22’ 3500 HO Dually RAM LIMITED UPGRADES

[Nwhicks2021]

Thank you guys in advance for any and all information or advice. I apologize if I’m posting in wrong place I’m new to this.
Recently replaced my 2012 PSD 6.7 and upgraded to a 2022 Ram dually 3500 SB mega cab limited w/aisin trans. I will attach pic of window sticker. I am AMAZED at how quiet this engine is!

So my questions are, what if anything should I be concerned about or avoid doing to this truck? I have always heard bad things about def systems destroying engines, I have an 8 year extended bumper to bumper warranty that covers even if I delete it. So I would like to delete and tune, I have a brand new EZLINK, I just want to remove anything hazardous to get the most power and life out of my truck.

Thing’s I have already noticed that I want to address immediately are:

1-suspension (a lot rougher than I would expect on a practically new truck with 26k miles) so what’s the best full suspension upgrade for an air ride equipped ram? I would like to add maybe 3-4” of lift.

2-mud flaps and step ups for the bed…mine doesn’t seem to have the kick down step on the rear maybe bc it’s short bed? And I have chips in the paint on rear fenders already that are pretty bad so part of the deal I made the dealership agree to touch up the paint and ceramic coat it next week. What mud flaps do you recommend?

3-mirrors and trailer cams, I have very poor visibility seeing anything behind me when hooked up to my trailer, I wish it would’ve had the trailer cam package, and I can’t seem to find any way to extend out the mirrors if they are telescopic. So is there a trick to getting the mirrors to extend? And is it worth getting some kind of trailer cameras or upgrading the mirrors? Also when I use my cargo or surround cameras I wish I could hold the image on the screen longer than the few seconds before it shuts off.

4-headlights, my brights in particular…do not help extend visibility on the road at all, it lights up much higher I can see trees and stuff light up but I don’t gain distance on the road, I assume it’s a suspension thing and maybe bc I had the trailer hooked up which had my trucks front end pointing a bit upwards.

5- night edition upgrade… got almost everything I was looking for out of a truck when I found this, besides the night edition package. I absolutely LOVE this truck, so glad I got it been wanting a Cummins for a long time, my ford had more raw power but this is by far a more superior truck in every way. I’m still trying to figure out how to work everything. But what’s the best cheapest solution to getting rid of the chrome and doing a night edition conversion? I was thinking dipping or wrapping? Then purchase a used sport hood if I could locate one.

5-Uconnect didn’t seem to want to work with my iPhone, CarPlay still works but it told me to download a u Connect app and my iPhone wouldn’t download it. What am I missing from not having that?

6-warning chimes…. I get a lot of beeping and different kind of alarms at different times, but I never see anything pop up on my infotainment display or cluster telling me what it’s warning me of, it’s very frustrating. I know one of them is probably just a reverse warning, another is the blind spot notification chime (which I turned off) but I don’t know what the others are.

So any and all information would be greatly appreciated, main things I want to upgrade immediately is a smoother suspension, def delete, and maybe banks peddle booster possibly CAI and slightly bigger turbo in the future? Any other suggested performance adders or just cool upgrades that are recommended for these trucks? Thanks again, glad to be part of the Ram family!

 

[Drumminguy81]

1-suspension (a lot rougher than I would expect on a practically new truck with 26k miles) so what’s the best full suspension upgrade for an air ride equipped ram? I would like to add maybe 3-4” of lift.

I recommend looking at Carli suspension. I just added a 2.5" level/ new shocks to mine and it made a huge difference in ride quality.

2-mud flaps and step ups for the bed…mine doesn’t seem to have the kick down step on the rear maybe bc it’s short bed? And I have chips in the paint on rear fenders already that are pretty bad so part of the deal I made the dealership agree to touch up the paint and ceramic coat it next week. What mud flaps do you recommend?

lots of options here.. really you cant go wrong with any. My mega drw was the same way chipped up bed. I went with gatorback flaps but if i were to do it over i would just buy the oem ram flaps.

3-mirrors and trailer cams, I have very poor visibility seeing anything behind me when hooked up to my trailer, I wish it would’ve had the trailer cam package, and I can’t seem to find any way to extend out the mirrors if they are telescopic. So is there a trick to getting the mirrors to extend? And is it worth getting some kind of trailer cameras or upgrading the mirrors? Also when I use my cargo or surround cameras I wish I could hold the image on the screen longer than the few seconds before it shuts off.

the mirrors flip up manually, push up from the inside bottom corner, just the mirror part rotates up from horizontal to vertical.

4-headlights, my brights in particular…do not help extend visibility on the road at all, it lights up much higher I can see trees and stuff light up but I don’t gain distance on the road, I assume it’s a suspension thing and maybe bc I had the trailer hooked up which had my trucks front end pointing a bit upwards.

I have no complaints with my limited led headlights they are super bright. so cant help you there.

5- night edition upgrade… got almost everything I was looking for out of a truck when I found this, besides the night edition package. I absolutely LOVE this truck, so glad I got it been wanting a Cummins for a long time, my ford had more raw power but this is by far a more superior truck in every way. I’m still trying to figure out how to work everything. But what’s the best cheapest solution to getting rid of the chrome and doing a night edition conversion? I was thinking dipping or wrapping? Then purchase a used sport hood if I could locate one.

I have done the majority of the night edition swap to my regular limited. there are a lot more parts than i thought. So far what i have done;
replaced chrome grille applique (grille surround trim) with paint matched from paintedoemparts.com about $1000
replaced all badges with oem night badges from bam wholesale around $300 total
replaced window sill trims with black amazon $50
traded chrome tow hooks with my dad for his black tow hooks $0
replaced tail lights with night edition black taillights -used $500, sold my stocks for $550 so wash.

parts i have not yet changed; chrome mirrors ($2k) Chrome grille ($600) Headlights($2k) obviously due to prices im hoping to find someone willing to trade their black for chrome but pretty low demand for chrome.

I also went with some black aftermarket wheels, since you already have some decent wheels i would probably look into having them powdercoated if you dont want chrome.
mine came with a painted front and rear bumpers instead of chome, but i have since replaced the front with a color matched road armor bumper.
I do not plan to replace the door handles but am thinking about having them vinyl wrapped if i can find a match.

5-Uconnect didn’t seem to want to work with my iPhone, CarPlay still works but it told me to download a u Connect app and my iPhone wouldn’t download it. What am I missing from not having that?

i have older uconnect 4 so cant help here.

Thats my .02 hope some of that helps

 

[Brutal_HO]

Thank you guys in advance for any and all information or advice. I apologize if I’m posting in wrong place I’m new to this.
Recently replaced my 2012 PSD 6.7 and upgraded to a 2022 Ram dually 3500 SB mega cab limited w/aisin trans. I will attach pic of window sticker. I am AMAZED at how quiet this engine is!

So my questions are, what if anything should I be concerned about or avoid doing to this truck? I have always heard bad things about def systems destroying engines, I have an 8 year extended bumper to bumper warranty that covers even if I delete it. So I would like to delete and tune, I have a brand new EZLINK, I just want to remove anything hazardous to get the most power and life out of my truck.

Thing’s I have already noticed that I want to address immediately are:

Tune 22+ requires an unlocked/bench flashed PCM.
There's only one tuner that (reportedly) has tunes for the Aisin TCM so you're playing with fire a bit there with a PCM only tune. Others are doing it including emissions intact tunes from Calibrated Power on 19-21 trucks.
Seems there's a few more options now for getting a PCM unlocked/bench flashed.

1-suspension (a lot rougher than I would expect on a practically new truck with 26k miles) so what’s the best full suspension upgrade for an air ride equipped ram? I would like to add maybe 3-4” of lift.

When not towing, drop the rear tires on a dooley to no more than 35PSI

2-mud flaps and step ups for the bed…mine doesn’t seem to have the kick down step on the rear maybe bc it’s short bed? And I have chips in the paint on rear fenders already that are pretty bad so part of the deal I made the dealership agree to touch up the paint and ceramic coat it next week. What mud flaps do you recommend?

Factory Mopar rubber mats. OEM rear corner kick step (not related to bed length). AMP step for in front of the rear wheels if you need one.

3-mirrors and trailer cams, I have very poor visibility seeing anything behind me when hooked up to my trailer, I wish it would’ve had the trailer cam package, and I can’t seem to find any way to extend out the mirrors if they are telescopic. So is there a trick to getting the mirrors to extend? And is it worth getting some kind of trailer cameras or upgrading the mirrors? Also when I use my cargo or surround cameras I wish I could hold the image on the screen longer than the few seconds before it shuts off.

Rotate mirrors up to Moose mode.
NAViKS box plugged into the UC5 radio behind the dash will keep cameras lit up. https://naviks.com/i-24078287-2022-...ith-one-camera-only.html?ref=category:1136679

4-headlights, my brights in particular…do not help extend visibility on the road at all, it lights up much higher I can see trees and stuff light up but I don’t gain distance on the road, I assume it’s a suspension thing and maybe bc I had the trailer hooked up which had my trucks front end pointing a bit upwards.

Never lacked for visibility with my Limited projection LED lights. Alignment?

6-warning chimes…. I get a lot of beeping and different kind of alarms at different times, but I never see anything pop up on my infotainment display or cluster telling me what it’s warning me of, it’s very frustrating. I know one of them is probably just a reverse warning, another is the blind spot notification chime (which I turned off) but I don’t know what the others are.

I believe UC5 has speed camera warnings. This could be one.
Seatbelt chime can be disabled with the 3-click dance (search youtube)
Can't help much on the others, would expect to see an EVIC alert flash on screen and/or indicator.

So any and all information would be greatly appreciated, main things I want to upgrade immediately is a smoother suspension, def delete, and maybe banks peddle booster possibly CAI and slightly bigger turbo in the future? Any other suggested performance adders or just cool upgrades that are recommended for these trucks? Thanks again, glad to be part of the Ram family!

Any suspension upgrade is likely to compromise your towing capacity. Good shocks alone can help. Thuren front swaybar helps. That said, there are way better suspension experts here than I.

 

[Drumminguy81]

2-mud flaps and step ups for the bed…mine doesn’t seem to have the kick down step on the rear maybe bc it’s short bed? And I have chips in the paint on rear fenders already that are pretty bad so part of the deal I made the dealership agree to touch up the paint and ceramic coat it next week. What mud flaps do you recommend?

Factory Mopar rubber mats. OEM rear corner kick step (not related to bed length). AMP step for in front of the rear wheels if you need one.

Ah yes i forgot to mention the steps, The oem rear corner step is awesome, I use mine all the time. I purchased oem for my truck, my dad went with a oem copy off amazon. they look nearly identical and either one fits fine. the amazon step was much cheaper but you can find oem that someone removed for pretty cheap if you watch the forums or ebay. I dont care for the AMP rear bed step, it is too big and bulky imo.

as far as the side bed step it is worth noting that AMP research does not make a step for the short bed mega cab dually. however the step made for the long bed dually can be modified to work. @gimmie11s was the first to do this, I used his pictures to install one on mine as well. to be honest i think it mounts and fits better on the megacab short bed than on a long bed. it is more hidden when not in use and feels more solid when in use. for reference I have installed one on both mine and my dads long bed.

 

[gimmie11s]

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[Nwhicks2021]

Thank you all, extremely helpful! So I was considering at some point going to 22’s and using a level kit or at most 4” lift. Would the lift be overkill and compromise much? I don’t haul for a living, just my fifth wheel camper state to state for work and looking into some side jobs doing hot shots in the future. So I don’t utilize this thing anywhere near its full potential. Is there a full Carli suspension kit that would include the lift and maybe trac bars and 4 link setup? I want a good functioning as well as good looking suspension setup.
For the mirrors then, I just need to manually extend them out?
And this device to keep the cameras active…is that something aftermarket I need to buy?
Thanks again guys

 

[Brutal_HO]

Thank you all, extremely helpful! So I was considering at some point going to 22’s and using a level kit or at most 4” lift. Would the lift be overkill and compromise much? I don’t haul for a living, just my fifth wheel camper state to state for work and looking into some side jobs doing hot shots in the future. So I don’t utilize this thing anywhere near its full potential. Is there a full Carli suspension kit that would include the lift and maybe trac bars and 4 link setup? I want a good functioning as well as good looking suspension setup.
For the mirrors then, I just need to manually extend them out?
And this device to keep the cameras active…is that something aftermarket I need to buy?
Thanks again guys

The mirrors "rotate." There's a hinge on the outer corner.

I provided the link to the NAViKS box in my reply. Yes, it's an aftermarket box that plugs into the radio module that's in the dash behind your 12" display.

 

[Drumminguy81]

Thank you all, extremely helpful! So I was considering at some point going to 22’s and using a level kit or at most 4” lift. Would the lift be overkill and compromise much? I don’t haul for a living, just my fifth wheel camper state to state for work and looking into some side jobs doing hot shots in the future. So I don’t utilize this thing anywhere near its full potential. Is there a full Carli suspension kit that would include the lift and maybe trac bars and 4 link setup? I want a good functioning as well as good looking suspension setup.
For the mirrors then, I just need to manually extend them out?
And this device to keep the cameras active…is that something aftermarket I need to buy?
Thanks again guys

My opinion on the lift would be to stick with just a leveling kit if you tow a 5th wheel. I am running 22s with 35" tires, stock rear suspension and the carli leveling kit and the truck already sits pretty high. With my last fifth wheel I struggled with enough bed rail clearance. I ended up having to lift the 5th wheel over 3" to get it close to riding level and I had the bare minimum bed rail clearance and would actually slightly rub at times. Carli makes a ton of full kits and they are very helpful if you reach out to let them know what you are looking for. Thuren also makes great products. You can't go wrong with either.

 

[RV_Goose]

My opinion on the lift would be to stick with just a leveling kit if you tow a 5th wheel. I am running 22s with 35" tires, stock rear suspension and the carli leveling kit and the truck already sits pretty high. With my last fifth wheel I struggled with enough bed rail clearance. I ended up having to lift the 5th wheel over 3" to get it close to riding level and I had the bare minimum bed rail clearance and would actually slightly rub at times. Carli makes a ton of full kits and they are very helpful if you reach out to let them know what you are looking for. Thuren also makes great products. You can't go wrong with either.

SO you raised your 5th wheel 3 inches? What was your total height on the trailer after the lift?

 

[Drumminguy81]

SO you raised your 5th wheel 3 inches? What was your total height on the trailer after the lift?

Yes, it was a mid profile so only 13' 3" after lift. I actually installed a lippert correct track kit that lifted it 2-3/8" then installed a size larger tire that gave it another inch.

 

[Nick]

5 th wheels pose a problem for trucks . You start lifting and you start losing rail clearance and your trailer is nose high causing more weight to be on the rear axle ,of the trailer , along with a height issue on some trailers . You start spending more to get your trailer higher which changes the center of gravity . I think you would be wise to try towing it with a factory height before raising it. A warranty that allows you to violate emission laws ? That's a new one . Better read the fine print . I hope it is true, just hard to fathom . Nice looking truck and welcome aboard !

 

[RV_Goose]

Yes, it was a mid profile so only 13' 3" after lift. I actually installed a lippert correct track kit that lifted it 2-3/8" then installed a size larger tire that gave it another inch.

The height of the many of the new(er) toy hauler is already at 13' 6". That's why I asked. My 2008 toy hauler is under 13 feet (measured). Specifications stated 12'5" but I was not sure so I measured. I do have one size larger tire for now. When it is time for new tires again I will return to stock tire sizes in a G rating. I go places that are height limited.

 

[RV_Goose]

5 th wheels pose a problem for trucks . You start lifting and you start losing rail clearance and your trailer is nose high causing more weight to be on the rear axle ,of the trailer , along with a height issue on some trailers . You start spending more to get your trailer higher which changes the center of gravity . I think you would be wise to try towing it with a factory height before raising it. A warranty that allows you to violate emission laws ? That's a new one . Better read the fine print . I hope it is true, just hard to fathom . Nice looking truck and welcome aboard !

I have had folks tell me that their 4-6 inch lifted truck tow 5th wheels just fine. I go places where I contemplate 9 inches of bed rail clearance as the current 7 inches gets close at times.

 

[Nick]

I have read countless stories of folks with lifted trucks and 5 th wheel clearance problems . It all depends on how the trailer is set up . Most will require some modification . Good luck .