my avg mpg dropped 1.5 mpg; and I don't know if that's stable yet. Maybe I'll reset it sometime soon to check. I'm even at 45 PSI trying to help rolling resistance. Rides a little stiff, so I'm going back down around 36 soon. At the current PSI, rain traction is not good. Wish they offered a "C" range. Quiet tho.

 

[HSKR R/T]

IIRC, the Boy Scout sand bags are typically 40lbs so I'm guessing 8-9 bags. I used to run 8 at a time in my 1/2 tons and the equivalent of 16 in my 3/4 and 1-tons.
With 16 bags in my 95 Ram 2500, I could push snow with my bumper and stay in 2wd 99% of the time.

I got tired of buying new bags every other season so I made my own out of Inner tubes. Depending on the size of tube you get, cut them in 3 pieces, seal up the ends with bolted together strips of wood or UHMW and then transfer all your sand into them. They last a few decades and grip the bed better so they don't slide around although I also had a wood frame that dropped around the wheel wells to keep them directly over the axle and from sliding around.

Been through two winters in my Built to Serve. At no point did I ever feel I needed any extra weight in the bed for traction. If roads were snow covered, I would run in 4-auto or 4-high. The factory WildPeaks did good on snow/ice IMO. Granted, I wasn't trying to plow snow.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Been through two winters in my Built to Serve. At no point did I ever feel I needed any extra weight in the bed for traction. If roads were snow covered, I would run in 4-auto or 4-high. The factory WildPeaks did good on snow/ice IMO. Granted, I wasn't trying to plow snow.

In my experience, (30+ Canadian winters) the guys in the ditch were the ones running in 4wd. Not saying you can't or shouldn't do it, I was just always more comfortable in 2wd where you could drift a bit and play the corners. Letting off the throttle in a corner in 4wd will also cause plowing rather than steering which is quite deadly. Ultimately It would also depend on your winter. If I only encountered snow for a week or two, I wouldn't run weight either. If you get winter for 5+ months then you may want to save some wear and tear on your drivetrain. Also, tires have come a long way from what they were even 10 years ago.

I grew up and learned to drive on 35 miles of nasty back country gravel roads with switch backs and really steep grades, 1000ft drop offs to the Fraser river and it was sometimes days before it would get plowed out. I found I had way more control in 2wd and you respected the conditions more. If you got into trouble, you grabbed 4wd for short bursts. If you were driving in 4wd full time, you were usually over driving to a point that there is no recovery when things got really hairy. Money was tight back then too so we never owned a 4wd. We learned how to chain up at a very young age.

I can remember sitting on the hood of my mom's car for extra weight over the front tires and taking runs at the ice covered road pictured below. The grade alone was brutal in icy conditions much less the two 90 deg turns.