Bolt-On Exterior Goodies
Once the truck was sitting where I liked it, it came time to address the lighting problem. For that I gave a call to Defiant Truck Products (part# DTP-102-1501) to get a stable mounting platform for my lights. At the time they didn't have a light bar compatible with my truck so after talking with them, I had them custom fab me up a light bar that would hold four 9-inch lights. Now that they've done mine, I'm sure they'll have them available for other guys, too.
To solve the lighting problem I went to Lightforce and ordered up two pair of its 240 Blitz (part# RMDL240T) light kits along with two of their wiring harnesses (part# LFDLH), which made wiring up everything a snap. The installation of the light bar was straightforward and we had it installed on the truck in about an hour. The lights took a little bit longer to wire up but once they were turned on, it made a huge difference.
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Highbeams by themselves |
 Light Force lights turned...  Light Force lights turned on |  To make access to both the...  To make access to both the cab and the bed a little easier I call up N-Fab and got a set of their full cab length steps (part# D0289QC-6) that incorporate a step at each door as well as a step at the front of the bed. The steps took a while to line up and measure been that you will have to drill holes in your pinch welds at the bottom of the cab. | |
Tires/Wheels
I went with a set of black Cragar Soft 8 steel wheels size 17x8 with a 4.5-inch backspacing and Pro Comp Xterrain 35x12.50R17s to shoe my truck. Once finished with the suspension, I drove my truck down to the local Sears on stock tires to have the Crager wheels and Xterrain tires mounted and balanced, as well as having an alignment on the front end done.
How'd It Turn Out?
Except for a few little problems that were resolved, the installation of everything was fairly easy. A big thanks go out to OFF-ROAD magazine, Brad Myers from CST Suspension, and the rest of the companies that helped with the parts. I would have to say the final verdict is the truck has become a well-rounded vehicle, which now not only looks good but performs just as well.