2018 Ram Megacab Swiss Army Knife Build with trailer

getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
So traded my old truck in. Got a good deal on trade in price and a great deal on a new truck.

Specs

2018 Ram Megacab 2500 Laramie
6.7L Cummins
68RFE
Apple Car play is what really sold me to upgrade. LOL
Gooseneck towing prep package
Limited Slip Rear Axle
3.43 gears

Current upgrades:
Wheels: GTX 18x9's
Tires: Patagonia (off brand) Mud Terrain 35x12.5x18
LED Headlight Bulbs
LED Foglight Kit
K&N Air Filter
Midland CB Radio
Roll-up Tonneau Cover
Westin Winch Mount Tray
Smittybilt 15500 XRC Winch
Tow Mirrors
Weather Tech Floor Mats
9" LED Spot Lights
Stubby Radio Antenna

Current miles 8750. After 3 months of ownership

not a current picture of the truck. But close to stock after 2 months of owning it.

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getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
So the future upgrades include:

Rear Locker
Front Winch Bumper
Shocks
Snorkel.

I'm planning on keeping it fairly stock for ride height. I have no intentions for rock crawling in it. I need to keep the gooseneck hitch in the bed clear, so I don't want to do much inside the bed other than a little storage for gas cans, water cans and a tool box. I use this for towing as well. So the in bed gooseneck prep package was a good upgrade when I got the truck.

I'll get some more pictures and show you the trailer that will be built for doing some more desert exploration.
 

getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
I picked up the M116A2 military trailer last night. I’ve been looking for one of these for awhile and it popped up on Facebook Marketplace. I ran out to Tooele last night and got it.

I primarily wanted it because it has the new bolt pattern. 8x6.5. So almost any 8 lug wheels will fit it from a dodge or ford. Also getting tires will be easy. The older generation had split rims. The tires are hard to get. And no one wants to work on split rims anymore.

This trailer also has surge brakes. And they work!

It’s also rust free.

So we will be upgrading this as well.

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getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
This was the first try at a winch mount and 15.5K smittybilt winch. Which I ended up ditching. I really didn't like the look and the winch didn't really fit the mount.

Winch arrived finally. 15.5k smittybilt.

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getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
Picked up some old Chevy wheels with some decent tires. Then painted them.

And touched up the camo look a little. I'm not a professional with camo. I shall have to learn how to do it better. LOL

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getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
So I wasn’t entirely happy with the winch mount. My winch didn’t fit too good in it.

So I looked at AEV bumpers pretty hard. But $2700 was hard to swallow.

Then I saw smittybilt made a decent looking bumper. Looked it in person at 4 wheel parts in Ogden. Looked pretty good on the display.

Then I looked the part number up on Amazon and found it for $970 shipped. I pulled the trigger. It only took two days to get here.

So it took about 6 hours to install. Mainly because I wanted to keep my front parking sensors.

All in all it’s a great fit. I have a lot more clearance. But it does stick out a bit. I guess I can’t have it all. I’ll buy a rear bumper. Once I save up a few pennies.

Here are some pictures.

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getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
I also made a few videos for fun.

First up is the UN Boxing Video of the bumper.

I'm still editing the bumper install video, that will be coming shortly

 

getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
We drove up Mineral Basin tonight. It was nice.

Found a small snow bank to see if I could get through it. I did going forward just fine. But then reversed through and spun the tires and got stuck. Kind of on purpose.

I bought a set of the new ARB Tred Pros and wanted to see how they working in a snow bank.

Answer. Not so awesome. They didn’t get me out all on their own. But then again I didn’t have a lot of experience with them and probably don’t know how to use them effectively yet.

I was trying to figure it out. But some nice guy cam along and wanted to pull me out. I finally said ok. I stuck the Tred pros under the front tires and with a gentle tug I was free. The mats worked good with a small tug. I shall try them again sometime.

Some pictures.

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Explorerinil

Observer
Nice truck but ditch that k&n air filter on your cummins powered truck, go back to the heavy duty fleetgaurd or mopar. Do some basic searching on cummins based forums and you will find out why.
 

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