drivers side view

 

nose end.

 

close up of drivers side front wheel. Bushwacker extend-a-flares, BFG 285/70-17 AT/KOs, American Racing Python chrome wheels. The Cummins logo has been re-located approximately 2" to make room for the bushwackers

 

front view showing coverage of the flares and mud flaps. The new wheels cause the BFGs to protrude about 1" beyond the body. The bushwackers cover nicely

 

close up of the rear drivers side wheelwell, showing the BFGs, chrome wheels, and bushwackers

 

There used to be this add for a liquor that had black and white Scotty Terriers. Perhaps we should run an add for Dodge with Red and Black trucks ;D
P.s. Nice truck.

 

Doug looks great! Love the rims. Not sure on the aesthetics of the bushwacker/mudflap combo, but I'm sure they keep your truck's sides clean and ding free! Congrats on finally getting it. Man those rims look sweet!!!

 

yea, love the rims a lot. the bushwaker flares and mudflaps, well you just like'm or not. For the black truck, the paint protection is excelent, and it really gives the truck a more agressive look. I'm pleased, anyway.

Funny, my oldest daughter took one look at the new truck and said "the other one was nicer"! But before I could figure out what she meant by that (the "other one" was a 02 dark garnet red 2500) she said "this one looks meaner"!.

I do like the mean look. And really, this is a truck that has to go offroading too, so the paint protection is cool. I actually debated whether or not to paint the flares, and decided not to . makes it look meaner when unpainted.

I actually like the looks of this truck a lot w/o the flares -- the tires stick out just enough and the curb appeal is excelent. Its just that those tires would tear up the paint in short order when offroad, so I went for the meaner/aggressive look. My red 02 suffered from that (torn up paint) problem -- it had just mud flaps and no flares, so I vowed to protect my black truck a bit better. Unfortunately, the flares eliminate the wide-tire-stance look, but they also eliminate the paint problem which that same stance causes. can't have your cake and eat it too. I can always paint the flares later too if I want. Someone on the TDR did that and they look nice. Only then the mudflaps wouldn't match and I would loose that whole "coordinated rubber/black molding" thing that ties in the door handles, body side moldings, wheel flares, mud flaps, etc.

 

Man, that is one SHINEY truck!! Nice looking rig!!

 

The flares dont look bad at all. They do make it look meaner/sportyer...

 

I decided to treat the paint job like a show car, at least to enjoy the black clearcoat while it is new. that is, until I get tired of waxing every 3-4 months...

So I ordered up some P21S wash, Blackfire clay treatment, P21S polish, P21S Carnauba wax, and some after-wax detail spray. keepin her all shiny!

 

Sweet! Love the rims.

MikeyB

 

Since you have gone over nearly every sq inch of an 04 paint job any gripes. Is it better than early 03's you have seen?

I was thinking grey but with the matching look and ease of installation of the bushwackers I'm thinking black now. Um thanks....

For mine I'm thinking 315 tires and 4.10 gears.

I have some help in the paint dept. If anything I'll have some higher quality clear coat applied over the OE stuff.

 

paint quality is not stellar but its not coming off either. I took the truck to a trusted body shop and had them give it the once over. Some minor bubbling on the front edge of the rear drivers side door. no one knows its there but me. And the front bumper piece is a bit milky in appearance, when under flourescent light. There were some minor scratches in the clearcoat which my body shop buffed for me. no big deal.

There still remains some minor hazing in some places where someone has buffed some scratches out -- factory QA perhaps. But thats normal in black clearcoat and will (supposedly) disappear with successive polish treatments. we'll see how energetic I am about polishing after a few times...

Both the afore mentioned paint probs (the bubbling and the milky appearance) are covered under warranty and my dealer documented them no questions asked. They will repaint when and if I want, any time during the 3/36 warranty period. I've decided to wait for a while. The P21S polish may correct the milky front bumper but if not, then I'll have it re-painted. I'll pay the difference and get a body shop to warrant their work and fix it right, rather than submit my truck to a captive body shop that gets only warranty dollars for their work.

unfortunately, I've not inspected any 03s so I can't comment from experience. But from what I've read, I'm pleased with this black truck. the bubbling is a sign of too much paint, not too little and it is so subtle I may not even risk re-painting that section. So far no sign of pealing or insuficient coverage.

Boy I'd beware of applying a 2nd clear coat. that will only be as good as the surface quality of the first clearcoat and might be trouble.

man, the chrome wheels against the black clearcoat are sweet. keep thinking black! The bushwackers are great too -- might be enough clearance for 315s or you could consider the wider "pocket" bushwackers (the ones with fake bolt holes).

My polish and wax products won't arrive until next week so I won't get to post any deep shine pictures. but that will be next week's fun.

 

The 2nd clear coat my paint guy says will be fine so long as a chemically compatable product is used and the surface is given a proper prep.

Any inperfections in the original clearcoat will be delt with with the proper abrasive. The entire clearcoat will have to be wet sanded of course and cleaned up properly afterwards.

He's one of those guys who could take a new black car and install a new fender, pull some dents and finish the thing so good the entire car would match exactly.