My Mega Cab Long Bed conversion

[SnoKing]

Torque baby torque! SNOKING

 

[gsbrockman]

Nice rig.

Looks like the conversion company has a top-notch paint facility. The painted bed looks great.

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[jryan11518]

WOW when you said early on you were going to add two feet you were not kidding. The improved ride quality is interesting. How much improved? Much smoother ride or just noticeable? What is the going price to have 2 feet added? Did u add in SC or Az?

 

[Mingoglia]

WOW when you said early on you were going to add two feet you were not kidding. The improved ride quality is interesting. How much improved? Much smoother ride or just noticeable? What is the going price to have 2 feet added? Did u add in SC or Az?

With tax, a spray in liner, and a B&W turnover hitch it was ~$8,400.

As for the paint, that have dealerships within the neighboring states where they have agreements for factory take off beds. Apparently there's a big wait for 3500 C&C trucks, so many commercial companies will just buy the "regular" 3500's, and just remove the bed rather than waiting. They will try to find a bed the same color as yours to avoid repainting it. Obviously they have a lot of white beds, but they did have a lot of other colors, which was surprising. They actually found my bed in the green and ONLY had to paint the gold on it. So it is factory paint, with an exception of the bottom and the already gold fender flairs (from my truck). If there's a variation in the paint color, they will repaint it completely as necessary. Their primary business is a body shop so they're fully equipped to do this and don't charge extra if it's necessary.

As for the ride, they "say" it's better. On paper it would seem it's better, and I say it definitely is "better". However, I could be in sugar pill type scenario as I'm convinced it's better and maybe it really isn't. LOL I have no way of really gauging it, but this truck with 80psi in the front and 65psi in the duals really does feel like it's a half ton truck on the freeway and relatively smooth roads. It's only big bumps where you feel it.... but then again it drove really good before the stretch so it's hard to say. Anyone in AZ is welcome to come drive my truck for yourself.

Oh, here's an important surprise which initially I was annoyed about so I'll mention. They use the fancy aluminum driveshaft as a core and replace it with a two piece traditional steel with a center pillow mounted to a new crossmember. I was upset with this at first as the stock driveshaft is a work of art. However, one side benefit of this is it took most of the "clunk" the transmission makes when putting it in gear on my Aisin 4.10 equipped truck. Steel is obviously less rigid so it absorbs much of this. At the end of the day it's perfectly balanced and makes no other difference in the feel of the truck. Outta sight outta mind. They do use genuine spicer parts and it's built at a professional driveshaft shop. Being into rock crawling, I'm kinda an expert in driveshafts as I tend to break a dozen or so of them a year. Driveshafts are my nemesis.

Mike

 

[SnoKing]

All things considered I do not think that is a bad price. What about your old bed, did you get a credit for that, or do you have to sell it to recover some of the cost? SNOKING

 

[Cummins12V98]

I will bet the additional joints in the driveline make it clunk less.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I will bet the additional joints in the driveline make it clunk less.

I am curious why not just install the factory prep parts instead of the B&W TurnOverBall?

 

[Mingoglia]

I will bet the additional joints in the driveline make it clunk less.

I am curious why not just install the factory prep parts instead of the B&W TurnOverBall?

Great question. The stretch happens just aft of the cross member the factory prep parts bolt to. The centerline of the axle obviously moves back 20" putting the factory cross member 20" too far forward. This factory cross member is really really integrated into the current frame, literally being welded all around. Since this obviously isn't available as a factory weld-in part, you'd have to hack the heck out of it to move it so the factor bits could bolt into it. My salesman said he did do it for one customer, but it was a pain. As a weldor myself, I sure as heck wouldn't want to subject my frame and crossmember to all this heat moving it. It just easier to install the traditional B&W as not only can that mount to just a standard frame rail, but they actually weld it in, instead of bolting it, so it effectively becomes the equivalent of the factories welded in crossmember, increasing the frame strength by tying in the splice.

The trade-in of the bed is figured into the economics of the price. They have a bunch of them sitting there and will ultimately sell them as scrap unless someone happens to need one for the collision side of the business. I'd imagine the market for used short bed dually beds is limited. Non-dually beds I'm sure has some money to be made for them.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Thanks for the answer! My only thoughts are the Companion that fits the TurnOverBall is rated at 20K and the RVK3600 is rated at 25K that fits the factory pucks for a 5th wheel. Really not that big of a deal since 20K is a pretty big RV and B&W WAY underrates their hitches. I was pulling 20K with my 18K companion for a long time with no ill effects.

 

[Mingoglia]

Thanks for the answer! My only thoughts are the Companion that fits the TurnOverBall is rated at 20K and the RVK3600 is rated at 25K that fits the factory pucks for a 5th wheel. Really not that big of a deal since 20K is a pretty big RV and B&W WAY underrates their hitches. I was pulling 20K with my 18K companion for a long time with no ill effects.

Valid point. The RVK3500 is pretty much the industry standard, and as you said used to be rated for 18k and I don't exactly hear of failures. Since structurally I wouldn't have wanted to "move" the factory crossmember, which is required for the RVK3600 it was just a no-brainer. Besides, I no longer have a fifth wheel and really only did it for both resale value, flexibility in the future, extra strength, and free installation of the hardware due to the bed being off. I'm moving to a big 3 slide slide-in with a car hauler behind and technically don't have any gooseneck/fiver towing in my immediate future... so it really doesn't matter to me if it's 18, 20, or 25 anyway.

I noticed in your sig you have a RVK3500. Did you just find the right deal on a truck without the factory gooseneck prep, or is there a reason you went this route?

Mike

 

[Cummins12V98]

I screwed up! thanks for pointing that out. It's a RVK3600.

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[zb39]

What is the GVW on this truck and did it change?

 

[NDanecker]

What is the GVW on this truck and did it change?

I don't think the GVW changed as only the MFG can make those changes, and that won't happen.

I am interested in how much more fat the truck gained by the conversion? Did you weigh it before and after?

 

[AH64ID]

I don't think the GVW changed as only the MFG can make those changes, and that won't happen.

I am interested in how much more fat the truck gained by the conversion? Did you weigh it before and after?

There is no requirement for the manufacturer to change the GVWR. If you wanted to change yours you could. Every HD truck out there would be leagl to add their FAWR + RAWR and get a new GVWR and label it as such.

Title 49 CFR 567.7

I have a modified GVWR tag on my vehicle. I even increased the RAWR from 6,200 to as high as 9,000 depending on what wheels/tires are on the vehicle.

The GVWR on the 13+ DRW's is 14K to keep it a Class III vehicle but could go to 15,750 without a single modification other than a new label.

 

[NDanecker]

There is no requirement for the manufacturer to change the GVWR. If you wanted to change yours you could. Every HD truck out there would be leagl to add their FAWR + RAWR and get a new GVWR and label it as such.

Title 49 CFR 567.7

I have a modified GVWR tag on my vehicle. I even increased the RAWR from 6,200 to as high as 9,000 depending on what wheels/tires are on the vehicle.

The GVWR on the 13+ DRW's is 14K to keep it a Class III vehicle but could go to 15,750 without a single modification other than a new label.

Good info!

I did a SRW to DRW conversion on my 04 and I couldn't find anyone willing to increase the GVW of the vehicle. After countless phone calls to various shops I finally got hold of a state vehicle inspector of NJ (DMV) for altered vehicles who said the only person that can legally change the GVW of a vehicle is the original manufacturer, and that was where my quest ended. I have since sold the vehicle so its a non-issue, and have learned a valuable lesson.

 

[Mingoglia]

I've heard some states will register the vehicle at higher GVWR, but not sure if there's some liability going against the Manufacturers wishes if there were a fatality as a result of an accident and a slick lawyer were to point the negligence finger. As was said, the components can go higher.

I remember reading on the Ram Commercial site a "weight per foot" measurement. I don't remember what it was, but the number 148lbs/foot rings a bell. Regardless of what the actual number is, that sounds about right. In this case you have 40" (20" per side) of probably 1/8" square tubing. Knowing I have a 20' stick of this exact tubing in the garage and I carried it and put it in there I can say that's not much weight. You then have 20" more of sheet metal and associated ribbing/support for the longer bed. All in all I estimate a "few hundred pounds" at the high end is likely what was added. On a truck with a 14k GVWR, it's not much. The difference between bringing your fat friend along for a ride or leaving him at home.

 

[zb39]

I didn't realize the mega cabs had a 14k GVW. The last I looked I thought it was 10.2k. I thought I read that the OP was going to add a large TC to his list of toys. Maybe a Host everest or mammoth. Not sure. But I would like to do the same thing. GVW's get pushed a little with that kind of weight. I don't think it's a problem, I was just curious how the numbers played out.
The truck is AWESOME! I wish the factory would do this.

 

[NDanecker]

I didn't realize the mega cabs had a 14k GVW. The last I looked I thought it was 10.2k.

I also thought they had a much lower GVW (which I never understood). I know the older ones did at least. Maybe they finally increased it to match the 8 ft DRW trucks.

To OP - Nice truck! I always dreamed about owning a 8 ft bed Mega. It just wasn't in the cards when I purchased the '14. Maybe RAM will offer one in the future when it comes time to upgrade.

 

[Mingoglia]

I also thought they had a much lower GVW (which I never understood). I know the older ones did at least. Maybe they finally increased it to match the 8 ft DRW trucks.

To OP - Nice truck! I always dreamed about owning a 8 ft bed Mega. It just wasn't in the cards when I purchased the '14. Maybe RAM will offer one in the future when it comes time to upgrade.

Thank you. It was always my dream they'd release one, which is why I hung onto my 2nd gen so long. I was specifically dreaming about their Long Hauler concept and "heard" they approved it's production, though that was before the Fiat acquisition I believe. I believe they increased the GVWR around '14 model year when they drastically bumped the beefiness of these trucks, in preparation of the higher output engines/transmissions. I could be wrong though on the exact time frame. I didn't really follow the 4th gen trucks until a week or two before I decided I wasn't going to wait any longer for Ram to create a LB MegaCab and i'd build one myself.... which lead me to having someone else build it when I couldn't source a bed myself for a reasonable cost and I became scared at getting the paint done without breaking the bank which satisfied my OCD expectations. I'm a certified weldor so the actually stretch was the easy part for me...it was all the other stuff that made me nervous.

 

[AH64ID]

2013 is when the DRW's received the increased GVWR to match the crew cabs.