Vikings 2500 everything build
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UglyViking
Well-known member
Well first adventure was a success. Sadly only got a chance to do some beyond noobie trails in VT but the truck handled it better than any of the heavily modified yotas in the group, I guess that is what massive tires and a ton of suspension travel get you. I'm looking forward to getting up to northern NH and ME again, really hoping I can get another weekend before the snow hits. Also, my god the amount of cleaning, I haven't even finished cleaning the exterior yet and the interior is coated with trail dust. A little sad to have a layer of sand on the inside of a 72k MSRP truck but you gotta pay to play I guess.
A little feedback on the Thuren kit and suspension mods. The kit was installed by a diesel shop near me, and worked amazing. The amount of suspension travel with the lighter springs and upgraded shocks made the trails we did too easy. I didn't even get close to touching the belly of the truck. 37s rode great and had plenty of traction, however they picked up a lot of small rocks, and the side of my truck now had many many rock chips. Yay!
The tires at highway speed are vibrating pretty bad though. The guy I went through highly suggested balance beads and since I have never run 37s I figured I'd go with his recommendation. Even with 45-40psi it was noticeably bad on our 2.5 hour highway ride north. It could be that there aren't enough beads in it, as I've heard you can never put too many but you can put too few. That said I think I'm gonna just switch to stick on weights.
All in all I'm stoked with how it turned out. Def going to be looking for a cap or tonneau cover soon, as so far that was the big thing I was missing. I didn't get nearly as many photos as I was hoping for but here are a few.
truck at top of one of the trails. We didn't go up the remainder as it was a UTV trail and I didn't want to pinstripe the whole of the new truck quite yet.
truck at the campsite, was probably the best car camping site I've stayed at in the north east yet
view out of my tent screen, in the middle clearing there is a confluence where two rivers meet. If we had actually gotten rain this year it would have been awesome fishing.
A little feedback on the Thuren kit and suspension mods. The kit was installed by a diesel shop near me, and worked amazing. The amount of suspension travel with the lighter springs and upgraded shocks made the trails we did too easy. I didn't even get close to touching the belly of the truck. 37s rode great and had plenty of traction, however they picked up a lot of small rocks, and the side of my truck now had many many rock chips. Yay!
The tires at highway speed are vibrating pretty bad though. The guy I went through highly suggested balance beads and since I have never run 37s I figured I'd go with his recommendation. Even with 45-40psi it was noticeably bad on our 2.5 hour highway ride north. It could be that there aren't enough beads in it, as I've heard you can never put too many but you can put too few. That said I think I'm gonna just switch to stick on weights.
All in all I'm stoked with how it turned out. Def going to be looking for a cap or tonneau cover soon, as so far that was the big thing I was missing. I didn't get nearly as many photos as I was hoping for but here are a few.
truck at top of one of the trails. We didn't go up the remainder as it was a UTV trail and I didn't want to pinstripe the whole of the new truck quite yet.
truck at the campsite, was probably the best car camping site I've stayed at in the north east yet
view out of my tent screen, in the middle clearing there is a confluence where two rivers meet. If we had actually gotten rain this year it would have been awesome fishing.
silvrzuki77
explorer
Nice!
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UglyViking
Well-known member
Well, made some unexpected mods due to timing and a good deal and was able to get out again.
@GreggNY cut me a great deal on his cap, roof rack and roofnest and while I wasn't 100% sure about doing those mods I decided to roll the dice and give it a shot. So far I'm liking the ability to store more junk in the bed while having it "secure" in the back. Need to figure out how I want to lay the bed out. Not sure if I want to run a decked unit for organization or something else? Am I going to mount a spare tire in the bed just flat, or build a shelf or run the newly released AEV tire carrier or something like the rigd tire carrier or go full ham and run an expedition one rear bumper. I've got plenty of time to decide. Also plan to probably tint the windows to a bit more security for when I'm carrying guns or such. Also need to figure out how I'm going to get the roofnest off for when I'm not using it or just run it all the time for mall crawling points.
I was able to meet up with some local guys and do some trails near Killington VT. Truck did amazing, only downside was the sheer number of pinstripes that I'm sure I now have. I'm kicking myself for spending money on ceramic coating, thinking it would do anything to protect the paint from pinstripes is a bit laughable. It held up pretty well last time but we will see how it handles now since this time the scratches were much much worse.
I also realized that some protection mods were in order. I was initially planning amp steps for easier entry into the truck, but having run the trails so far I think sliders are in order. Just too many times I got a bit too close for comfort on the rockers and on both trips I managed to kick up a fallen log and while there isn't any real damage to the rockers outside of scratches I think it's only a matter of time before one decided to make me regret not having them. Also need to look into diff protection and some serious underbody protection. The exhaust with DPF and such is going to be a bit of a challenge as I'm not aware of anyone that makes protection for that. I'm going to be digging into all that now in preparation for the spring. That said, I've gotta admit I'm pretty impressed with how this big gal handled everything. The number of jeeps and toyotas that run these trails is huge and you just don't see many power wagons or such running them around me. She did great and once I've got a bit more protection I think shes gonna be a beast.
Anyway here are some not great photos of the trip, didn't have a ton of time to get good pics since I was sort of hurrying along but it was great to get out and looking forward to doing more new england exploration as well as trails.
@GreggNY cut me a great deal on his cap, roof rack and roofnest and while I wasn't 100% sure about doing those mods I decided to roll the dice and give it a shot. So far I'm liking the ability to store more junk in the bed while having it "secure" in the back. Need to figure out how I want to lay the bed out. Not sure if I want to run a decked unit for organization or something else? Am I going to mount a spare tire in the bed just flat, or build a shelf or run the newly released AEV tire carrier or something like the rigd tire carrier or go full ham and run an expedition one rear bumper. I've got plenty of time to decide. Also plan to probably tint the windows to a bit more security for when I'm carrying guns or such. Also need to figure out how I'm going to get the roofnest off for when I'm not using it or just run it all the time for mall crawling points.
I was able to meet up with some local guys and do some trails near Killington VT. Truck did amazing, only downside was the sheer number of pinstripes that I'm sure I now have. I'm kicking myself for spending money on ceramic coating, thinking it would do anything to protect the paint from pinstripes is a bit laughable. It held up pretty well last time but we will see how it handles now since this time the scratches were much much worse.
I also realized that some protection mods were in order. I was initially planning amp steps for easier entry into the truck, but having run the trails so far I think sliders are in order. Just too many times I got a bit too close for comfort on the rockers and on both trips I managed to kick up a fallen log and while there isn't any real damage to the rockers outside of scratches I think it's only a matter of time before one decided to make me regret not having them. Also need to look into diff protection and some serious underbody protection. The exhaust with DPF and such is going to be a bit of a challenge as I'm not aware of anyone that makes protection for that. I'm going to be digging into all that now in preparation for the spring. That said, I've gotta admit I'm pretty impressed with how this big gal handled everything. The number of jeeps and toyotas that run these trails is huge and you just don't see many power wagons or such running them around me. She did great and once I've got a bit more protection I think shes gonna be a beast.
Anyway here are some not great photos of the trip, didn't have a ton of time to get good pics since I was sort of hurrying along but it was great to get out and looking forward to doing more new england exploration as well as trails.
UglyViking
Well-known member
Absolutely! It's always great when you show up to trails with the toyotas and jeeps and people look at the truck and go "you're gonna take that thing on the trail?".
I'm looking into a mr buddy heater for some late season/winter camping but so far I'm loving how simple camp was to setup and take down.
UglyViking
Well-known member
Thanks man.
In terms of the ride so far. I'm having trouble sorting out the tires at the moment. Either the wheels are messed up or the tires are, or the tire shop just did a garbage job balancing. I am looking into some other shops to hopefully have them road force balanced. My King shocks should be here before end of the year (fingers crossed) so I'm eager to see what those feel like, I hear nothing but positive things. I'd say as it sits, even with just the Thuren overland shocks I'm happy with the performance. It doesn't ride like a town car, and anyone that tells you different hasn't driven a new or well cared for town car, but it takes away a lot of the harshness from the stock ride.
I do wish I went a bit shorter on the front, I think 1-2" coils would be perfect with the 1" taller rear so it still has a bit of rake and when the rear has the cap and tent it's not sitting low. That said, I'll prob end up with some bags for when I load the thing down anyway.
silvrzuki77
explorer
Well good news from Thuren my 3.0 king shocks are supposed to ship tomorrow.... I did order back in May.......
For the buddy heater get the larger one... my standard will not run on a regular propane tank like the big buddy will.
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For the buddy heater get the larger one... my standard will not run on a regular propane tank like the big buddy will.
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That's actually some good info, as I'm currently tire and wheel shopping. I can already tell I want to ditch these factory 20's and go with a 17 so I can have a tire with some sidewall. The Falken's were on my short list, but if they continue to give you grief then I'll look elsewhere. I'll probably end up with suspension from AEV because i am an unapologetic AEV fangirl.
UglyViking
Well-known member
Yeah, I was leaning toward the larger version mainly since it looked a bit more stable and I could use it across more tents.
I've heard nothing but good things about the Falkens so I wouldn't weigh my experience too much against them yet. I'm working through a diesel shop, who is in turn working with a tire guy, so it's a bit too far removed for my comfort, and I can't know if the tire guy is doing the right things or not. It will prob be a few more weeks before I've got the time to chase this down, but I'll def report back when I figure it out.
You can do whatever you like for suspension but if you're looking for a softer ride I don't think AEV is the right call. Personally, for me I think there is just far far too many parts you're having to add all to simply avoid swapping different springs. AEV likes to talk a lot about how they upgraded everything to bring it back into factory alignment and they may be right, but personally I think it's just too many extra parts and pieces to have to worry about. You also don't gain any suspension travel, so it basically just lets you run larger tires, which is fine but why? You can run 37s with the correct offset wheel on the factory suspension, I'd rather lift my truck 2" with Thuren springs and shocks and have that extra travel than lift 3" with the AEV spacer and not gain any extra travel.
You can look at pictures of those AEV rigs off road and they have basically no flex. Pretty much the only positive I could think for them would be that you maintain factory payload, but if that is your only goal then just run Thuren front coils, and factory rear coil with a 1" spacer.
AEV makes some really cool turn key rigs, and they have some of the best wheels, snorkels, bumpers, etc. in the biz if you ask me. That said, I don't think their suspension is worth anything.
That's a fair point. I kinda forgot that 37's are doable with the right wheels. Honestly if I can get away with never touching the suspension that's preferable. I'm never going to be doing any actual "wheeling", but I will be driving across the country on dirt as much as possible. It's a ways off anyhow.
UglyViking
Well-known member
Yeah, you don't really need a lift to clear larger tires, especially if it's mostly pavement.
Before you make any decisions on what you want to build I would recommend you make a list of your goals as well as the current capabilities of the truck and what you're trying to improve. Are you towing anything? Are you carrying enough that you need all of the payload? Are you willing to sacrifice some of the payload for a softer ride and run timbrens/airbags for when you are tow/hauling? Do you want more suspension travel? How fast off road will you be going? etc.
The guys at Thuren are solid and I've shot back dozens of emails as well as a few phone calls. I couldn't be happier with their customer service. AEV makes a solid product as well, I just disagree with their philosophy on the suspension. I was looking at it pretty closely before pulling the trigger on Thurens stuff but after much digging I just realized that as much as I wanted to maintain payload I wanted a softer ride more. I'll be running bags for heavy loads prob in the spring.
silvrzuki77
explorer
37’s no lift and lots of trimming!
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I was asking the same thing...