It’s been a busy month for the MoparInsiders.com staff. We recently have spent a lot of time on the road with our long-term 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport Crew Cab 4×4 attending two big events for MoparInsiders and our sister site 5thGenRams.com. The first trip consisted of us piling into our Laramie Sport and heading from the Metro Detroit area to Indianapolis, Indiana to watch the Stevens-Miller Racing team and their #40 Prefix Companies Dodge Challenger TA2 Trans Am team win at the historic Indy Motor Speedway. The second trip, had us on a 1,400+ round trip adventure to Duluth, Minnesota, to get some seat time thanks to Ram Trucks with the 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel lineup.
But before we left, there were a few things we wanted to do to our 2019 Ram 1500. The first one was to find a good tonneau cover. While we love the look of a hard tonneau cover, we wanted a soft cover for easier access, because we are actually using the Laramie Sport as a truck to haul things occasionally. 5thGenRams.com forum member DOOWORK707, posted a video of a particular tonneau cover which he installed on his 2019 Ram 1500 Big Horn Sport from TruXedo, that caught our eye.
The TruXedo Pro X-15 tonneau cover is made with a matte black superior-grade woven fabric and features a low-profile design that fits over the bed opening and does not go over the side of the bed. What really got our attention was the fact that the Pro X-15 could be easily removed without any tools within seconds, to give 100% full access to the Ram’s bed. Lastly, the installation was easy and required no drilling. So we reached out to our good friends at FactoryTonneauOutlet.com, who set us up on amazing deal with one.
The second thing we wanted was a bed mat for the rear of the truck, sure our Ram has the factory spray-in bedliner, but we sometimes use the bed to sit in our place camera gear in and we did not want it to be scratched as well as a soft surface to sit and relax and the different events we attend. There was only one issue, the BedRug bed mat we wanted to use would cover up our in-bed LED lighting system. So when we had our friends at FactoryTonneauOutlet.com on the phone, they said they had just thing in stock. A BedRug XLT Bed Mat application which would leave the side of the box exposed, but had high-quality carpeting for the floor and tailgate of the bed. They even have a specific application for Ram’s that are equipped with spray-in bedliners.
The BedRug XLT Bed Mat features a 3/4-inch padded layer of foam underneath the polypropylene top layer construction. This gives the XLT Bed Mat a dent and impact-resistant surface while offering a cushion for your knees while crawling across the bed of the truck. The XLT Bed Mat only took a few minutes to add to our 2019 Ram 1500’s 5-foot, 7-inch bed. But honestly, the hard part of the installation was making sure the XLT Bed Mat could be flattened out since it is shipped rolled up tight in a cardboard box. Opening the XLT Bed Mat up and stretching it out and then placing some heavy items on it and letting it sit for a half-hour really helped with the installation process.
When we originally were looking for a 2019 Ram 1500 to purchase as our long-term tester, we really wanted the Mopar power-running boards as an option. Unfortunately, when we found our truck that we ended up purchasing it did not come equipped. So we ended up reaching out to our local Ram dealer, that we purchased our truck from (St. Clair Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram) to order a pair and have them installed. While the power running boards cost $995 USD from the factory, as an additional add on from the Mopar parts catalog will set you back $1,500 USD and that does not include the install fees. So if you are planning on getting the power running boards, order them with the truck, lesson learned.
While the truck was in the shop getting the running boards installed, we had St. Clair Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram also install the Electronic Trailer Brake Controller to the truck, as we plan on towing later with our long-term Laramie Sport in the future. That set us back $299 USD from the Mopar parts bin.
The last thing we wanted to install on our 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport before our trip to Minnesota was a set of front and rear side window visors from US-Visors. The US-Visors front and rear side window visors do not use adhesive and slide into the window tracks, giving the visors a clean look. We went with the smoked color, while there is a matte black option as well. Overall, we were very happy with the look and quality of the product. Now, we can crack the window when its raining and not having to worry about the rain pouring in.
So what else do we have in store for our long-term project truck? We are going to be installing the new 2019+ Ram 1500 under seat lockbox from our friends at Tuffy Products, this next week. It’s going to give us a little more comfort knowing we have lockable storage under the rear seat when all hauling our expensive camera gear around to different events and when some secure to storage from our guns and ammo for when we go to the range to shoot. So stay tuned as we will be bringing you a review on this product for sure since we get a lot of questions regarding lockable storage for the Ram 1500.
We are also looking into exhaust systems and cold-air intake systems. While the Mopar cat-back exhaust has caught our eye, at a hefty $1,700 USD, we are looking at other exhaust from Carven, Flowmaster, and Borla. We are more likely going to go with the Mopar Ram Air-Flow cold-air intake since we have had a lot of feedback on that system and people are curious if it is worth the $925 USD, Mopar is selling it for. So let us know what your favorite sounding exhaust is in the comments below, we would love the feedback from our followers.
