Ram truck SLT to SRT in 329 easy steps!

[Kern Dog]

Okay, I am fully aware that this thread is OFF TOPIC for this B body forum but I did ask for permission before proceeding.

Many of us on the forum are also Dodge truck owners so I hope that this thread may interest a few of you.


I'm mostly into the classics. I do have a 1975 Power Wagon and a 2007 Ram 1500 but my classics take up most of my "car time". Some of you know that I have a couple of 1970 Chargers, a couple Darts and Dusters too. I love the classic Mopar styling.
In 2002, I got tired of patching and "band-aiding" my '84 Chevy. I was in the process of trying to "restore" my red '70 Charger and I was spending too much time on repairs and maintenance of the Chevy just to keep it running for my job.
In April 2002, I bought my FIRST new vehicle ever....

2002 Ram 1500 in the then new 3rd gen body style. 4.7, automatic with A/C and not much else. Rubber floors, crank windows and a single CD player. Within a few thousand miles, I lowered it.....

I ran that truck for just over 4 years and sold it with 163,000 miles on it. I had an itch for a 4wd so I bought this:

Great truck....the 5.7, SPORT equipment, power everything and comfortable. I was hit in the LF corner at 33,000 miles and knocked into a barrier...

It was totaled, so I was looking again. By 2007, the regular cab trucks were becoming scarce but they are what I like. I almost flew to Arizona to get one until I found this at a dealership 22 miles from home:

It had 3000 miles on it and was being used as an in house driver for the General Manager of the dealership. It was just as loaded as the blue truck but 2wd. They put those 22" wheels and super low profile tires on it along with a carpeted bed, silly exhaust tip and some weird chrome grille cover.
I have LOVED this truck from the start. I've owned it since the day before Thanksgiving 2007.
In 2013, I swapped on these SRT 10 replica wheels...

 

[Kern Dog]

Backing up a moment....
Before buying this 2007 truck, I did see a 2006 SRT 10 at a dealership not far from me. I was driving 140 miles a day for work so the 9-10 mpg rating of the V10 truck just seemed way out of place for a commute/work truck. Oddly, that 2006 was the same color as mine.
Here I am 16 years later looking to make my 2007 appear a lot like that SRT 10.
Here is the plan:
I'm almost closing in on 397,000 miles on the 5.7 engine. I have a replacement in the shop out back but this engine still keeps on running....The head gaskets leak a bit resulting in some steam from the exhaust upon restart. The MIL/Check Engine light often stays on but the oil pressure is great, it does not smoke but does use some oil. It idles like new, the mileage hasn't dropped off much, it makes adequate power and does not overheat, though it does use a bit of water. I am in the midst of fixing the house so the wife and I can move out of this poorly governed state of California so it isn't like I'm really able to stop for weeks to swap the entire engine.
I am tempted to swap on the heads from the replacement engine...they have been gone through, resurfaced, the intake seats have been staked in place and new oil seals installed. New head gaskets, fresh heads and bolts, I had the spare fuel injectors cleaned so the truck should run clean afterwards for about 1 1/2 to 2 days work. This should give me the confidence to trust the truck to make the multiple trips I will have to make during the big move...cars, parts and all of my car related stuff!
In the meantime.....
I have always liked the look of the SRT 10 trucks.

They were THE first production pickup to top 150 mph in stock form. The 2004 SRT 10 with the Viper sourced V 10 and 6 speed manual trans was the lightest and fastest production truck up to then.

 

[Kern Dog]

Now, Mine is an SLT.
These were sort of fancy with a little bit of chrome for garnish. Originally, my front bumper looked like this:

Chrome grille shell with the body colored panel attached to the top side of the bumper, chrome bumper exposed below with a black plastic air dam below that.

I liked the look of the SPORT models with the fully covered bumper like my 2006 truck....

To mimic the look, I just found a municipal truck black front bumper and painted it body color.

Most Dodge guys and certainly Ford and Chevy guys wouldn't think that it wasn't stock. I liked the look but the painted steel does have drawbacks...

The hard steel is very UNforgiving to rock chips. The SPORT bumper cover is a plastic/urethane type unit that is softer and flexible. They don't show the damage the same way that painted steel does because the tiny rocks and other road debris are met against a softer surface.
My days of LONG work commutes are over but I do intend to still drive this truck as my daily. I figure that to spice things up a bit, I want to make it look like an SRT 10 model.

 

[Kern Dog]

Top picture is my truck:

The body and paint are still pretty decent for almost 400,000 miles! I have not waxed or buffed it in years but that is coming....
Below is an SRT 10 in the same "Inferno Red" color.

There are several differences between these models. The SRT 10 has a different front bumper cover with a deep air dam. The bed has a small spoiler on it. The wheels are different and the chassis sits lower than the regular trucks. Finally, for aero, they added body cladding to the sides to make it more favorable at high speeds.
A few weeks back, I found a wrecking yard that had TWO of these trucks in the yard. There were about 10,000 of these trucks built over three model years so they are not very common compared to the 1500 series.
For $1500, I bought the 10 pieces of body cladding that attach to the sides. They consist of the one behind the front wheel opening on the fender, the one on the door, behind the door, on the bed forward of the wheel opening and behind the wheel opening.
The rearmost panels wrap around the bumper like so:

The SRT 10 rear bumper was another $1500 but I didn't like the design. It has a single oval shaped cutout for the twin exhaust pipe those models used. I have dual pipes on mine....

The cladding pieces I got are nearly perfect except ONE. The left side was ripped and needing repair. I test fitted it to the truck to make an assessment of what to do.

I have never tried repairing any bumper covers before but armed with some YouTube videos and some confidence from my bodywork supply salesman, I took a chance on it.

I first pulled the panel all to the correct shape, then put strips of duct tape on the face side to hold it into place. the back side was cleaned with lacquer thinner.
I first thought of using the 2 part epoxy with metal type screens attached to the back side to hold it all from spreading but then had the idea to make a metal cage to perform 2 functions; ONE to serve as an anchor to hold it all together and TWO to provide support for the panel should some idiot try to step on it to get into the truck.

I drilled a series of holes in it to allow the epoxy/adhesive to better imbed itself into the cage.
The epoxy is supposed to have a 45 second work time....Yeah, 45 seconds from when you squirt it onto the panel to when the stuff hardens. Holeeeee crap that was frustrating! It was maybe 15 seconds or so before I thought I was screwed. I used the double cartridge applicator gun and pressed out the epoxy, then grabbed the metal cage to set it into place. I almost didn't make it. I wanted to smooth out the globs but it all hardened up too damn fast.
Not exactly the work of Pablo Picasso.....

The stuff set up quick and within 15 minutes, was as solid as anything I've ever seen.

I pulled the duct tape off the face side, wiped it down, sanded it to make a good surface, wiped it down again then applied more of the epoxy....

 

[Kern Dog]

The outside....

Just to be safe, I waited a day to sand on it.

It needed more work but was as solid as can be. I wasn't confident to use regular body filler under the thought that any flex in the panel would crack the filler.
My auto body supplier thought that with as stiff as this is now with that metal cage glued to the back side, this dude wasn't going to flex so I went ahead and applied some RAGE Gold filler in three steps.

It is looking like it is going to work out.
Regarding the front bumper.....

 

[Kern Dog]

The SRT 10 bumper cover is not reproduced by a reputable supplier. There are aftermarket copies that don't fit or look as clean and I don't want to go that route. Since I have always liked the SPORT style like below....

I ordered a NEW one from the Dodge dealer, due in next week. I'll prime and paint it to match the Inferno Red color.

I like the body color grille, my truck has this chrome one:

....so I bought an unpainted one from the wrecking yard....

It has unchromed and unpainted black slats in it....I am unsure if I'll use these in black or reuse the semi chrome ones from my chrome grille.

 

[Kern Dog]

When I first started looking at these SRT 10 cladding pieces, I thought that they just fit right at the bodyline right here:

I was wrong. They sit above that bodyline a few inches....They actually sit just below the taillight lenses.

Note how tight the rearmost cladding lays over the edge of the bumper.

A test fit on my truck showed a small problem:

There is about 5/8" to 3/4" gap there. This is with the panel sitting where it should sit. This tells me that the SRT 10 bumper was a bit deeper in design. My fix?

The bumper can be spaced off of the frame to close the gap. I may need longer bolts but it should work.

The cladding for these 2 door trucks consists of 5 pieces per side.

The one on the fender behind the wheel opening, door, behind the door, on the bed before the wheel opening and then behind it.
I do need to fix a couple spots on the right side of the bed.

Look close, you can see a ding/dent above the wheel opening and the weird scratch forward of the taillight.

Soon I'll have the front bumper cover. I'll need to prime, paint and clearcoat the cladding, front bumper cover, rear bumper, grille shell, hood scoop and RH bed side. I may need more paint than I originally thought...
More as progress continues...

 

[ckessel]

Greg, do you have any dealer parts contacts? Here is why. In 99/00 I was working parts at the Dodge dealer in Poway. My honey had just gotten a 99 Durango that she wanted me to lower. Nice, huh? Hers did not come with the painted fender flares. Dodge was having many issues with the flares coming undone because of the two sided tape. They would not pay to clean and retape the flares. Had to replace them. Since this was being done under warranty, Mopar did not want the old ones back once the warranty claim had been paid. The dealer then threw them away. Getting the picture here? Over a couple of months I scored all 4 of the Deep Amethyst [ new version of plum crazy] flares. I re-taped them, got new clips/rivets and put them on. All I needed to buy were the rear door pieces that mated up to the rear quarter wheel opening at the front.
Since your truck is too old, this won't help you on getting freebies but you never know.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have no contacts that would do me any favors.
These SRT 10 pieces are no longer made by Ma Mopar. I haven't been able to find any aftermarket company reproducing them although I didn't try too hard. I want OEM quality. Some aftermarket stuff is close enough but some is not.
The cladding is held on with some push-pegs and bolts in some areas, double sided tape at the top flanges and a few screws.

 

[ckessel]

Something else I just thought of. The parts departments accrue what's called a "return allowance" from the orders being placed. The most allowance comes from the weekly stock orders. After they have a given amount in their account, the manager will run a report that shows unproductive items that can be returned. Depending on how many times the item turns or gets sold will determine if it stays or gets the boot. Like an unproductive employee. Make the company money or its bye bye time. Most of the parts being returned go back to various PDC's, parts distribution centers. There is one version of the return thats called the "scrap" return. You pull the item off the shelf, toss it in the dumpster and get credit back for it. Many trim items ended up that way.
Needless to say, I spent time in the dumpster along with other items that cleared warranty but they didn't want back. I scored several transmissions, 42rh/46rh/47rh/nv4500's/t56/g56 plus some engines.

 

[Kern Dog]

I was out at a private dump once and stumbled across a pile of GM parts boxes with all sorts of usable stuff....GovLock differentials for 8.5" axles, bearings, emblems, brackets....I did drive a Chevy truck at the time but the parts were too new for my truck. I could have bought the stuff for pennies but didn't bother doing so. No craigslist then, no internet.

 

[Bighouse]

I got drive a standard cab 6 speed SRT10. It was black. What an awesome truck.

Kern- where you moving to?

 

[Kern Dog]

We are looking at northern Arizona.
Kingman has similar weather to where we are now but is a little cooler in the winter. They are 1 1/2 hours from Las Vegas and about an hour and a half closer to Van Nuys CA where I go to their car shows in the spring and fall.

 

[Ron_M]

Following this thread. Nice build.

 

[Kern Dog]

Before any of you gear jammers ask….
NO , I have NO interest in slipping in a V10. The wrecking yard guys said they would gladly cut me a deal!
I am not as concerned about mileage now as I was when I was driving 150-250 miles a day for work. I just never liked the sound of that engine.
I’d be more tempted to take another 5.7 and add a long stroke crank and the better Eagle heads. A slightly hotter cam, headers and I’d be at 500 HP like the SRT 10 truck numbers without having to change nearly as much stuff.

 

[streetwedg]

I bought a SRT-10 new in March 04, it has over 200K miles now. I average about 17 mpg on the highway and 13 in town. The value dropped so much you could find them for under $20,000. They’re starting to climb in value again now.

 

[Kern Dog]

Your mileage numbers are better than the EPA rating on the window sticker!
That is a good looking rig.

 

[pnora]

There is one version of the return thats called the "scrap" return. You pull the item off the shelf, toss it in the dumpster and get credit back for it.

Being a past Mopar and Ford dealership owner there was never any return like that.

 

[Kern Dog]

I was told by the guys at the dump where I saw all those GM parts that they HAD to scrap those things for tax purposes.
The guys may have been lying dipshits but I can't prove it. One had a mullet so it is quite possible.

 

[pnora]

I was told by the guys at the dump where I saw all those GM parts that they HAD to scrap those things for tax purposes.
The guys may have been lying dipshits but I can't prove it. One had a mullet so it is quite possible.

Tax story sounds far fetched. Hard to say why they were in a dump. I know some items when considered defective we would have to damage them to make them unusable. Ford had a big Firestone tire recall. We had to drill a 1/2 inch hole in the sidewall. They never wanted to ever see those tires back on the road.