2007 Dodge Ram 2500 Expedition Rig Build
- Thread starter semperfidher
- Start date
WanderingBison
Active member
Another big design feature...the Kitchen. This is a 5', 300lb capacity slide out tray where the 50qt ARB Fridge and two-burner camp stove will go. Much of the bed was literally designed around this silly box...cold beer while camping is a MUST.
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On the return trip home! Nice and shiny. I wanted to powdercoat the bed, but the money we would've spent to do so much surface area was just better spent elsewhere. For example, before the trip I installed an Air Dog II fuel perforator, a boost/EGT/oil pressure gauge pod, an S&B Cold air intake, and a Smarty programmer. Also spent the money saved from going bare (on the bed, that is) on a hi-lift, the tent accessories, and a Cascadia Vehicle Tents 99inch awning, which I haven't installed yet.
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Since, when configured in ExpoTruck mode, we designed the bed to hold our dogs and for us to sleep inside if we didn't feel like setting up the RTT, the next step was to conceal the bed. We found Ricky, at North County Upholstery, in Escondido, CA, who did an EXCELLENT job taking the HMMWV top-like material we'd purchased online and making it into an enclosed, modular shelter.
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Barely fit!
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The end result!
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Love, absolutely LOVE this build and I'm dying to see the pics in this post and the best but they don't work for me - gives me an attachment error of some kind. Could you please re-upload the pics?
Thanks for sharing this great build and enjoy the truck!
semperfidher
New member
Marine: How'd you know? Thanks!
4Berg: I appreciate the compliments! The truck is a byproduct of us just trying to figure out what works best for us. We're still in the process of doing just that. I'll be making some cuts on the cargo rack to make the RTT a bit more accessible, and I want to install a ladder system of sorts. More to follow. Sorry about the links....they're giving me fits. I'll re upload; please let me know if it's still acting up.
4Berg: I appreciate the compliments! The truck is a byproduct of us just trying to figure out what works best for us. We're still in the process of doing just that. I'll be making some cuts on the cargo rack to make the RTT a bit more accessible, and I want to install a ladder system of sorts. More to follow. Sorry about the links....they're giving me fits. I'll re upload; please let me know if it's still acting up.
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plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
Nice setup!
jscusmcvet
Explorer
Nice rig! Semper Fi brother
semperfidher
New member
Semper Fi, Brothers. It's always nice to see some Belleau Woodsmen reuniting.
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
Great truck! That's a heck of a service body. Very well thought out. If you don't mind, could you post the name of the acid wash? I've got an Airstream that needs some sort of cleaning/exorcism!
semperfidher
New member
Redthies: I'd be glad to help out another oxidization victim! The stuff Chad recommended is called "Cleaner and Brightener" by Trailmobile. I haven't really found it on any major online retailers, but to be fair, I haven't looked very hard yet either. Here's a link to what the stuff looks like: Page 326 in the catalog (pg 7 on the PDF).
http://www.newlifeparts.com/newlife/catalog/nl/nl_section_15.pdf
If you're cleaning an Airstream, something heavy duty like this might be the ticket!
Here's the bed's oxidation currently (after only two days of driving through calcium chloride)
I'll post "after" pics once I get some cleaner on it
http://www.newlifeparts.com/newlife/catalog/nl/nl_section_15.pdf
If you're cleaning an Airstream, something heavy duty like this might be the ticket!
Here's the bed's oxidation currently (after only two days of driving through calcium chloride)
I'll post "after" pics once I get some cleaner on it
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
Thanks for the link! One of my friends uses this stuff on his jet boat. He says I'd does an amazing job too. I'll probably try them both and see which gives the best results.
http://www.corrosionx.com/aluma-brite.html
Are the hinges and hardware steel on your box? If so, you'll be fighting dis-similar metal corrosion for life. Basically the two different metals will want to swap electrons back and forth and create a white-ish powder/paste between the two pieces. It's hard to avoid, but if the steel is coated well, it is kept to a minimum.
http://www.corrosionx.com/aluma-brite.html
Are the hinges and hardware steel on your box? If so, you'll be fighting dis-similar metal corrosion for life. Basically the two different metals will want to swap electrons back and forth and create a white-ish powder/paste between the two pieces. It's hard to avoid, but if the steel is coated well, it is kept to a minimum.
semperfidher
New member
Indeed they ARE steel. Now that you mention it, you can see where the corrosion is worse around where the two metals are touching. Thanks for the science class! haha. I'm going to have to stay on top of it, because there's probably 20 of those hinges around the bed.
Thanks for the link! I've actually heard good things about aluma-brite in the past, and was thinking about grabbing some.
Keep me posted on how it all works out!
Thanks for the link! I've actually heard good things about aluma-brite in the past, and was thinking about grabbing some.
Keep me posted on how it all works out!
semperfidher
New member
Bushcoat: I really appreciate the compliments. So far it's been a fun ride.
Durability Update: Took the truck down some pretty legitimate washboard roads last week on our way out to climb Eagle Peak. Probably 10-15 miles of hilly, bumpy dirt roads. In an attempt to test out how well the bolted parts of the bed stay put, I tried to vary speeds over the bumps, with both fast vibrations and slow steady rocking back and forth. All in all, everything stayed tight, rattle free, and is still in alignment. Slowly but surely I'm building up my confidence in the truck's capabilities with the new bed.
On a side note, I was noticing some rubbing between the fabric bed cover and the aluminum itself. I definitely don't want it rubbing all the way through, so I just tried to come up with some simple solutions from around the house.
Along the top boxes, I just lined contact points with several layers of tactical tape. If it works for hot spots on your feet, why not for "hot spots" on the bed?
The other rubbing points were along the side box storage baskets. I used some 3/4" x 3' plumbing wrap that I had laying around. Worked out great!, and now I don't have to grab bare metal whenever I climb up the side of the bed to access the roof rack or tent.
Durability Update: Took the truck down some pretty legitimate washboard roads last week on our way out to climb Eagle Peak. Probably 10-15 miles of hilly, bumpy dirt roads. In an attempt to test out how well the bolted parts of the bed stay put, I tried to vary speeds over the bumps, with both fast vibrations and slow steady rocking back and forth. All in all, everything stayed tight, rattle free, and is still in alignment. Slowly but surely I'm building up my confidence in the truck's capabilities with the new bed.
On a side note, I was noticing some rubbing between the fabric bed cover and the aluminum itself. I definitely don't want it rubbing all the way through, so I just tried to come up with some simple solutions from around the house.
Along the top boxes, I just lined contact points with several layers of tactical tape. If it works for hot spots on your feet, why not for "hot spots" on the bed?
The other rubbing points were along the side box storage baskets. I used some 3/4" x 3' plumbing wrap that I had laying around. Worked out great!, and now I don't have to grab bare metal whenever I climb up the side of the bed to access the roof rack or tent.
semperfidher
New member
Hello all. We were finally able to get out an use the truck again. It was a last minute trip...really, we just wanted to get into the forest bad enough that we dropped everything we were doing and headed out to Thomas Mountain, a couple hours away, for an overnighter. I also finally got a chance to flex the chassis out a little bit on some jeep roads, and aside from the fact that I was trying to maneuver a LWB pickup truck around switchbacks, everything was fine.
I had plans that Saturday to address a tent accessibility problem I've been having with the tent anyways, so I decided to just take my tools to the woods and knock it out there.
Voila!
Also included some shots of the "closet" I made on the driver's side of the truck.
Bummer when you realize your fridge isn't cooling the beer and eggs....apparently the cord got smushed in the drawer at some point on the trip, shorted out, and blew the fuse.
Adapt and overcome! Cold beer is a magnificent motivator. Carried the A/C cord in the truck too, so I just ran it through an inverter to power the fridge.
And finally....camping.
I had plans that Saturday to address a tent accessibility problem I've been having with the tent anyways, so I decided to just take my tools to the woods and knock it out there.
Voila!
Also included some shots of the "closet" I made on the driver's side of the truck.
Bummer when you realize your fridge isn't cooling the beer and eggs....apparently the cord got smushed in the drawer at some point on the trip, shorted out, and blew the fuse.
Adapt and overcome! Cold beer is a magnificent motivator. Carried the A/C cord in the truck too, so I just ran it through an inverter to power the fridge.
And finally....camping.
Really cool build, box setup is really **************. As someone that logs many of hard miles in a dodge I would like to recommend you some hard part upgrades. I run Carli suspension on my truck and suggest that you look into Carli control arms, adjustable track bar, front diff guard and their ball joints that have a life time guarantee. A front axle truss is something else I would highly recommend being that aam 9.25 is the vehicles achilles heal. cjcoffroad.com is the best dodge related resource in so cal and they do installs as well.