Hello,

Names Cy and I live in Michigan. I just bought a new to me 99 ram 1500 Quad cab 4by with 90k on the clock. and I love it. going to miss my little old blazer, but it just wasn't cutting it for work purposes anymore. so now here I am. My truck seems to be fairly stock. it has a K&N air filter on it and a fairly nice topper. the paint is called something like driftwood... it's pretty interesting, and I am sure it is going to be more expensive to fix the little nicks and scratches that occour during my work activites, but screw it, I didn't really buy this thing to be a beauty queen.

well I got a couple questions to start off with, and I promise I wont ask the dreaded MPG one

#1 I need a set of step bars so my Fiancee can get into the truck easier. last set I had were crud. within six months they had started to rust. and I dont want to spend a lot of money just to do it again every year or so. I drive a lot of trails for work, so I need something that can take a minor bump or two and not be totaled... but I don't need a complete rock slider either. any suggestions or reviews of ones you have used would be greatly appreciated.... oh and I am looking for bars, not steps.. steps tend to disappear in my line of work.

#2 Mud flaps or Fender flairs... or both. any advantage to going to the fender flairs? I had them on my old ZR2 and they didn't really seem to stop any stones. ok ok so maybe I do care about the look of the exterior a little more than I like to admit LOL

#3 Good floor mats. even if the truck is mud covered, I don't like my floors to be. I had a set of thick rubber mats in the blazer, but after a year they were pretty worn out. again I don't mind spending good money on a good set, but I dont want to be buying a new set every 12 months or so. these werent husky mats, but I was assured tehy would hold up better.... oh well

I am kinda one of those guys who upgrades things as they break... so right now I may be pretty plain jane, but that doesn't mean I am going to stay that way

nice meeting all of you. and thanks in advance for the advice
-=Cy

 

welcome to df.

for step bars, i've got Nasta polished stainless from here.
2 years later and they still shine like brand new. there's 2 sizes: reg. cab and extended/quad.
http://www.svcustoms.com/nerfbars.shtml

i also need mud flaps...

for floor mats i've got the Rubbermaid extra thick ones from walmart for about 20-30. i like them, they don't slide around and 'bunch up' under the pedals

 

instead of mud flaps and if u have some time you could repaint/ cover the rocker panels with the herculiner. a couple guys on here have done it and it protects very well and i believe a can of the stuff is $100 or so. if you have the time that would be a permanent fix as long as you prepare it correctly.

 

I bought a nice set a mud flaps from my local stealership that say dodge at the bottom (in chrome).

 

thanks for the answers guys

does the herculiner come in clear? I wouldn't mind doing that as long as it will match the paint or be clear enough that it's not affecting the looks as much as straight black.


I'll have to take a look for the rubbermaids next time i'm by a smallmart... are they the type you have to cut to fit or are they pretty much a drop in?

 

Welcome to the Forum. You are going to love it. Tell your fiancee' to keep her hands to herself when you are driving, and to sit on her side of the truck. Oh wait... the marriage license will take care of that!

 

If you are looking at fender flares, they have to come out a ways to really do anything. I have a pair of tubular steps on mine from westin, and I can't seem to tear them off, if you wanted to reconsider the step bars part. I have some typical run of the mill floor mats from the local Murrays and they have held up amazingly.

 

Forget the fender flares. They look good on trucks with big tires and nice lifts but for the cost of a good set, they hardly are worth it considering how they hardly catch anything flying towards the bottom of your fenders and doors.
In my opinion, Herculiner would be the better choice. It only comes in black but if applied with lots of patience and attention to detail it should come out real smooth and will do better then most anything for the same cost.
Here is a sample of what it would look like on a Ram... This is a Microsoft Paint mockup of what it would look like but that's pretty much the same idea as how it would turn out.

 

yeah after pricing out the flares, I think i'll stick with flaps for now. sides the flares I really like (pockets) aren't made for this line of trucks

1big - LOL yeah course teh dog works well too, she likes to be int eh front and right between us. the fiancee keeps threatening to steal the truck on days I am not working... for sure I am hiding the keys

wide open - as long as the are more the nerf bar style over what I call "horse steps". for some reason the "horse steps" just break off in my line of work, even the good ones.

slomojo - the pic's not working. but I think I catch on to where your thinking. I'm not really keen on painting hte bottom of the truck at this point in time, but never know feelings may change.

 

Im going to have to recomend the hurculiner also.. Im really picky about looks.. but i've seena couple of guys on here who have done it.. and i gotta say.. it looks nice, with the protection.

I just have some toss down mats... but i am willing to buy new ones every 6 months.

I also recomend you look into a tranny temp gauge and a tranny cooler. Problem with the 2nd gen rams is the circulation of fluids threw the transmission.. which obviously causes them to burn up. That Tranny Cooler and you keeping an eye on the tranny gauge could save you afew grand for a couple hundred.

P.S. WELCOME!