Trail_Wagon: The story of "Hope". A 2022 power wagon build

[UglyViking]

I like mine for pavement. They ride nice, are pretty quiet, wearing well and look good. Off pavement I have to be careful, grass may as well be ice. Truck is mostly pavement, though, so I’m considering another set.

Gotta say that sure is a bummer to hear. Every person online seems to do nothing but talk up the grapps, so to hear they aren't all that is a bummer. I've been looking at what I want to try next after my falkens but perhaps it won't be the grapps after all.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

I like mine for pavement. They ride nice, are pretty quiet, wearing well and look good. Off pavement I have to be careful, grass may as well be ice. Truck is mostly pavement, though, so I’m considering another set.

Good to know. Mine will be spending plenty of time off road. I'll post back periodically.

update 4/30/22. These tires grip fantastic in the slick rock style roads I frequent. Traction is very good... But any tire can hook up on this kinda terrain. There is vibration between 16-26 mph that annoys me ... Why the f does no one over mention it ahead of time... Everyone I've asked says they have it too.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Good to know. Mine will be spending plenty of time off road. I'll post back periodically

I’ll stay posted

 

[Trail_Wagon]

Time to tension my winch rope! However, I don't really like hooks, I'm more of a fan of the safety thimble and soft shackle. But I don't really like the look of the safety thimble, so enter the factor 55 splicer. Unlike most factor 55 hooks that use a pin through the eyelet, the slicer is it's own eyelet. One less point of potential failure, less chance of nicking the fairlead and causing an abrasion point on the winch line.



Remove the factor safety string...



And start backing the tail out of the main body...



Once the trail is free, push it through the groove in the splicer...



I wove the trail through the main body twice and buried it about 18" (if none of this makes since check out videos on you tube on how to use an FID to splice winch lines and attach eyelets)

 

[Trail_Wagon]

And on the truck. Just a little splash of red on the front.




I also added some steps so my wife doesn't break her leg getting out of this beast. The steps are from N-Fab. The tube is actually 1/8" and the drop down steps are easily removable so they could have been sliders, if the mounting system wasn't crap. These would get ripped off even with light contact on a dirt mound. It will do until I can fab up something more appropriate. As steps though, they are great.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

These trucks desperately lack any kind of rear recovery point, so a Factor55 hitch pin will do the job.

 

[UglyViking]

Any reason you went with the 2" rather than the 2.5" just out of curiosity?

 

[Trail_Wagon]

Oh! when I was searching, I didn't see a 2.5. I would have rather had that.

I see it now. I may order a 2.5 and put this on the JL

 

[UglyViking]

Oh! when I was searching, I didn't see a 2.5. I would have rather had that.

I see it now. I may order a 2.5 and put this on the JL

Total break strength between the two is actually pretty similar but the SWL is close to 2x on the 2.5. I can't recall numbers off the top of my head but went through the same thing. I wanted the 2" only because I wanted something high vis color and they only had the grey 2.5 at the time but the working load was enough that I went with it. It's a really clean piece though.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

2” can be used on many other vehicles you might need to recover etc

 

[Trail_Wagon]

2” can be used on many other vehicles you might need to recover etc

This is a really good point. Most vehicles out there will not have a 2.5 reciever, so when I come across someone who only has a 2.0 and no recovery point on the rear, I can use this on thier vehicle.

 

[Hibiki54]

I did the same thing but I picked up a hitch link from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D2Z57KN?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Already used it twice making recoveries (non-wheeling related).

 

[UglyViking]

I did the same thing but I picked up a hitch link from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D2Z57KN?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Already used it twice making recoveries (non-wheeling related).

I am surprised that they rate their WLL at 20k lbs, but their MBS at 40k lbs. Generally WLL to MBS has a lot more than 2-1 (I think 3/4 to 1 is pretty common).

I also find it funny that they call themselves GearAmerica when I can almost guarantee that recovery point was made in China. I've got nothing against China, I've got a ton of stuff from there, but I am worried about the tendency these companies seem to have with starting a solid production run only to start having cheaper and cheaper metal in the process. I'm also curious if they independently rate their stuff? I wasn't able to find any information from their site.

In general, I think it's best not to skimp on recovery gear, especially if you think you'll need it. There are a lot of well known and respected brands out there.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I am surprised that they rate their WLL at 20k lbs, but their MBS at 40k lbs. Generally WLL to MBS has a lot more than 2-1 (I think 3/4 to 1 is pretty common).

I also find it funny that they call themselves GearAmerica when I can almost guarantee that recovery point was made in China. I've got nothing against China, I've got a ton of stuff from there, but I am worried about the tendency these companies seem to have with starting a solid production run only to start having cheaper and cheaper metal in the process. I'm also curious if they independently rate their stuff? I wasn't able to find any information from their site.

In general, I think it's best not to skimp on recovery gear, especially if you think you'll need it. There are a lot of well known and respected brands out there.

CoughRhinoUsaCough

 

[Trail_Wagon]

CoughRhinoUsaCough

I was about to buy a rhino USA tool bag... Do they make junk?

 

[Hibiki54]

If it's just the bag then it's okay. It all depends on how much you want to spend on a bag.

Hell, even a bunch of YouTubers out in Moab and Sand Hollow run Harbor Freight recovery gear on their rigs. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.

 

[UglyViking]

If it's just the bag then it's okay. It all depends on how much you want to spend on a bag.

Hell, even a bunch of YouTubers out in Moab and Sand Hollow run Harbor Freight recovery gear on their rigs. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.

I don't wanna be that guy but just because some guy is entertaining with free videos on YouTube doesn't mean he's doing things well, right, correct, safe, etc.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

I don't wanna be that guy but just because some guy is entertaining with free videos on YouTube doesn't mean he's doing things well, right, correct, safe, etc.

I believe everything I see on YouTube. Its been fact-checked, therefor it must be accurate.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I was about to buy a rhino USA tool bag... Do they make junk?

Nothing rhino USA makes is made in the USA. They go out of their way to make you think you’re buying American made but you’re not. To top it off, they faked their lab testing on some strength testing.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

So I really needed to disable the TPMS warning light and reconfigure the truck to recognize 37" tall tires to correct the speedo and shift points. I would have been happy with the procal but its on forever backorder and although alphaobd2 looks promising, There appears to be a learning curve. I just want something that works.

I use the JL Tazer from Z-automotive for all of my jeeps and it works fantastic. no issues. So it was a no brainer for the RAM. I also like a few of the live features, like being able to disconnect the swaybar in 2wd and use the lockers in 4hi. You need to pick up the little security bypass cable too. I ordered everything directly from Z automotive and had it in two or three days.

Install is easy, and in minutes I was ready to program... and here's where I started having problems. When attempting to scroll through the menu, the stereo keeps over writting the display, meaning that you can only see what menu you are on for about 1/2 second, before it gets replaced by whatever is playing on the stereo. Powering the infotainment down doesn't work either. It just over writes with "music off". Sometimes the menu doesn't show up at all, making navigation a nightmare. After a bit of trial and error, I was able to get the Tazer married, and start changing some settings. Then restart and start the truck... every system on the truck throws a failure code... Traction control, sway bar, service 4wd, service power steering, service... service.. service. So, clear CEL's, unmarry, and remove the Tazer and everything is good again.

I sent Z-automotive an email and they were quick to respond, with a new update that had to be manually installed on the Tazer. So I updated it, and tried to reinstall. The menu overwrite problem is much better (not completely fixed, but usable) but the truck still thows just about every CEL it has. A few email back and forth, and they instructions about a very very specific sequence of events for unmarrying, uninstalling, clearing memory and reinstalling the tazer. We have gotten it to the point where I have disabled the TPMS and reprogramed the tire size, so my speedo is accurate again. But the Tazer has to be physically disconnected or it will still cause a traction control CEL.

So much for something that just works.

That being said, it is nearly working now, and Z-automotive has been very responsive and easy to work with. I'll update if we can get the live functions of the Tazer operational.

On a side note, the Tazer can support up to a 35" tire... Yes, I run 37's, but the height measured from the ground to the center of the hub is 17.5"
17.5 x 2 = 35. So the Tazer is spot on for my Nittos.