Thoughts on this truck setup on a lifted dually

Kali

Member
Thoughts on this setup? That is a Host camper, Mammoth I believe, weighing at about 4500 lbs dry.
I am in the market for a triple slide for my Ram 3500 DRW 4x4 and I want something with a wider aggressive tire/ stance than the stock tires. What is a happy medium to have something like this with big M/T tires on it. 35's with a leveling kit?
These campers already have a high center of gravity due to the basement, this seems to be way over the top.
 

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deminimis

Explorer
Just my opinions:

I hate it. Those wheels and tires with such narrow sidewalls.... Yitch.

Leveling kit, absolutely. M/Ts? No. They tend to wear like chalk. Best tires I've ever had are Duratracs. Got me through everything and wore much better than pure M/Ts.

Here's our former with just factory 16" steelies and Duratracs. This setup was about as bombproof as it got (I still can't believe how stupid I was to sell this combo -You can't tell, but Bilsteins all four corners, bagged, up graded UCAs and front end components for strength, not show...custom fuel tank, plus a few tricks under the hood). Handled road and off-road (Baja) brilliantly.

37407853386_ac605ea262_b.jpg
 

Kali

Member
Deminimis, I was just admiring your build thread on your 5500, I was considering going that route as well. You would choose the old setup over the current?
Were you running spacers on your old rig?
 

deminimis

Explorer
Thanks. Yes, the old setup really worked better for me in a lot of ways. It did come up short in some areas (space and gear storage). With a kid leaving the nest in the next year, we could go back to a Bigfoot and have decent room (got too small with four of us -current setup handled two weeks of Baja (five of us, including three teenagers)). A Dmax with an alumn flatbed might be the answer for us eventually, but who knows. I hate 19.5 wheels and not being able to air down when in Baja (which, sadly, is becoming less and less of a problem as they are paving everything it seems)

Yes, ran Fred's spacers out back as even the stock sized tires touched with the camper on (and I eventually went a bit bigger). Can't recall the size for sure, but I want to say 2" (the size that did not require cutting the factory studs). Setup was really stable.

Good luck with your search!
 

MTCK

Observer
Doesn't look like a lot of fun to drive to me. Having 5000 lbs in the back of the truck with a centroid 7' off the ground... My setup was built with the thought of driving highway speeds on not great roads and it works. Stack the deck with good rubber, shocks springs sway bars etc and drive slow I'm sure you will get there. Looks like a lot of white knuckle corners though. oh and it looks cool too.
 

BigJimCruising

Adventurer
My thoughts? Bling Beast. As for a triple slide on a 3500, not enough truck. I had an Okanagan dual slide that was as big as you could get at the time. Too big for a 1 ton truck so I went with a 450 for the extra margin of safety. And I'm very glad I did, that much camper on a 1 ton would have been unsafe IMHO.

First thing you should do is measure the height of that beast, you will probably find that there are places it just won't fit. The arches near Brice Canyons in Utah come to mind. Maybe the tunnels at Zion also, can't recall the clearance off hand. Just know that every few inches you add to rig with a hard side camper puts more of it at risk. Depending on your states laws you might even be pushing max height. You're also going to have to watch for older non standard height bridges or loose a few inches of camper!

I guess if your looking to make a statement about your bank account you're on the right track, if your really looking to do some real back country camping I think you've missed the mark.

Also be keep a very close watch on the space between the rear wheels, if one tire looses air it might ruin the other tire and dual rear tire blowouts is about as much pucker factor as it gets. Trust me on that!

Just keep on the streets and enjoy all the attention!
 

zb39

Adventurer
I can't speak for the truck but the camper is awesome. We love ours. It's nice to have some space, 71 gal of fresh water. We both take hot showers everyday and we can last a week easy. Big fridge and freezer, a real bathroom. My wife won't use a pitt toilet and I don't blame her. Ac or heat if needed. No hook ups required. I would say put it on a new stock 3500 and be done. A whole lot of people already are doing just that,
and they are having fun seeing this great nation of ours.
 

::Squish::

Observer
Me... I loath lifted dualies with bling wheels and short sidewall tires. But it's not my truck. I do know that not all lifts are created equal and if it is is the look, or function you are going for, pay close attention to the quality of the aftermarket suspension parts you are using for the lift.
Handling with that much weight that high is going to be an issue.

Also getting jacks to raise the camper high enough and have a wide enough stance to clear the rear wheelies. The camper will be wobbly when it's skyscraping. Or some cribbing will be needed under the jacks.
 
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