Littleredwagon power wagon build

Littleredwagon

Littleredwagon

Adventurist
My wife and I both love to travel and explore and needed a vehicle that could pull duty as a tow rig for toys, a camper tow vehicle, and something that could handle most of the offroad trails we encountered. After some careful deliberation we ended up with a 2015 Ram powerwagon.

So far we have used it all over the southwest and are constantly in the process of making it a better overland rig. The changes so far...
-285/75/17 BFG KM2's come out to a 34" tire but do not rub even at full flex
-Carli differential guard
-Magnaflow Exhaust
-K&N Intake (both of these in an effort for better mpg)
-Thule Exporter
-CVT tents mount bachelor

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At this point the next step is to add rock sliders this summer along with a few more upgrades that make living out of it for weeks at a time tolerable.
 
Very close to ordering one to pull a Casita. We got to test drive a Tradesman for the weekend and loved it; all the features we need, nothing extra. I'm curious why you swapped the tires so soon? Load range E?
 
The stock duratracs were great all around tires but we do a lot of wheeling in the sharp rocks of Nevada/Arizona and they were already getting some pretty nasty cuts. The km2's seem to take a beating and they're roughly 2 inches taller for ground clearance.

It's pretty much either white knuckle or aluminess for us on sliders.

We had planned to be at overland west but we got a chance to spend a few months in Hawaii for work so we couldn't pass that up!
 
I really think the tradesman trim works best for us. It's does everything we need without extra stuff to break. Ours came with the park sense and rear cam options which can be helpful offroad with something this big
 
We will definitely tick most of the boxes on our order, especially the rear camera. I'm planning on a snugtop and that will further hamper rear visibility. I'm excited to have another truck with a vinyl floor! Did you get vinyl seats, or the cloth? We are thinking of going with the Work Grade vinyl, but still stewing. Should place our order next week, can't wait! If only my wife was keen on the red...but neutral gray it will be.

Have you noticed any improvements on mileage since installing the exhaust and filter?
 
The one I found has the cloth seats with carpet, but had the factory slush mats. I am actually about to put a seat of wet okole seat covers on though to protect the seats better on trips. I definitely could have lived without carpet.

The mileage improved slightly with the exhaust and drop in filter. Around 1-2 mpg on the highway. Haven't had a chance to really test the k&n intake yet. Also adding larger tires has no effect on mpg either.

You'll really enjoy it. They make perfect overlanding rigs!
 
Great thread, thanks for sharing. I have a major Power Wagon fetish and am currently drooling over a 2016 Power Wagon Laramie... :drool

Love the red!

IMHO, a Power Wagon with a Four Wheel Camper just might be the perfect "pinnacle" of an adventure rig for me.
 
1-2 gain on highway is nothing to sneeze at! I'll have to give those tweaks some thought. What did the Magnaflow do to the sound? I'm not keen on droning down the highway. It's also nice to hear that the bump in tire size didn't do anything to your mileage. I'd love a FWC, but that's a "someday" purchase. Of course, we will be living full-time in our Casita and exploring this beautiful country (downsizing from a Class A diesel pusher) and it is gonna be a tight fit for us and our daughter! That FWC might be great as a home office. :D

Until then, the Snugtop with some Decked drawers will have to do. I will likely opt for the reinforced roof that can take a 500lbs load and toss on a Front Runner rack and maybe some brand of RTT. That will give us the freedom to go off and spend a long weekend in places we can't drag the Casita. If all goes well, we hope to start next year off in Baja and head right up the coast, through CA and into Alaska. I'm also considering the Flip-Pac, but I'm a touch leery on that torsion bar.

With any luck, we will get the Power Wagon numbers nailed down and the order submitted by Monday. Until then, I'll just come back here and drool over your pictures wishing I could get a red one!
 
I think the snug top is a great choice. They seem durable enough for offroad work and still leaves you a place to sleep if you want to head into the back country!

The magnaflow doesn't drone and on the highway you can barely even hear it (if at all). I use a 22" which is the quietest but I have mine dump under the bed for clearance so it has no resonator either. Leaving the resonator keeps the sound down even more.
 
My lust for a PW is strong but do is my desire for a diesel motor. So I'm stuck trying to decide between a Ram 2500 and a F-250.

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Littleredwagon said:
The stock duratracs were great all around tires but we do a lot of wheeling in the sharp rocks of Nevada/Arizona and they were already getting some pretty nasty cuts. The km2's seem to take a beating and they're roughly 2 inches taller for ground clearance.

It's pretty much either white knuckle or aluminess for us on sliders.

We had planned to be at overland west but we got a chance to spend a few months in Hawaii for work so we couldn't pass that up!
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Great looking rig you have there!!! Good choice with the Tradesman trim, mine is an ST (the 2012 equivalent to a Tradesman) your Wagon's red paint really pops with the black trim, looks great!!!

Having had both sliders, I would recommend the White Knuckle for hard use. I had the Aluminess and they did indeed protect the my rockers on the bottom and the outside (would likely not be able to open my doors if I hadn't had them, I pivoted off rocks and trees several times!) but, they tore the back sides of my rockers. (you cannot see the tears unless you are up under the truck though) They did make a revision to the mounting now that would have very likely prevented the can opener style action that occurred on the backs of my rockers but, even so, they still are body mounted. I now have modified White knuckle sliders and I prefer them due to the fact that they actually mount to the frame. The White Knuckle sliders' mounts are super beefy!!!
 
I'm also considering a power wagon, but want a FWC as well. The numbers don't add up though. Cargo capacity is only 1700lbs depending on model. This will hardly carry a Hawk loaded up with expedition gear, 2 people and modifications like sliders. What am I missing? And why no E load rated tires from the factory?


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sleddogsam said:
I'm also considering a power wagon, but want a FWC as well. The numbers don't add up though. Cargo capacity is only 1700lbs depending on model. This will hardly carry a Hawk loaded up with expedition gear, 2 people and modifications like sliders. What am I missing? And why no E load rated tires from the factory?


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I'd like a FWC to be my end goal as well. I figure when that time comes I'd add some air bags to assist with the load. I have a '16 and have loaded it down with just over 2k lbs in the bed. It was about 3/4" off of the bump stops. It's definitely not a regular 2500 as far as capacity goes, but that's why it rides so much smoother and flexes better than a regular 2500. I think of it as between a 1500 and 2500.

Here's a pic with the weight in the bed. Couple of 6k generators and a bunch of bags of cement.

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sleddogsam said:
I'm also considering a power wagon, but want a FWC as well. The numbers don't add up though. Cargo capacity is only 1700lbs depending on model. This will hardly carry a Hawk loaded up with expedition gear, 2 people and modifications like sliders. What am I missing? And why no E load rated tires from the factory?
Click to expand...

If you compare the PW to a stock 2500 Hemi 6.4 model that is the same trim, you'll notice the PW is de-rated in both payload and GVWR. And that lower GVWR is where the payload suffers. For example, a friend with a Laramie 2500 Hemi like mine has a GVWR of 10k where mine is 8510lbs. There are several factors for this. The softer springs, those tires and the best theory warranty/liability from the 2-inch factory lift. So it's a combo of suspension choices.

So from the photo example above, I think the best bet is the truck is derated because of the softer suspension which gives greater articulation at the sacrifice of payload.

Whatever Ram's reasoning, the frame, the axles, most parts outside of articulink and the lockers are all the same. If you were, for example, to go with the AEV 3 inch lift, which requires the use of standard 2500 springs, you'd gain 1 inch over the factory, and you would technically have the payload of a regular 2500 since you removed the weakest part of the setup. In theory.
 
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