77Concours's 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 MCSB Build Thread

[77Concours]

Ugh that's enough reason right there to move south...

I've toyed with the idea. But my sister and her fiancé live in DC, mom and dad plan to move to Delaware (by the beach) in 2 years when my mom retires so I don't want to go too far. That and law enforcement jobs down south don't pay what they pay up here.

The Big 3 call it planned obsolescence! This is only one of several (unknown how many they have) variations of this plan that they implemented.

Not a bad deal there. Hope the rust is easily cured or you are able to hold it at bay for a good while. Can you do anything before next spring to keep it from getting worse?

Thanks! I could have the panels done in November at the earliest due to funds, but there aren't any holes. It's surface and some paint bubbling. I'd rather just save up a bunch and have a really good shop do the work instead of having a less qualified shop do the work earlier. The hitch has rust on it but I'll take that off and have it powder coated a gloss black in spring too. The truck isn't in bad shape for the mileage, the interior is perfect except for a spot on the center console where the leather is cracked from constant elbow placement.

 

[77Concours]

Just took advantage of some Labor Day sales. I cannot spend anymore money lol.

Ordered some smoked LED cab lights from Recon.

Ordered my interior detailing products from Adam's Polishes since the inside of this thing still needs done. I hope they get here by Friday so I can clean the inside up for this weekend.

 

[77Impala]

Thanks! I could have the panels done in November at the earliest due to funds, but there aren't any holes. It's surface and some paint bubbling. I'd rather just save up a bunch and have a really good shop do the work instead of having a less qualified shop do the work earlier.

Understand on having a good shop do it but until then I would treat the rust with something to slow down the problem. You can use a rust primer product that turns the rust into a primed surface and some white paint to buy you a little time.

 

[77Concours]

Well I can finally post pictures of the engine bay. It was disgustingly dirty and I got a chance at work today to clean it up. Hit it with some degreaser chemical and then a power washer, followed by some chemical we have to shine up under hood plastic fed through an HVLP spray gun. Might have gone a little heavy with it but oh well, its my truck and not a customer vehicle that's going on the lot.

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[MYT HI]

Wow quite the difference in cleaning

 

[77Concours]

Wow quite the difference in cleaning

Thanks! It was really nasty, and with all the rain we've gotten the past 2 days its staying pretty clean.


Got my Recon smoked cab lights yesterday and my Adam's interior 6 pack and deep wheel cleaner just showed up. I finally got the coveted mints too lol. Since its down pouring here and there aren't any available bays where I work I cant install the lights or finish detailing the interior of my truck. Cab lights will probably go on tomorrow and I'll probably wait until the work week to clean the rest of my interior. No more dirty leather seats!

 

[77Concours]

Sunday was a pretty productive day!

Got up early and gave it a good wash using all Adam's Polishes products. I like the soap a lot more than my Meguiar's gold class. Tried out their deep wheel cleaner too. This stuff smells like cherry cough syrup. It worked alright, didn't get all the brake dust off even though I agitated it with a sponge but the wheels look better. But I got the truck washed which counts and it looks great. I also wiped down all the interior plastics, cleaned the windows, and cleaned the leather on the center console lid. No more sticky armrest for me! Didn't do the rest of the seats because I got lazy and had to run a few errands. Later in the evening I installed my smoked Recon LED cab lights. Made sure to put silicone around the all the holes under the lights, hasn't rained yet but I don't expect any leaks. They look great but I need smoked lights and LEDs on the rest of the truck. Also found a use for one of the HyPer LED plates I bought for my '95 3 years ago. An under hood light! Nice and bright and works great!

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[77Concours]

Traded in all of the spare parts I had from my Duramax as well as my CB stuff, KC day lighters, a set of new Alpine speakers still in the box I got for free and never used, and some misc. stuff (exhaust tip, LED strip, etc.) and pretty much broke even cost wise. I traded this stuff in at the local diesel shop for the labor needed to do my injectors (I'll get to that in a second), and a set of custom made traction bars installed. The owner didn't have any ranch hand style bumpers or Autometer gauges (only parts I'd trade for) so I asked about traction bars and he said "deal".

As for my injectors, on a cold start up especially on hot days I noticed there was a white haze and the truck sounded like it had a miss. Sure enough 1 injector is sticking. Typically I'd be pretty pissed off about this but really its a lot cheaper than what it would have been for my Duramax and I know I won't have to put another set in for as long as I own the truck. Since I don't have to worry about labor its going to be about $1,800 for parts. Obviously I'd like to put more money towards other things like getting a stereo, or lighting but it is what it is.

Nothing new mod/maintenance wise. Just driving and enjoying the truck. Did a lot of cruising after leaving the shop tonight.

 

[77Concours]

It's my day off but I was at work.....

to finish detailing the inside of my truck and change the fuel filter. My leather seats look, feel, and smell like new. Sooooo much more comfortable now that I don't stick to them. Plus the inside of my truck no longer smells like pencil shavings (it was like that when I bought it). Used the interior detailer stuff I got with my Adam's 6 pack and I wasn't crazy about it at first since its more of a matte finish. After I wiped all the plastic down I think it looks great, plus there's no dusty dashboard to look at.

Fuel filter change was pretty straight forward and went smooth. No leaks and the truck runs and drives fine.

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[77Concours]

Got some money for my birthday so I went ahead and started shopping for a new head unit.

I ended up getting an Alpine CDE-145SXMBT. Basically what I had in my 400 and Duramax but updated with a new XM tuner, Bluetooth microphone, and faceplate. Has a CD player too. I can't bring myself to eliminate a CD slot just yet.

I got this thing for a steal from Best Buy too. Walked in and asked them to match the $104.95 from Sonic Electronix and they told me that's one site they won't match. Whatever. Oh wait. Crutchfield. So I showed the guy the price of $139.99 (hid the part about the rebate, they won't price match it then). Sure enough they price matched it. I saved $70! The best part is if you buy a head unit there over $119.99 you get a free installation and 15% off the install parts. Cost of an install is $65. I have to pay $40 for them to put the XM tuner in and activate it. The parts at Best Buy are more expensive than online but they price match those too and I already found all 3 parts for cheaper. They also charge $60 to install the steering wheel control harness but that's covered under the special that's going on. So all in all, I've saved about $200+.

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