2012 Dodge 5500 - Expedition Camper - The build has started

[dtruzinski]

Charlie - glad to chat, I learned a lot from reading your posts over the years. Those are 20x9's Rickson customs wheels with 275/80's plenty of carrying capacity for the rig and the clear the brakes with ease. Camper is fastened with fast guns (spring loaded) and base 8 plates that keep it from shifting on the bed

 

[Carlyle]

All that work..

 

[Ram5500]

Very nice vehicle.
2 questions:
1) did you establish beyond any doubt that 16" rims wouldn't fit over the brakes? (thinking re 11.00R16 XZL, 325/85R16 XML)


Charlie

16" definitely will not fit. I don't think 16" will fit any of the 3rd gen Dodge HD's due to brake size and the Brakes on my 5500 are massive ( fronts are 390 mm rotor with 66 mm calipers) compared to a 3500. The axles on the 5500 are a Magna front (7500 lb) and Dana S111 rear (13,500) - both 10 bolt as well. Makes options for changing wheels and tires on these $$$, like the Ricksons he went with, Stazworks I went with or Hutchinson they have as an option on the Earthroamer (Ford F550 is same bolt pattern).

 

[Dogmann]

So are you saying the tire wheel combo is a bad choice?

 

[dtruzinski]

The tire/wheel combo is awesome and I am very pleased with the product. As Ram5500 says, it is expensive, but it is bulletproof, provides great ground clearance and with the 4.88 diffs, the extra circumference creates better mileage and lower rpms (right where the Cummins likes to be)

 

[FishAll50]

Dave, what a great build - your vision and execution was dead-on. Trucks come and go, but that view of the yellowstone is irreplaceable. GLWTS.

Roger

 

[motrhed]

It is too bad that you finally completed the unit as you had envisioned then circumstances changed the game. Have you sold the rig yet, if not, where is it listed and what are you asking?

 

[motrhed]

Bump... Nudge...

 

[ersatzknarf]

It appears that it is still for sale : http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-Camper-Custom-Build-Ready-to-Explore

 

[dtruzinski]

Sorry for the slow reply...work has been intense. The expo rig is still for sale. I have not kicked the advertising into high gear (Craigslist, ebay, etc). Am waiting for a time when work slow down so I can be more responsive

 

[dtruzinski]

Getting ready for the maiden voyage

I have had a couple of people express interest in buying this build, but I have decided to pull it off of the market. I finally have a couple of weeks to enjoy it and am going to tour the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone at the end of September


So to prepare for the trip I am going to add a Viair Ultra, Firestone airbags ( thanks to Carlyle for the guidance) and a custom spare tire carrier. Pics will be made over the next three weeks

 

[chilliwak]

Glad to hear that you did not sell your truck and that you get a chance to enjoy that beast offroad!

 

[Carlyle]

Also glad to here you are keeping the rig and doing some add ons. I have a pair of the Viair's and find them extremely useful. Make sure you put at least one tank, if not two in so that you can run air tools. I run my jack, tools etc all from them.

 

[Saiyan66]

A note on airbags that you have probably already considered. Make sure that you get the longest travel airbag that you can fit on your application. Preferably mounted to the axle and not above the leaf spring. This typically gives you a lot more room to work with them. The reason for this is that a longer travel airbag will have less of a spring rate spike as it compresses. This will make the ride less harsh, especially when running without a load on the truck and the airbags empty.

 

[dtruzinski]

I installed the Viair Ultra system. In the process, I relocated the batteries to the passenger side of the camper to better distribute the weight and make more room for gear. So now I have a compartment that was originally designed for a small Honda generator filled with 2 glass mat batteries, 2 5 gallon water containers, and a small air compressor. I mounted the Viair tank on top of the center cross beam of the truck frame. A benefit of the 38" tires and 6" rails on the flat bed is that you can sit up underneath the truck . The project ran long and I had to get back to work, so sorry no pics just yet.

The Firestone airbags did not get installed on this trip