Congrats on a fine truck Flattman; the more you drive these Cummins powered trucks, the more they seem t grow on you. I recently had neck surgery and had to give up beer, smoking, and for 6 weeks I have to not drive; by far the hardest thing to do without is driving my truck..

 

Thanks for the laugh, Grandpa

 

Flatman,

I also bought the SLT Bighorn because I didn't want to pay for all of the other Laramie bells & whistles. But, I wanted leather seats. So I bought the Katzkin upgrade from the dealer. It was $900 for the front and rear seats and included the center console lid, etc. You get to choose your own colors and patterns. They will also embroider custom logos on the seats like the Dodge Ram head, the Cummins emblem or even your name. My custom covers came in within 1 week of ordering them and it took 2 days for the install into my truck. They look much better than the Laramie interior, your truck is different than everyone elses, and you save money.

Also, in Colorado, you want heated seats if you have leather. They also added seat heaters for me for $600, and the controls mount on the dash either side of the engine brake button. They look exactly like the factory version.

Dodge's recommendation is you run the engine brake anytime you drive the truck, unless slippery road conditions dictate otherwise. They claim this helps the VGT turbo from collecting soot and ensures no stickiness on the EB operation.

 

I guess the slippery road issue would prevent them from having the exhaust brake activated at all times. I didn't think of that because we never have slippery roads in Phoenix. I read in this forum that someone else said the tailgaters hate the brake and I have sure found that to be the truth. I just don't want someone not paying attention to um, RAM me. Hopefully the Inferno Red paint will help with that. Maybe I should stick my drop hitch on just for added measure.

Also, thank you for the leather upgrade info. I'm going to check into that solution.

 

You're welcome. It is the truth though - the only withdrawals I'm having is from not being able to drive my truck! Maybe I should start a new organization - Diesel Pickups Anonymous or something....

 

flattman even wet roads can cause you to slide with the exhaust brake, just be careful

 

Thanks for the heads up. Actually the roads do get slick here when it rains because all of the oils come up out of the pavement due to the lack of rain in general.

 

I'm sure one of the after market programmer companies like Smarty will eventually offer the ability to re-program the EB so the default on start up is "on" and pushing the button will turn it off until the next start-up. It's all software controlled and not a matter of changing wires on the switch itself.

I doubt Dodge will ever offer it that way stock though since it would be a huge liability issue for them.