scmecheng
New member
Ken and Jerilyn Struven
kenstruven@me.com
cell 408-591-8585 (We're in the Pacific Daylight Time zone)
Location: Gardnerville, NV (30 minutes south of Carson City)
A sampling of photos/locations when OUT THERE in the Nimbl camper
https://eye2i.smugmug.com/OUT-THERE-in-the-Nimbl-Evolution-
A complete set of photos of the Nimbl camper/2006 Dodge Ram
https://eye2i.smugmug.com/Nimbl-Evolution-on-2006-Dodge-Ram-Cummins-3500
Feature List
www.dropbox.com
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 with the famous 24 valve 5.9 liter Cummins turbo diesel. There are 77,800 miles on the truck at this point and it’s in excellent shape. We purchased the truck in 2016 when it had approximately 32,000 miles.
The truck/camper combo has always been garaged when we’re not out exploring. So there’s no sun damage or weathering that you might expect to see with a more experienced truck and camper.
The truck description:
The truck is amazing as it’s been modified moderately with no catalytic (no smog required in our Valley, but I have the Cat boxed up), a Wicked Wheel turbo wheel replacement that spins up faster than stock, a Banks Autotune using the Tow/Haul setting, a K&N washable and oilable air filter that allows for more flow, and a Banks Monster muffler that again offers more flow through the engine. The result is that the truck pulls the load a lot better than anticipated and pulls steep grades nicely also.
Non DEF Truck
This truck is basically the last of the Ram Cummins that didn’t require DEF. This means the truck is as good running on sulfur loaded fuel as it is on Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel. It’s all ready for Mexico and south if that’s the requirement. I previously owned a 6.7 Ford turbo diesel engine in a 2017 F450 concurrent to this truck/camper and I’m happy not to have to deal with DEF in the ‘06 Dodge Ram.
Auxiliary Fuel Tank
The truck has the addition of a 20 gallon tank where the spare used to mount, therefore we have a range with the 53 gallons of 750 miles or more. This comes in handy both on road and also out in the back country where fuel usage can and typically does increase. Recently we drove from Sun Valley, Idaho back to Carson Valley and never stopped to refuel. We had to stop for other reasons, but never put any fuel in it. We had around a ¼ tank when we arrived home.
Engine Monitoring
There is an Edge Insight unit that is mounted on the dashboard at the extreme left by the pillar. It displays the gear the transmission is in and whether it has “lockup”, turbo boost psi, battery voltage, fuel rail pressure in Kpsi, incoming air temperature, engine RPM, engine coolant temperature, OBDII trans temperature, and finally the most observed- exhaust gas temp. There is an alarm on the exhaust gas temp for 1200 deg F.
Tires, Wheels and Balancing
The tires are Toyo Open Country AT III’s that are around 34.5” tall. That’s why the spare doesn’t fit in the stock location, so the auxiliary fuel tank providing huge range was a great use for the space. The Toyo spare is mounted at the rear on a RigD swing away tire carrier. This is a beefy unit that is fully approved for heavy wheels/tires (ours are 105 pounds) and approved by RigD for severe off road use. The wheels are flat black Method 701's and they are the HD version of that particular model rated for 4500 pounds. The wheel assemblies also have Balance Masters mounted behind the wheels. These are on-the-fly balancers that have circular tube assemblies with mercury in them. As you drive, they automatically balance the tires/wheels/hubs perfectly making for an incredibly smooth ride. They also allow the tires to wear more evenly through the miles preventing cupping and the like. They are sort of expensive and I do not believe many over-landers run them. By the way, when the transmission was rebuilt, the rear drive shaft u-joints were also replaced with new. The drive shaft also has a Balance Master mercury balancer on it also making it dead smooth with no vibration input to the driveline.
Air Compressor, Tank, Air Lock Diffs and sPod
Underneath the flat bed is an air tank that is filled from an ARB twin cylinder compressor to 150 psi when powered on. There’s a pressure gauge mounted in front of the center console down towards the floor. This air system allows for running a ½” impact wrench for handling wheel lug nuts and also facilitates airing up the tires after dropping pressure for off-road. But additionally, the air system is there to supply air to the front and rear ARB air lockers in the differentials. The switching of either or both of the air lockers is controlled via the sPod digital touch screen in the center of the dash area. The sPod also controls the switching of the air compressor and the switching of 2 sets of PIAA driving lights built into the Buckstop front bumper.
Automatic Transmission
The transmission is an automatic (48RE) and was totally rebuilt when the 1st to 2nd shifts became compromised. The rebuild was performed with enhanced, higher performance parts by General Transmission in Reno at 67,101 miles. It works beautifully! General Transmission also replaced both batteries with NAPA Legend Professionals at this same mileage. And there was suspicion that the ECM (Engine Control Module) was causing some charging issue anomalies, so the ECM was replaced with a new ECM mounted at the driver’s side of the block.
20 Gallon Auxiliary Fuel Tank
The extra 20 gallon fuel tank has a valve next to the driver’s seat that is turned to allow pumping auxiliary fuel over into the main tank when you’re getting low. In this way, you don’t have to switch from tank to tank and require additional fuel level monitoring. I typically put in about 18-19 gallons to allow some head space in the auxiliary tank.
Truck Suspension
The suspension in this truck is quite capable. There are adjustable ICON reservoir shocks all around, ICON progressive coil springs up front, Carli 11 leaf 15” travel leaf springs in back with Carli 12” travel air bags in the rear to trim the unit side to side and assist with some of the load handling. There’s Thuren long adjustable, greasable shackles at the rear to set proper height. There are BD end links on the front sway bar which are much stronger than stock. Synergy linkages for the steering round out the package up front and replaces the horrible ‘06 steering links. The rear sway bar is a Hellwig Big Wig unit.
Truck Air Conditioning
The A/C system in the truck is relatively new in that it was totally restored at 67,400 miles by Douglas Radiator and Auto Air when the compressor self destructed and sent particles all through the A/C system. I’ve heard about other ‘06 or ‘07 Rams that have done the same, but this one is thankfully updated and blows very cold air reliably.
The camper details:
We have a Dometic microwave, induction cooking (no longer have the Webasto diesel cooktop which is a blessing. It didn’t cool down quick enough for morning breakfasts, then quick departures), a 4.2 Dometic fridge/freezer, an ARB compressor fridge mounted on a hard platform right behind the driver’s seat. My wife typically runs this as a freezer to hold the extra food supplies when we’re traveling. Our Magnum 2000 watt full sine wave inverter works great and supplies everything 120 VAC for the camper.
Refrigerator Coil Cooling
I installed low and high mounted computer cooling fans behind the Dometic refrigerator with a temperature controller. There were already two vents through the side of the shell just waiting for this good upgrade. The lower fan pulls cooler air in and the higher fan blows the warmer air from the coils outward. This controls the temp in the limited space behind the refrigerator a lot better than stock.
Electrical System
We have just short of 500 watts of solar on top and 500 amp hours of batteries. Our battery bank is a combination of 300 amp hours of Lifeline AGM and 200 amp hours of Battle Born Lithium. A special controller handles the charging.
Camper Attributes and Features
The camper has all the attributes of the XP/Nimbl units with the Thetford cassette toilet, Froli bed system to raise the mattress for ventilation and comfort, the beautiful control panel with SeeLevel II controller for monitoring fresh, gray and black levels and battery voltage and a TV/DVD player above the queen sized bed towards passenger side. It can be viewed from bed or the dinette. Our Webasto Dual Top for the hot air heating and hot water heating works great.
Why is it for sale then?
If you’ve read this far, you may figure that my wife and I really do love this camper/truck immensely! That is true and no one can dispute this who know us and the camper/truck. But we have reached the point where we want even more creature comfort and don’t have as much desire to take our camper into some of the more remote and difficult locations that this camper is capable of. We’ve got an order in for a very impressive larger overland unit that will be ready in Colorado next May, 2025. So it’s bittersweet thinking about transferring this unit to someone else. That said, it’s time! And there will be a lucky person(s) who can continue on with this fantastic overland set up and have adventures of their own just as we’ve been fortunate to experience.
kenstruven@me.com
cell 408-591-8585 (We're in the Pacific Daylight Time zone)
Location: Gardnerville, NV (30 minutes south of Carson City)
A sampling of photos/locations when OUT THERE in the Nimbl camper
https://eye2i.smugmug.com/OUT-THERE-in-the-Nimbl-Evolution-
A complete set of photos of the Nimbl camper/2006 Dodge Ram
https://eye2i.smugmug.com/Nimbl-Evolution-on-2006-Dodge-Ram-Cummins-3500
Feature List
Dropbox
www.dropbox.com
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 with the famous 24 valve 5.9 liter Cummins turbo diesel. There are 77,800 miles on the truck at this point and it’s in excellent shape. We purchased the truck in 2016 when it had approximately 32,000 miles.
The truck/camper combo has always been garaged when we’re not out exploring. So there’s no sun damage or weathering that you might expect to see with a more experienced truck and camper.
The truck description:
The truck is amazing as it’s been modified moderately with no catalytic (no smog required in our Valley, but I have the Cat boxed up), a Wicked Wheel turbo wheel replacement that spins up faster than stock, a Banks Autotune using the Tow/Haul setting, a K&N washable and oilable air filter that allows for more flow, and a Banks Monster muffler that again offers more flow through the engine. The result is that the truck pulls the load a lot better than anticipated and pulls steep grades nicely also.
Non DEF Truck
This truck is basically the last of the Ram Cummins that didn’t require DEF. This means the truck is as good running on sulfur loaded fuel as it is on Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel. It’s all ready for Mexico and south if that’s the requirement. I previously owned a 6.7 Ford turbo diesel engine in a 2017 F450 concurrent to this truck/camper and I’m happy not to have to deal with DEF in the ‘06 Dodge Ram.
Auxiliary Fuel Tank
The truck has the addition of a 20 gallon tank where the spare used to mount, therefore we have a range with the 53 gallons of 750 miles or more. This comes in handy both on road and also out in the back country where fuel usage can and typically does increase. Recently we drove from Sun Valley, Idaho back to Carson Valley and never stopped to refuel. We had to stop for other reasons, but never put any fuel in it. We had around a ¼ tank when we arrived home.
Engine Monitoring
There is an Edge Insight unit that is mounted on the dashboard at the extreme left by the pillar. It displays the gear the transmission is in and whether it has “lockup”, turbo boost psi, battery voltage, fuel rail pressure in Kpsi, incoming air temperature, engine RPM, engine coolant temperature, OBDII trans temperature, and finally the most observed- exhaust gas temp. There is an alarm on the exhaust gas temp for 1200 deg F.
Tires, Wheels and Balancing
The tires are Toyo Open Country AT III’s that are around 34.5” tall. That’s why the spare doesn’t fit in the stock location, so the auxiliary fuel tank providing huge range was a great use for the space. The Toyo spare is mounted at the rear on a RigD swing away tire carrier. This is a beefy unit that is fully approved for heavy wheels/tires (ours are 105 pounds) and approved by RigD for severe off road use. The wheels are flat black Method 701's and they are the HD version of that particular model rated for 4500 pounds. The wheel assemblies also have Balance Masters mounted behind the wheels. These are on-the-fly balancers that have circular tube assemblies with mercury in them. As you drive, they automatically balance the tires/wheels/hubs perfectly making for an incredibly smooth ride. They also allow the tires to wear more evenly through the miles preventing cupping and the like. They are sort of expensive and I do not believe many over-landers run them. By the way, when the transmission was rebuilt, the rear drive shaft u-joints were also replaced with new. The drive shaft also has a Balance Master mercury balancer on it also making it dead smooth with no vibration input to the driveline.
Air Compressor, Tank, Air Lock Diffs and sPod
Underneath the flat bed is an air tank that is filled from an ARB twin cylinder compressor to 150 psi when powered on. There’s a pressure gauge mounted in front of the center console down towards the floor. This air system allows for running a ½” impact wrench for handling wheel lug nuts and also facilitates airing up the tires after dropping pressure for off-road. But additionally, the air system is there to supply air to the front and rear ARB air lockers in the differentials. The switching of either or both of the air lockers is controlled via the sPod digital touch screen in the center of the dash area. The sPod also controls the switching of the air compressor and the switching of 2 sets of PIAA driving lights built into the Buckstop front bumper.
Automatic Transmission
The transmission is an automatic (48RE) and was totally rebuilt when the 1st to 2nd shifts became compromised. The rebuild was performed with enhanced, higher performance parts by General Transmission in Reno at 67,101 miles. It works beautifully! General Transmission also replaced both batteries with NAPA Legend Professionals at this same mileage. And there was suspicion that the ECM (Engine Control Module) was causing some charging issue anomalies, so the ECM was replaced with a new ECM mounted at the driver’s side of the block.
20 Gallon Auxiliary Fuel Tank
The extra 20 gallon fuel tank has a valve next to the driver’s seat that is turned to allow pumping auxiliary fuel over into the main tank when you’re getting low. In this way, you don’t have to switch from tank to tank and require additional fuel level monitoring. I typically put in about 18-19 gallons to allow some head space in the auxiliary tank.
Truck Suspension
The suspension in this truck is quite capable. There are adjustable ICON reservoir shocks all around, ICON progressive coil springs up front, Carli 11 leaf 15” travel leaf springs in back with Carli 12” travel air bags in the rear to trim the unit side to side and assist with some of the load handling. There’s Thuren long adjustable, greasable shackles at the rear to set proper height. There are BD end links on the front sway bar which are much stronger than stock. Synergy linkages for the steering round out the package up front and replaces the horrible ‘06 steering links. The rear sway bar is a Hellwig Big Wig unit.
Truck Air Conditioning
The A/C system in the truck is relatively new in that it was totally restored at 67,400 miles by Douglas Radiator and Auto Air when the compressor self destructed and sent particles all through the A/C system. I’ve heard about other ‘06 or ‘07 Rams that have done the same, but this one is thankfully updated and blows very cold air reliably.
The camper details:
We have a Dometic microwave, induction cooking (no longer have the Webasto diesel cooktop which is a blessing. It didn’t cool down quick enough for morning breakfasts, then quick departures), a 4.2 Dometic fridge/freezer, an ARB compressor fridge mounted on a hard platform right behind the driver’s seat. My wife typically runs this as a freezer to hold the extra food supplies when we’re traveling. Our Magnum 2000 watt full sine wave inverter works great and supplies everything 120 VAC for the camper.
Refrigerator Coil Cooling
I installed low and high mounted computer cooling fans behind the Dometic refrigerator with a temperature controller. There were already two vents through the side of the shell just waiting for this good upgrade. The lower fan pulls cooler air in and the higher fan blows the warmer air from the coils outward. This controls the temp in the limited space behind the refrigerator a lot better than stock.
Electrical System
We have just short of 500 watts of solar on top and 500 amp hours of batteries. Our battery bank is a combination of 300 amp hours of Lifeline AGM and 200 amp hours of Battle Born Lithium. A special controller handles the charging.
Camper Attributes and Features
The camper has all the attributes of the XP/Nimbl units with the Thetford cassette toilet, Froli bed system to raise the mattress for ventilation and comfort, the beautiful control panel with SeeLevel II controller for monitoring fresh, gray and black levels and battery voltage and a TV/DVD player above the queen sized bed towards passenger side. It can be viewed from bed or the dinette. Our Webasto Dual Top for the hot air heating and hot water heating works great.
Why is it for sale then?
If you’ve read this far, you may figure that my wife and I really do love this camper/truck immensely! That is true and no one can dispute this who know us and the camper/truck. But we have reached the point where we want even more creature comfort and don’t have as much desire to take our camper into some of the more remote and difficult locations that this camper is capable of. We’ve got an order in for a very impressive larger overland unit that will be ready in Colorado next May, 2025. So it’s bittersweet thinking about transferring this unit to someone else. That said, it’s time! And there will be a lucky person(s) who can continue on with this fantastic overland set up and have adventures of their own just as we’ve been fortunate to experience.
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