I recently posted a few pics of my dodge in the "show your tow rigs" thread and had a few requests for a build thread. So here goes. The truck is a 1997 Dodge Ram 4x4, Cummins, 5spd, extended cab, long bed with 4:10 gears. I bought the truck in May of 04 with 133k and have slowly been modifying it to what I want. It has had numerous tires ranging from 265/75R16s to 37x12.50R17s with corresponding stock suspension, leveler kit, 5 inch coil lift and now leaf springs and a 1979 Ford Dana 60. Currently it has a custom ground fuel plate, gauges, advanced timing, 4 inch MRBP exhaust, Pac Brake airbags and exhaust brake, killer dowel pin mod, fluid dampener harmonic balancer, flip out tow mirrors, homemade bumper, B&W turnover Gooseneck, recent paint from red to charcoal grey and now 195K. Here are a couple pics before the leaf swap

Nice rig! You got any of your old suspension you wanna sell? I just picked up a 96. I love the pick w: the camper.

So I know a lot of people think any tire bigger than stock is stupid on a tow rig and I am running 37's. When I got the truck with 265 and 4:10's it was geared so low that I wasn't comfortable cruising highway speeds of 75mph in Montana and my fuel mileage was not great. I am now getting the best mph I have ever gotten with the engine mods and 37's. Usually 12-13 towing and 15-18 empty. I did also change the gear in the t-case to compensate for the larger tires and have checked my speedometer with a GPS. The truck is obviously lifted also, which I know a lot of people think is senseless. If this truck was a hot-shotter or strictly a tow rig that arguement might make sense, but I like to camp in remote areas, use the truck to access rivers for kayaking in the spring and generally explore. The truck also is close to 23 feet long and a little ground clearance helps. I few more pics:

Nice rig! You got any of your old suspension you wanna sell? I just picked up a 96. I love the pick w: the camper.

Thank you, about the only parts of the old suspension I have is a drop down track bar bracket from Top Gunz and sway bar drop brackets.

So a friend of mine did a very similar leaf swap on is on his 01 cummins a few years back and has been real happy. He also has a fabrication business, a big ass heated shop and a lot more tools and know how than me. Thank You Chris and Nukeproof Fabrication. My truck shelled out the pass side unit bearing in August and was parked until November as I collected parts and saved money. I have been scared of my unit bearings going bad for a while and was afraid it would happen far from home. Luckily it went on my way home from work. I have also been fighting death wobble, the truck ate trac bars, the steering never lasted and generally sucked, the low pinion front end vibrated in 4wd with the lift and I never had problems, but never trusted the 2 piece vacuum actuated axle shafts. In the above post you can see the old axle coming out and the 1979 ford donor truck. Here are a few more dismantling and rebuilding pics. I don't know why, but I can't post more pics, I'll try again later.

Looks good Jake--I didn't realize you had painted it.

Looks good Jake--I didn't realize you had painted it.

Thanks Shawn, actually I traded Doug (Horsepower Ranch) my old IROKs for the for paintjob and I couldn't be happier. He really did a great job; door jambs, took the bed and hood off etc. I have always got great deals on red vehicles even though its one of my least favorite colors. Had a red 86 toy pickup in college, a red Audi, red Saab, red Ninja Motorcycle and I am keeping this truck!

A few more. I pulled the dodge 60 out and sold it to a local guy who wrecked his truck and bent his housing. He swapped in his unit bearings which were pretty new and bought a bunch of my old lift. Then I pulled the 60 out of the 79 ford and rebuilt it. Replaced every bearing, seal, etc except pinion, carrier and kingpins. They all seemed good and I didn't want to mess with setting up a Ring and pinion, plus it was already 4:10s. Cleaned it up, primed, painted, new calipers, pads, rotors, u-joints, 35 spline stub shafts and warn hubs. Then gusseted the knuckles so they don't crack like the ones on my Taco. Only did the pass side because I am going high steer with a parts mike arm. Thanks for the stick welding Chris. Also replaced the 1/2 wheel studs with 9/16 ones. Actually that was a bitch. Had to order a 19/32 drill bit and open up the holes for the wheel studs I used.

Very nice, what springs did you use, and do you have any pics of how you mounted them? Also, for your steering was it a custom build or does the standard high steer kit still work?

Very nice, what springs did you use, and do you have any pics of how you mounted them? Also, for your steering was it a custom build or does the standard high steer kit still work?

Thanks for the compliments. The truck had a 5 inch coil lift from Top Gunz Customs before the leaf swap and I wanted to stay about the same height if not an inch or two lower in the front. A friend of mine has a 99 Ford Superduty that had a 6 inch Procomp lift on it. He does some fishing guiding and wanted to lower his truck for clients. I bought his 6 inch front springs and set it up initially with those. It was way to high. I went Junk-yard diving and found a rolled superduty with a 3.5 tuff country lift. I grabbed the front springs, u-bolts and plates. They worked great.

Obviously things were only tacked and the truck was way too high. We custom made a set of front spring hangers and I plasma'd and sleeved the frame for the shackles. We used YJ spring bushings with a sleeve and all grade 8 bolts at the shackle end in the frame and spaced it out accordingly to match the leafs with some spacers cut from some heavy duty plastic. I torched the shackles out of some 3/8 x 2" flat stock. The 3.5 inch spring set the truck right where I wanted it and about 3 inches forward of where it was on coils. I am about an inch lower in the front than I was on coils, but being forward 3 inches my 37's don't rub at all and I think I could clear 40's with a little trimming if I really wanted.

Nice work!!! I've got a '97 12valve also, and that's how that truck's front end should have been off the assembly line. I'm looking forward to the results!
Cheers!

Thanks! So you can see I notched the body mount a little to clear the swing on the shackles in the last pic above. When we hung the springs we clamped them to the axle and actually pushed the front together a little to make the rear of the leafs line up with the frame and not have to mess with the factory 1979 ford Dana spring perches. So they are in a little of a V shape. I was a little skeptical, but this is how my friend Chris set his up a few years and many thousand miles ago without any problems. They are also only pushed in a couple inches. So next came steering. My old lift came with a new pitman arm that has the tie rod flipped to the bottom instead of on top. I reused this, but reamed it out to accept a Chevy 1 Ton tie rod end. I purchased a pass side high steer arm from Parts Mike and gusseted the knuckle on the 60. Then I bought left and right hand threaded weld in bungs and jam nuts for Chevy 1 ton tierod ends from Ballistic Fab. If I remember correctly we used .188 wall 1 5/8 DOM and made the drag link from the pitman to high steer arm. I used a factory 1979 Ford tie rod between the knuckles. I guess I don't have any great pics right now of the steering, but these last few have a 40 inch MTR on for laughs.

When we hung the springs we clamped them to the axle and actually pushed the front together a little to make the rear of the leafs line up with the frame and not have to mess with the factory 1979 ford Dana spring perches. So they are in a little of a V shape. I was a little skeptical, but this is how my friend Chris set his up a few years and many thousand miles ago without any problems. They are also only pushed in a couple inches.

That's how the rear leafs are set up on late model Tundras. I think Toyota says it cuts down on sway and sideways deflection of the leaves.

Looks great, it couldnt have come at a better time for me either! Subscribed:smokin:

That's how the rear leafs are set up on late model Tundras. I think Toyota says it cuts down on sway and sideways deflection of the leaves.

Huh? I hadn't heard that, but it makes sense and I have about 300 miles on the truck since the swap including towing my tractor with no ill side effects. In the last pics you can see the track bar we made. The axle end of the track bar is a modified bracket I bought a few years ago from Ruffstuff Specialties for my Taco and never used. The frame end is a custom made bracket and I had to cut the old factory track bar bracket off with a sawzall. I guess its cast and the torch no worky. For the track bar we cut the tie rod end off 2 factory 94-02 trackbars, sleeved them and plug welded it. The shocks are the bilsteins that came with my old lift. I made a plate to go on top of the factory coil mount. The eye bolt of the shock goes through the center and bolts to the 3 holes that hold the factory tower. The shock mounts off the back of the axle on some tabs.

So the truck has been on the road now about 2-3 weeks and I couldn't be happier with the results. It rides firm but not ruff. I usually have approximately 50 psi in the airbags because I use them for a little lift and that definitely doesn't help. I bought 4 brand new 37x12.50x17 Goodyear MTRs from a member here for $200 apiece and am very happy. Finding an e-rated 37 is getting difficult, the new kevlar MTRs are only d-rated and I am pretty sure the Toyos are 13.5 wide. I have a set of e-rated 35 inch Toyo muds on H2 wheels that I will use if I hook to something really heavy. Like I said before I can do 75mph with the hubs in without and vibration. I have zero bump-steer and the truck is actually about an inch lower in the front. I am very happy.

Any plans for a sway bar? Is it needed?

I love how ur truck is turning out! Great work!!! Wish I had a truck similar to yours. I might have to buy/build one soon lol!

Jason :)

Any plans for a sway bar? Is it needed?

Not right now. I saved the factory dodge one but don't see any need for it. Now I need to chase down a few rattles in the truck that are driving me nuts and save up some cash to get new knuckles for my wheelin' rig. I would like to get a couple driving lights on the front bumper, eventually put an ARB locker in the rear and build a rear bumper with a swing out tire carrier. I can't fit a full size spare under the bed anymore and plan on building an auxillary fuel tank to go where the spare is.

So the truck is doing great. My wheeler is waiting on time and money so I drove to the top of a local trail and walked down. The dodge had the hubs locked in and needed it. It was actually kind of fun and really inexpensive to not wheel and just watch. But then last Sunday I jack-knifed turning into a friend's driveway towing my tractor and dented the extended cab on a Ponderosa and fucked my trailer up. Oh well, I guess no good deed goes unpunished. I put a line lock in and fixed the exhaust brake also.

Can you explain to me the need for a trac-bar with the leafs up front?

A trac bar is by no means required on a leaf spring set up, but can definitely help lateral stability. The 99 on ford superduty's had them from the factory. It just helps to locate the front axle laterally underneath the truck and takes a lot of stress off the leaf spring bushings etc.

Awesome build! What size wheels are you running?

37x12.50 R17 Goodyear MTR's, old style, e rated. Thanks for the compliments. I have about 4000 miles on since the swap and am still very happy. I put a PSC steering box brace on and wow did it help tighten up the steering. I have 198K on the truck and for all I know its the original steering box which leaks like a sieve, I have replaced the sector shaft seal once, and need to do a new box someday. I noticed my factory hitch is cracked really bad so a new hitch and rear bumper are in the works for the next couple weeks/month.

very cool, but I asked about the wheels not tires...its alright tho haha

very cool, but I asked about the wheels not tires...its alright tho haha

Ahhh, the wheels are 17x8 inch steel soft 8's.

Thanks man!

post up the hitch and rear bumper build on here too, cant wait for that. You guys do great work!

Any updates on the hitch and rear bumper?

Any updates on the hitch and rear bumper?

Well it has been an interesting summer for the truck. This happened in July:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=908166&highlight=1997+cummins+accessory

But I got the truck back running well a week or 2 ago. I fixed the factory hitch by gusseting and modifying the stock hitch. I put a total of 14 gussets onto it and it now mounts to the frame with 8 bolts instead of 6. I built the first part of a rear bumper too. It is 6"x3" .188 wall tube with 1/2"x3" plate going back to the frame. It has 2 D-ring attachments and a couple cheepo tractor backup lights. The swing out will follow soon. I also welded some 1/8inch diamond plate to the front of the frame where the front bumper mounts to beef it up and put some fog lights into the front bumper.

More pics!

Bumper and hitch look awesome man, nice work.

Sucks about all the problems you were having. Glad you got it all ironed out tho.

More pics!

Bumper and hitch look awesome man, nice work.

Sucks about all the problems you were having. Glad you got it all ironed out tho.

Thanks for the compliments. Yeah it sucks it broke down, but that's the first time in about 70K its left me stranded. It is nice to have my pickup back though I have been beating the shit out of my little 4runner without it. So I built the 4runner rear bumper with an EMS Offroad tire carrier kit, but am a little skeptical about the 1 inch spindle holding up a 37 on a steel wheel anybody ever used a Comp 4x4 spindle they make a 1 inch spindle with a double shear design and a 1.75 inch spindle. I e-mailed them today and am waiting for a response.

I chose not to abreviate diesel using "DSL" because of the other things that could stand for :laughing:

Nice truck. Looks like a very well used and versatile rig.

I chose not to abreviate diesel using "DSL" because of the other things that could stand for :laughing:

Nice truck. Looks like a very well used and versatile rig.

Yeah I probably should have thought out the abbreviation a little more. Back in high school in the early 90's my friends uncle had an 80's Chevy pickup with the big old semi truck style bug deflector that said "Diesel Fever" across the front of the hood. When the 6.2 went bad he pulled it and put in a 350 but never changed the bug deflector which we all thought was pretty funny. So when I bought my Dodge in 04 I started calling it Diesel Fever and the name stuck.

Yeah I probably should have thought out the abbreviation a little more. Back in high school in the early 90's my friends uncle had an 80's Chevy pickup with the big old semi truck style bug deflector that said "Diesel Fever" across the front of the hood. When the 6.2 went bad he pulled it and put in a 350 but never changed the bug deflector which we all thought was pretty funny. So when I bought my Dodge in 04 I started calling it Diesel Fever and the name stuck.


Well at least it has a story to go along with it. When I chose DZLPWR I was looking at different versions and someone pointed that out to me.

Any more picts of your camper setup? Do you have the torquelift tie downs or something custom?

Any more picts of your camper setup? Do you have the torquelift tie downs or something custom?[/QUOTE]

I don't really have many good pics of the camper set up. I am actually going to redo that also with corner brackets instead of the under mount plates. For securing it to the truck I just run turnbuckles and chain with some twist lock carabiner type pieces to a D-ring on the rock sliders. The rear bumper/camper mounts need to be addressed when I finish the rear bumper. 1 of the old pieces I had welded into the factory hitch got bent when I jack knifed the trailer with the tractor last winter.

Are those custom sliders on the Dodge? Are they worth a damn as steps or do you use them strictly as sliders?

Im stock height on 35s and would like a step of some kind and dont want just the regular tube step everyone has. My truck is similar in use to yours, off road and what not, and the sliders really keep up the custom look. Yours look nice.

I built the sliders to act as both a step and a slider. They are 1.5"x3" .120 wall tube. They are very helpful when scrambling around loading kayaks, lumber, etc. and its nice to have something protecting the rockers on a truck this long. In the pictures on page 1 where I jack-knifed you can see that they hit the tree and prevented the truck from getting even more damaged.

Could I get some up close pics of the sliders and the mounts? Whenever you get a chance, thanks for the help.

Could I get some up close pics of the sliders and the mounts? Whenever you get a chance, thanks for the help.

The sliders are nothing special, but I'll take some pics next week when my girlfriend get back from Denver with the camera.
So I went firewood cutting the other day, got a decent load of larch, did a beautiful 80 or so mile loop through the mountains of Montana and when I hit pavement I lost 5th gear. I have 200k now and fixed the 5th gear with the New Venture kit at about 140K. Hopefully it just backed off again, but if there is any wear I might be looking at a reman unit. I can understand having issues with a 200k truck, but why must it all happen at once? ARRRGGGG

That sucks man. I know what you mean though, gotta do some maintenance.

Sounds like you got it figured out though, a good attitude is key when dealing with crap like this.

Sweet looking pictures too.

Keep us updated on that rear bumper and how your tranny is going!

Good luck man.

Finally got a chance to work on this thing. I actually rebuilt the front of my shop and moved my wood stove so this monstrosity would fit in side. 5th gear had just fallen off and the nut backed off again. I bought this to fix 5th gear permanently:
http://fifthgearrepair.com/nv4500repair.html
I also bought a brand new set of 150W KC Daylighters from a friend for $50 and mounted them on the bumper. The Dodge factory headlights are awful and these will certainly help. I tried wiring them in with a relay of the high beams, but they cut out after a minute or 2 of use. I heard the 2nd gen Dodges change high and low beam through a ground so I need to investigate some more. I put my topper on for winter and put a platform in the back for my dogs. I have a full size 37" spare mounted in front of the wheel-well on the drivers side and can still slide skis and lumber under the platform if I need to. I need to fix the blown up t-case in my Tacoma wheeler then I want to finish my rear bumper with a swing-out tire carrier. I also got a new distraction/shop mate so she's been taking up a little energy.

Looks great as always. Keep us posted. Thats an awesome looking dog!

did your hitch break? mine started to crack so I welded up but have plans to build a new bumper and incorporate hitch in with it too.

friend had 5th gear come loose and if you hit brakes hard it would slide back on and work for a while. He finally tore it apart and the output shaft and input in case were trashed so did had to replace/upgrade them.

Thanks, "Olive" is pretty fun. 1/4 Bull Mastiff, 3/4 Black Lab. I've got her dad "Bishop" and am friends with the mom's owner, she should be a pretty good dog. Yes my factory hitch cracked, it was welded once, but started to crack again worse. I took the hitch off, cut it up and raised it about an inch and gusseted the crap out of it. I put an additional bolt hole on each side towards the rear of the frame and so far so good. Here's a shot of dad and daughter and the truck from the side.

You're taking the expo rig to hit the Lochsa this year, right? :evil:

You might want to incorporate a tag light on that rear bumper. Nice work overall.

You're taking the expo rig to hit the Lochsa this year, right? :evil:

Hell yeah! Actually the Swan River is at 2.5 feet right now and should be over 3 by Wednesday. We are going Wed. late AM if you are interested.

You might want to incorporate a tag light on that rear bumper. Nice work overall.

Thanks, you are right about the light and I'll make something happen when I build the swing-out.

How's this pig doing? LOL

Its doing well, I have been working on other projects, working and skiing so the Dodge hasn't been in the shop recently. It also got daily driver duty since I sold the engine in my 1988 4runner in anticipation of a SAS and engine swap in it. It will get some love this spring though.

Just read through the thread again, love it! Any updates? I miss my 2nd gen so bad!

Just looked closer at the pics.

Did you do a winter run to Blankenship? Call me next year! I'm afraid of the Wild Mile, but I'm not afraid of cold water, fawker!!!

So the ole Dodge got a little attention. I re-stacked the clutches in the Dana 80 limited slip and filled her back up with Amsoil 75/110 Severe Duty synthetic rear oil and 7 ounces of limited slip additive. This really made the lim-slip aggressive, it will actually chirp and inside tire sometimes on pavement. I had the rear main seal replaced at a friends shop, I just didn't feel like wrestling the NV4500/241 on the floor of my shop and I got a pretty good deal I think labor wise. I chased down a few vacuum leaks, got the cruise and exhaust brake working again and bought a trans shifter switch for the Pacbrake rather than the old toggle switch I had for years. Its real nice having it right at you finger tips.
I also did some trading and ended up with a used Warn M12000 which I was able to shoe-horn into my front bumper. It fits and works great. I also picked up some used custom built National rear leaf springs. They were built for about 500lbs over stock and around 4 inches lift. I hope I can get rid of most if not all my rear blocks. I haven't installed the springs yet, but soon.

I haven't been using the driving lights in the center of the bumper since I installed the KC's so I pulled them and welded in the holes with some 1/4 inch plate. I even took the driver's side door apart and fixed the speaker and repaired the burned out charge wire in my trailer plug!
I hope to install the rear springs next week and start working on an auxiliary fuel tank and finish the rear bumper soon there after.
Till then its firewood cutting season.

nice dodge. good to see someone else with a lifted truck they use and tow with. i'm in the same boat but mines a PSD truck. was your gooseneck trailer modified to work with the taller bedsides after you lifted the truck? and how are the 37" MTR's on winter roads?

Thanks, I love the truck and being lifted hasn't changed anything I do with it. The only real down side I see is the price of tires and the difficulty in finding E rated 37's these days. The old style 37 inch MTR's I have worked fine in the snow for me. I had a set of siped 37 inch BFG AT's on it before and they were a little better winter wise but I have no complaints with the MTR's. I have just under 15 k miles on them and they look good. I bought a cheap $49 ebay tire croover/siper and might sipe them this fall and maybe groove them after another 10k or so. I grooved and siped the centers on the 42's off my wheeling rig in about 30 minutes per tire, so not too bad.
I don't own a gooseneck trailer. The one I pulled in the pic earlier in the post had an adjustable tongue on it and it worked great.

Cool truck.

few stupid questions, what size plate is that on your bumper where it bolts to the frame? and are you running just 3 bolts per side? Looks like you might even be bolting it up in the stock bumpers holes? Are the plates all one piece from where they bolt to the frame all the way up in front of the grill? and are the shackle/d-ring mounts one with those plates that bolt to the frame? (as in are they in line with them for strength or just welded through the face plating to a crossmember?)

Dumb questions, but it's the closest look at someones actual bumper mounting. Everyone shows the bumpers, but never really how they are mounted.

few stupid questions, what size plate is that on your bumper where it bolts to the frame? and are you running just 3 bolts per side? Looks like you might even be bolting it up in the stock bumpers holes? Are the plates all one piece from where they bolt to the frame all the way up in front of the grill? and are the shackle/d-ring mounts one with those plates that bolt to the frame? (as in are they in line with them for strength or just welded through the face plating to a crossmember?)

Dumb questions, but it's the closest look at someones actual bumper mounting. Everyone shows the bumpers, but never really how they are mounted.

The plate that bolts to the frame is 3/8" and it is a solid piece that goes through the bumper and has the D ring holes cut out of it. There is also a 2"x5" x .250 piece of box tubing between the plates that has the front receiver hitch sunk into it. When I built the bumper I started with the frame horn pieces and built up from there. I only have the 3 bolts per side holding to the frame in the stock place, but on page 2 of this build you can see where I plated the front frame horns to beef them up. I would like to do a 1&3/4 inch .120 tube from the headlight protector tube down to the rock slider just behind the front tire like you see on the Australian rigs with bull/roo bars. I would put a tube clamp at the bumper end of the tube on each side to keep the bumper removable.

Oh yeah, I also went to a Diesel Dyno Day at Advanced Diesel Works in Kalispell MT back in Sept and the old beast put down 337 HP and 791 FT lbs at the rear wheels on the 37's!

Thanks, I love the truck and being lifted hasn't changed anything I do with it. The only real down side I see is the price of tires and the difficulty in finding E rated 37's these days. The old style 37 inch MTR's I have work fine in the snow for me. I had a set of siped 37 inch BFG AT's on it before and they were a little better winter wise but I have no complaints with the MTR's. I have just under 15 k miles on them and they look good. I bought a cheap $49 ebay tire croover/siper and might sipe them this fall and maybe groove them after another 10k or so. I grooved and siped the centers on the 42's off my wheeling rig in about 30 minutes per tire, so not too bad.
I don't own a gooseneck trailer. The one I pulled in the pic earlier in the post had an adjustable tongue on it and it worked great.
with a 37" tire being bigger it has more load rating. if you check the sidewall a D load range in a 37" may actually be higher than the load range E stockers you had. i assume 265/75/16. i know that a 315/75/16 D has i higher weight rating than a 265/75/16 E. i checked that when i tossed the 315's on my lifted ford

The plate that bolts to the frame is 3/8" and it is a solid piece that goes through the bumper and has the D ring holes cut out of it. There is also a 2"x5" x .250 piece of box tubing between the plates that has the front receiver hitch sunk into it. When I built the bumper I started with the frame horn pieces and built up from there. I only have the 3 bolts per side holding to the frame in the stock place, but on page 2 of this build you can see where I plated the front frame horns to beef them up. I would like to do a 1&3/4 inch .120 tube from the headlight protector tube down to the rock slider just behind the front tire like you see on the Australian rigs with bull/roo bars. I would put a tube clamp at the bumper end of the tube on each side to keep the bumper removable.

Thanks man, I appreciate your response. Kinda answers one of the last questions I had before digging into a bumper for mine. I did see the beef up plate you put in there, looked like just 1/8" on one end of the frame maybe welded on which would obviously help. I was thinking about doing it double shear even, but we'll see what comes of it.

Love the truck, I hope to do this to my cummins!

The truck got some love in the last few months. I installed a used set of National springs in the rear. I went from a 6 inch block to a 2.5, the ride is significantly improved, I now run the airbags at 10psi when empty instead of 50psi to achieve the lift I want. I also installed a 32 gallon auxiliary fuel tank where the spare tire was. The tank is an aluminum boat fuel tank that I cut in half and had a friend tig weld and end cap on. It is for my 2 tank veggie oil conversion but can run diesel too if I run out of grease, The tank is heated by engine coolant and just work great on a 2000 mile round trip to Moab. The WVO system works well and is controlled my a series of valves and a brain. Basically the system starts on diesel, gets warm, switches to WVO, then switches back to diesel before you shut it off to purge the fuel lines of WVO. I am very happy with the system and went 994 miles on 9 gallons of diesel on my way to Moab before I ran out of WVO and had to start buying diesel. If I had filtered more before I left I would have gone farther.
A flatbed is in the works too. I have to ratchet strap the bedsides together to get the tailgate shut and the stock box leaves little room for extra stuff when the camper is in.

Also grooved and siped my tires, and had a great time in Moab!

Looking forward to seeing the flatbed build.