My "Low Buck" Build

[hutchman]

I was lucky enough to stumble on an almost exact copy of the truck I might have ordered. I bought it on the spur of the moment, and have had zero regrets. It's good to be back in a HD truck. I really like functional, inexpensive trucks. I believe that comes from my Granddad....he always had basic pickups and we spent hours in the woods with them. I've owned several loaded trucks, but am alwats drawn back to the basic ones. To that end I am going to build this in the spirit of Gramps.....he would appreciate this truck.

This will not be a high dollar, lifted, big wheel and tire truck. It will be slanted to a low buck, less expensive type of build with emphasis on useability and function in the woods.

So anyway, here it is the day we bought it:

My 2018 Rebel trade in the background. I never did really like that truck even though it was probably was the best truck I've ever owned. It just didn't have the "mojo" I was looking for.

Interior images:

1st mod was a Magnaflow muffler and resonator delete. This setup is throaty but not objectionable to me. The idle is louder and it does make some noise when the motor is loaded at around 1500 rpm. It is most noticeable around town when accelerating from a stop with light throttle. This may be what some refer to as "drone", but it is not the mind numbing vibration that fills your head that I have experienced in some high performance cars. It just seems a bit louder to me under these conditions. On the highway, the muffler is almost unnoticeable.

The next mod will be a Access Vanish Tonneau Cover. I've used these before and they work for me. Weather permitting, I'll have it on tomorrow. Eventually, I'll have a canopy installed and setup for camping.

I'll probably buy a set of tires in the next week. I have decided not to buy a set of wheels....they would be nice, but they are not necessary for this "cheap" build.

More to follow.

 

[DevilDodge]

Thanks for the story and the start of an awesome tribute to your Gramps.

Anxious to see this truck working and hear about how well it works.

 

[Gondul]

Welcome to the group... and cool story/tribute.
Which Magnaflow did you pick up?

 

[Deleted member 80]

Now, what would grampa say about that noisy muffler, young'un?! J/K

 

[hutchman]

Now, what would grampa say about that noisy muffler, young'un?! J/K

LOL.....this reminds me of a story. My Dad was born and raised on a farm outside of Vienna, MO and less than a 1/2 mile from where my Grandma was raised. My uncle was enough older than my Dad that he remembers Gramps coming to court my Grandma. So how does this tie in to the muffler .....?

Well, it turns out he had a 26 or 27 Whippet. My uncle told me he could hear Gramps coming several miles through the hills and hollers because that Whippet had a cutout. He said Gramps would run the Whippet flat out on the country roads with the cutout wide open!

I think Gramps would be OK with the muffler.......

 

[hutchman]

More truck goodness! I installed the tonneau cover today and put a bed mat in it.

Two very easy and inexpensive mods that in my opinion offer quite a bit of bang for the buck. The tonneau cover expands the dry carry capacity and provides some security for items in the bed.....out of sight, out of mind. I like a bed mat better than a spray in liner. And while it offers no protection for the inner fenders and sidewalls, it does protect the floor better than a spray in liner. It is also much more cost effective, which fits my "inexpensive" theme. I also have a matching pad for the tailgate that I should get installed tomorrow.

I will be putting about 300 miles on the truck Friday and am anxious to see how the mpg is.

 

[Stumblefoot]

Eventually, I'll have a canopy installed and setup for camping.

As a big time camper (tents and pop-up) I hope I can talk you into sharing your canopy and camper setup when finished. We’ve just bought our first TT (11,000lbs... what were we thinking?), so in the market for our first truck to pull it.

 

[hutchman]

As a big time camper (tents and pop-up) I hope I can talk you into sharing your canopy and camper setup when finished. We’ve just bought our first TT (11,000lbs... what were we thinking?), so in the market for our first truck to pull it.

It will be this summer, but it will be included in this thread.

 

[hutchman]

I installed the tailgate protector this morning and thought I would share some fitment information.

I purchased the Access Vanish tonneau cover for an '18 2500. The box dimensions are identical to the 2019. I was unable to find anything listed for a '19.

The bed mat is a Dee Zee bed mat for a 2018. Again, perfect fit.

The tailgate protector is Dee Zee heavy duty "universal fit" mat that matches the bed mat and is also an exact fit. It required no trimming.

My next project is a "home engineered" Ram Mount for the dash "cubby." Plans are to use this Ram Mount....

RAM® Tough-Track™ - Top-Loading Composite 5" Track

With the RAM Tough-Track, flat surface mounting possibilities are nearly endless for ATVs, cars, combines, motorboats, tractors, trucks, and more. This track mount solution can be drilled to any flat surface and is designed for use with #10 screws for easy installation – hardware not included...

www.rammount.com

.....with a couple of ball mounts for my tablet and cell phone.

 

[hutchman]

Since this is a Tradesman, it has no nav. I could use my phone but I really like a larger screen, so I'm going to use a tablet for the gps. In addition, it still needs a cell phone mount, so this project is for taking care of both issues.

I don't know what's out there in ready made mounts for this truck, but I had a design using Ram Mounts in mind for my Jeep that should work on this truck too. This is not an original idea of mine though. Another member of JLforum.com built a similar setup for his Jeep, and that's where I got the ide for this one.

There are probably more places on the dash you could mount stuff, but the "cubby" on the top center of the dash is easy to get to and no extra holes are needed in the dash. Behind the temporary cell phone mount is the "cubby" I'm refering to.

There is a rubber mat that lifts out, it's not attached, exposing two screws in the floor that need to be removed.

Next using the rubber mat as a guide, I traced the outline of the floor of the "cubby" onto a piece of sheet metal I purchased from Ace Hardware. The mat is formed to the opening ant the top of the mat is larger than the bottom. I used the top as the guide as I wanted the plate to be larger than the actual bottom of the "cubby" which prevents the plate from sitting on the bottom. This gives clearance for any hardware that might end up below the plate. This what I ended up with:

It's a bit rough looking at this point, but that will be fixed later.

A trip to the hardware store was now required. I purchased 2, 1 1/2" long #8 machine screws, 10 #8 1/2" black button head machine screws, a bunch of 1/4" fender washers, a 4 neoprene 1/4" fender washers.

I stacked several fender washers and placed them between the floor of the "cubby" and the steel plate until the plate was supported at the level it fit in the hole. Remember, I cut it larger, so it would not fit all the way down on the foor of the "cubby." I then removed the top 2 fender washers from each stack and replaced them with 2 neoprene feder washers. I'm hopping this prevents any squeeks or rattles.

I then measured for the mounting holes in the plate and drilled them. Surprisingly, they came out right.

The extra holr is the first for the Ram Mount.

Here'''s where my plan falls apart somewhat. When I ordered the Ram Mount, I ordered a 5" mount. I did not measure as my eyes are able to accurately estimate distance. Guess what.....my eys are off slightly! LOL! I had to modify the mount to make it work in the available space. Looks like crap but it will not be seen by anyone sitting in the truck. I might let it stay....dunno....

After cutting the support in the mount, it's ready for a trial fit.

The mod to the mount looks really bad in this image, but it is not noticeable in the truck. I'm either going to convince people to not look at the mount, or do something different.

Anyway, this mount uses this type of ball:

Pretty simple deal.....the metal tab is inserted into the middle of the mount on the dash and the slides to the spot needed and screwed down to lock it in place. It looks like this when in the mount:

And it ends up looking like this:

Not 100% certain if it will stay this way, but because of the modular design of this system, any changes desired can be made.

Anyway, this is how it will stay for the next couple of months as we are heading out! When we get back in June, I'll be taking this back out and either modify it for function and/or make it pretty. Eventually, it will have a carbon fiber cover to make it look better.

 

[hutchman]

A bit of an update......

I checked on a Leer Canopy today and the price will be around $3000. I'm not spending that on a canopy.

My thought now is to find a tent trailer and turn it into an off road/overland version.

More to come!

 

[MEZZ2006]

Have you looked at any other canopy manufacturers? A co-worker of mine and her husband have been running Century on their last 2 trucks and really like them. They looked at others, but like you couldn't justify a $3k pricetag, the Century was much cheaper.

 

[hutchman]

I just checked them and they do not offer a high top for our trucks yet. Time will tell I guess.

 

[spike2c]

Since this is a Tradesman, it has no nav. I could use my phone but I really like a larger screen, so I'm going to use a tablet for the gps. In addition, it still needs a cell phone mount, so this project is for taking care of both issues.

I don't know what's out there in ready made mounts for this truck, but I had a design using Ram Mounts in mind for my Jeep that should work on this truck too. This is not an original idea of mine though. Another member of JLforum.com built a similar setup for his Jeep, and that's where I got the ide for this one.

There are probably more places on the dash you could mount stuff, but the "cubby" on the top center of the dash is easy to get to and no extra holes are needed in the dash. Behind the temporary cell phone mount is the "cubby" I'm refering to.

There is a rubber mat that lifts out, it's not attached, exposing two screws in the floor that need to be removed.

Next using the rubber mat as a guide, I traced the outline of the floor of the "cubby" onto a piece of sheet metal I purchased from Ace Hardware. The mat is formed to the opening ant the top of the mat is larger than the bottom. I used the top as the guide as I wanted the plate to be larger than the actual bottom of the "cubby" which prevents the plate from sitting on the bottom. This gives clearance for any hardware that might end up below the plate. This what I ended up with:

It's a bit rough looking at this point, but that will be fixed later.

A trip to the hardware store was now required. I purchased 2, 1 1/2" long #8 machine screws, 10 #8 1/2" black button head machine screws, a bunch of 1/4" fender washers, a 4 neoprene 1/4" fender washers.

I stacked several fender washers and placed them between the floor of the "cubby" and the steel plate until the plate was supported at the level it fit in the hole. Remember, I cut it larger, so it would not fit all the way down on the foor of the "cubby." I then removed the top 2 fender washers from each stack and replaced them with 2 neoprene feder washers. I'm hopping this prevents any squeeks or rattles.

I then measured for the mounting holes in the plate and drilled them. Surprisingly, they came out right.

The extra holr is the first for the Ram Mount.

Here'''s where my plan falls apart somewhat. When I ordered the Ram Mount, I ordered a 5" mount. I did not measure as my eyes are able to accurately estimate distance. Guess what.....my eys are off slightly! LOL! I had to modify the mount to make it work in the available space. Looks like crap but it will not be seen by anyone sitting in the truck. I might let it stay....dunno....

After cutting the support in the mount, it's ready for a trial fit.

The mod to the mount looks really bad in this image, but it is not noticeable in the truck. I'm either going to convince people to not look at the mount, or do something different.

Anyway, this mount uses this type of ball:

Pretty simple deal.....the metal tab is inserted into the middle of the mount on the dash and the slides to the spot needed and screwed down to lock it in place. It looks like this when in the mount:

And it ends up looking like this:

Not 100% certain if it will stay this way, but because of the modular design of this system, any changes desired can be made.

Anyway, this is how it will stay for the next couple of months as we are heading out! When we get back in June, I'll be taking this back out and either modify it for function and/or make it pretty. Eventually, it will have a carbon fiber cover to make it look better.

what are these?

 

[hutchman]

All the parts are from Ram Mounts. I ordered what looked like would work and put it together. Seems to work fine.

 

[John Jensen]

Hutchnan,

I really like your mod for the cubby. I used a Goat Mount o my 2016 and it works perfectly. Unfortunately, the 2019/2020 cubby is different and Goat Mounts hasn't come up with a mount for them yet.
Goat Mounts
Your mod gives me another avenue to explore - thanks for sharing.