STREGA'S 2016 Ram 3500 cab/chassis adventure truck build

STREGA

Explorer
I'm very interested in this. Looking at doing a very similar thing and trying to find a 3500 chassis now. I'm looking at getting the Cummins though...

The Cummins is a beast of a engine, it just needs to be run hard often to avoid emission issues. When you fire it up it needs to get good and hot driving it 20 miles+. Short hops are bad for it, in my situation I was not able to do that enough and had problems so Went with a Hemi.
 

justafurnaceman

New member
The Cummins is a beast of a engine, it just needs to be run hard often to avoid emission issues. When you fire it up it needs to get good and hot driving it 20 miles+. Short hops are bad for it, in my situation I was not able to do that enough and had problems so Went with a Hemi.

I understand.
 

STREGA

Explorer
Probably a little more background on how I ended up getting the current truck might be in order. In August 2015 I purchased a 2015 Ram 3500 dually with the Cummins/Aisin transmission to tow our 15k lbs. 5th wheel trailer (our home) during my 3 months that I'am not working. Original plans were to Get a bigger trailer, toy hauler most likely that would be in the 18-20k lb range. The dually was rated at 29,500 lbs towing so well over my towing needs, it pulled the 5er like it wasn't even there.
After spending the winter months in southern Arizona last year we just decided that was not quite the way we wanted to spend our time off next year. So what to do? The 5er left us little options, with the hitch in the bed it left no room for a slide in camper. We could get a teardrop trailer that we could tow in tandem with the 5er and then hitch it too the dually when wanting to go further off road. That would be a hilarious sight though a truck capable of towing 15 tons pulling a trailer it can hardly even see in its mirrors.
The other option was to sell the 5er and get a bumper pull travel trailer and then a slide in camper for the more remote places we wanted to go to. The 800 lb gorilla in the room though for both plans was the fact that the truck was a dually not all that well suited for very serious off road ventures.
In May this year I went to the Overland Expo to look at trailers and campers and other possible options. Saw a couple of things that interested me, the one thing that got me excited was the cab/chassis truck AEV had at their booth. After talking with them about my truck and how I could make it into a truck like that it became obvious that it would be a lot of work and expense that I really wasn't willing to do. I left the Expo knowing I basically had the wrong truck, but since it was the one I had it was what I would use. All of a sudden I was not that excited about getting a camper or teardrop anymore.
Then in early August with about 9,000 miles on the truck, a check engine light comes on the dash. Not sure why since the truck was running great, fuel mileage was better than ever not even a bad gauge reading. Take it to the dealership to see what's up thinking they would hook it up to see what the code was, reset it and be on my way. The tech looked up the code and determined that the truck needed to be seen by the diesel tech guru. They said give us a couple hours and will get back to me. OK I will go get some lunch across the street and while waiting looked at some trucks to kill the time. This is when I spotted my future truck. Anyway service advisor calls me and says we are getting you a rental car we need to order parts to fix your truck. What parts does it need? The catalytic converter and the DEF injector. Really? It only has 9k on it what the .....We discussed how I drive the truck and determined that I was just not driving it hard enough and the emission end of the system was plugging up. They said it would be warranteed this time but if it happened again there was a good chance they would not warrantee it again. They also said that they have been seeing this problem more than a few times.
So now my problem is what am I going to do? I can't really change up my driving habits much I live in a national park, not a lot of roads to drive around on, certainly none that I can drive faster than 45mph on. I would have to go outside the park to be able to drive farther and faster, not what I really wanted to. I could also park the truck and not drive it as often, but then what was the point of having it if I can't drive it.
After thinking about it for a couple weeks I traded it in on the truck I should have gotten in the first place. I'am also excited about getting a camper again.
 

plainjaneFJC

Deplorable
My 2014 Ram diesel has thrown the same codes for def injector/cat. The check engine light went away, buy everything I've read said its on borrowed time. I'm negotiating with a dealer right now on ordering a new Ford, they don't want to negotiate much on the 2017's.
 

STREGA

Explorer
The Mods in the order I plan to do them in:

1. Trailer hitch
2. Steps for popup camper
3. Aluminum flatbed
4. Spare tire mount
5. Storage boxes
6. Slider/steps combo

I will be weighing the truck after the completion of each mod, I'am using the Cat scales at the Loves truck stop in Williams Az. The weight as It came off the lot was:

GVW = 6,220 lbs.
Steer axle = 3,960 lbs.
Drive axle = 2320 lbs.

The truck was weighed with full tank of fuel and no driver/passengers/dog.
 
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STREGA

Explorer
Hitch mod:

I did the hitch first because I needed to move a trailer and it was easier to install it before the flatbed was on. I chose a Curt class V hitch that's rated @ 20K more than enough capacity for my needs and more than the trucks rated tow capacity by about 2,500 lbs. Got the hitch from E-trailer for a great price, they shipped it in less time than promised and took about an hour to install. Not the most exciting mod that the truck will get but a important one.

New weight of truck:

GVW = 6280 lbs. gained 60 lbs.
Steer axle = 3960 lbs.
Drive axle = 2380 lbs.

Couple pics:

image.jpg

image.jpg
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Doug, looks good and I can tell your excited about the project. Hope everything goes well on this build.
 

js9234

Observer
The DEF Injector and Cat is a recall right now I believe. I just had mine replaced on my 2014. Has nothing to do with not driving enough. They made the sensor too restrictive and would tell you that you had bad DEF all the time when you really didn't. I think it throws a P200E code. It's a known problem. I haven't had a single problem since I had mine replaced.
 

justafurnaceman

New member
What flatbed are you going with? I've been looking around but not finding exactly what I want. I want to put a truck camper on the back too.
 

STREGA

Explorer
Sorry for the 2 week disappearance but had a medical issue that took over my priorities, I think I'am ready to get back to it now.
 

STREGA

Explorer
The DEF Injector and Cat is a recall right now I believe. I just had mine replaced on my 2014. Has nothing to do with not driving enough. They made the sensor too restrictive and would tell you that you had bad DEF all the time when you really didn't. I think it throws a P200E code. It's a known problem. I haven't had a single problem since I had mine replaced.

If it was a recall I have never received a notice from Ram, since I was the first owner of that truck I should get a notice even though I no longer own it. Always used high quality DEF, the only thing I could come up with was I just didn't get the engine/exhaust hot enough too many times. Like I mention earlier the truck was running great, fuel mileage was the highest I had seen (truck had 9K miles on it and figured it was starting to loosen up a bit) and just didn't think there was any issue really. That why I was taken back when the shop replaced the cat/injector, they never asked me what kind of def I was using either. Never really cared much for dealerships in general never feel they will tell you the truth. The bottom line is the truck is no longer mine and have to move on with the new truck.

Hope you have no more issues with yours.
 

STREGA

Explorer
Glad my truck was some inspiration!

How come you didn't get the 52 gallon rear tank?

dh

It was! Probably my biggest takeaway from the Expo this year. I talked to someone at your booth about it was that you? What are your plans for it?

Since the truck was already on the lot I didn't get to order a larger tank not even sure there is a larger tank option for the gasser's. The tank on my truck is a bit on the small size at 22 gal, would be nice to have at least 32 gal or so.
 

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