2022 RAM 5500 Composite "Super Camper"

[StenchRV]

Happy New Year!

Well, after 3 years of planning, research and lurking on EP; it is time to share with the group our "Super Camper " plan. "Super Camper" is a name we put on the project itself; no name for the end product yet. I figured it will come to us sometime during the next year or so of building.

We watched the Everlanders build closely and then decided to sell our 36' Diesel pusher and get back to the real outdoors. After 7 years and 55,000 miles of driving the "bus" coast to coast a few times, it was time for a "reset". Alaska was a blast, but it will be much different next time .

Having spent most of my adult life in the west, NM/AZ , and traveling UT/CO extensively; We REALLY missed the off the beaten path camping and exploring that some of our previous rigs gave us the opportunity to do. My wife missed the remote places and the campfire times as much as I did.

After we decided to "reset", we found Expedition Portal! What a treasure chest of information and a great group of people. You Tube can only take you so far
We almost went the full size truck and expedition trailer route. After watching numerous videos and giving serious thought to our goals, we decided a medium duty truck would be the base vehicle for our overland rig. There are various reasons we decided on a diesel 5500 series truck, most of them already posted on the forum so no need to beat that dead cat.

Thank you @RAM5500 CAMPERTHING for a great thread with some great ideas and content. Thanks @Brad_UT for a great thread and meeting up at Expo MTN West so we could see your beautiful truck in person and pick your brain for ideas . Also thanks Brad for the personal help and for giving me the gentle push to post a build thread. There are a few other RAM 5500 threads on EP that we follow and we are grateful for the effort you put into posting, and sharing, your build.

I have been involved in Monaco motorhome suspension and steering gear build threads over the last 7 years, so I know the work it takes to keep posts up to date and deal with all the various questions and remarks.

We waited over 5 months for our 2022 RAM 5500 SLT with the following additions:



Let the build begin. Well, technically it has already started, but it has taken awhile to get the build thread going


Cheers!

 

[StenchRV]

Beginning the build.

Step 1....steps. The truck is tall and is only going to get taller as we go. Stock RAM steps fit well, seem well built and were a reasonable price.



Step 2....heavy parts. The Kelderman box that showed up weighed right at 800 LBS.



3 partial days and:





We went with an air system for a number of reasons: Mostly selectable ride both on road and off and the ability to level the rig ( within reason).
Yes we are doing the front air also but that will be a bit later, more on that later.
We understand it is not for everybody but for our build and our plans it made the most sense to us. For now we will probably do an Air Ride 3P (pressure only) system with some manual backups. Thank you Brad_UT for the GREAT air system ideas and in the event of failures work arounds.


Cheers!

 

[StenchRV]

Super Singles!


We were able to find tires only a few months old locally, a LARGE commercial tire dealer in Atlanta, at a fair price.
We placed an order with Buckstop a few months ago and we are awaiting parts.
We ordered a front bumper, 5 wheels, skid plates and the much sought after track bar relocation bracket! After some nice words telling them they had the market on the best bracket, and maybe the large order, they agreed to sell me just the bracket!
We will be using Core 4X4 front adjustable, 1" longer, control arms when we install the front Kelderman air system with 2" taller air bags.

The RAM will not be converted to super singles until March, you will understand in a bit .

 

[StenchRV]

Habitat....the "Composite" part of our Super Camper.

With the help of B.A.D (blue tape aided design) we came up with what we believe will be our home away from home.
The design has been on the hanger floor for well over a year. Yes, we also did computer drawings but you can not sit in your make believe habitat with a cold one that way! It might resemble and ER but not as big.



We have a Total Composites box on order and it should arrive in the next month or so. It will slightly resemble RAM 5500 CAMPERTHING's build.

Now the story on the subframe and habitat build.

We were going to ship the habitat to our hanger and build away, subframe and all. Then we found out the "new" shipping cost! WOW!
We contacted Andreas, at Total Composites, trying to figure out a plan to get our flat pack box shipped at a reasonable price.
Andreas mentioned Quade at Overland Adventure Trucks (O.A.T) who was doing TC assembly work. We could save a bunch on shipping if shipped with other orders, in a full shipping container, to Overland Adventure Truck in Washington. Shipping cost to Atlanta GA was crazy.
We could save over 1/2 on shipping and put that money towards having the box assembled and mounted to a subframe by O.A.T.

After thinking about it for a bit we decided to deliver the truck to Overland Adventure truck ourselves February 1st. We will stay for a week to help design the subframe and finalize some other items. With Quade's help, owner of O.A.T, we finalized the box dimensions and placed our TC order a few months ago. We will visit O.A.T a few different times during the build, staying for a few days each time. Hopefully we will be driving a mounted, empty box, with a door, roof hatch, exterior hatch, and maybe 1 of the 3 windows installed, home by the end of March.

Now you see why the super singles will not be mounted until later No sense putting 5000 miles on them during the build.

We know this would not be everyone's plan but we feel in the long run it made sense to us. We have time, we are retired, and are using Covid cancelled tickets to cover the cost of flights back and forth. To us, it was worth a little extra money to have some of the work done for us. The interior build will be all us. More on that as we go along.

Some goals:

Under 24' in length
Under 11' 6" tall
Around 14,500 LBS when complete.

Cheers

 

[StenchRV]

Getting ready for our trip NW.

Will will visit friends and family along the way and enjoy getting back out on the road.
We decided to build a temporary rear deck to keep prying eyes at bay and discourage people from messing with the truck.
It may be unnecessary but it gives us piece of mind, $185 well spent.

We depart in 2 weeks! FINALLY!



We installed the diesel heater heater fuel pickup.......thanks for the reminder CAMPERTHING!


Finished




A little work before we go. A load of steel going to a local machine shop, 5000 LBS worth. YES those are mostly solid 4140 bars and SS.
Man does the truck ride nice now!
Can not do that with my old 2500 GMC Duramax. Different trucks for different jobs. Personally, I would rather be over trucked than under trucked any day. I have way too many friends that push the limits, on large motorhomes and trucks alike. We decided to go big and heavy with our build so we needed a truck that would do big and heavy.



All caught up! Thanks EP!

Cheers

 

[NateC]

Thanks for starting a build thread…looking forward to following along. Already learned something new - O.A.T…grew up a little north of there but didn’t know about this neat little small business. Hope the road trip out to the PNW goes well.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Cool. Subbed. God speed.

 

[Tex68w]

Yessss!

 

[WanderingBison]

Exciting build! Thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Brad_UT]

This is going to be another epic build! I can't wait to see the subframe and composite box!

 

[Gnarwhal]

I am super excited to see this build!!!

 

[StenchRV]

I have an issue when I purchase a product and I have to improve or "fix" it. #Rammounts
My wife and I had a Ram Mount that we really liked in our motorhome, so we decided to try the same one for our new rig.
We ordered vehicle specific parts, mounting brackets and offsets. Then the fun began.

I installed the parts after my long posting session the other night and took the truck for a drive in the morning to do some errands.
My new mount shook like CRAZY! So bad I actually put my hand on it for the rest of the drive. We never had that problem in the coach. :-( RRRR!
Back home and rip into it to find the "issue". Here is what we came up with.

The seat mounting bracket, RAM truck specific, does not fully contact the seat base where the seat bolt goes into the floor.
It does this on both ends of the mount. There is a small gap under the mount where the bolt goes through the mount.
The bolt is recessed into the original seat base. The outside was just easier to photograph.

After some brainstorming, and manually shaking the mount upright a few different times, it appeared that the motion moment was coming from the lack of contact between the Ram mount and the seat base, where the bolt passes through it. It was "rocking" on the very tight bolt.
Now the fix. Wander into the shop find some 2.5" round bar stock. Time to make a contact spacer.
I tried 1/4" first and it was way to thick, unnecessarily thick. 1/8" was MUCH better.
Why is it the second try is always more like what was in your head when you started....LOL

The "fix" worked VERY WELL, at least an 85% improvement on the test drive. I did wind up installing longer seat bolts. Ram mounts was nice enough to provide them in the kit for the trucks with under seat vents, which we don not have. Saved me a trip to the hardware store.
Installed a contact spacer at each end. The mount either needs to be wider or have a 2" 3/4 circle at each end, in my opinion.

Happy happy happy!


Onward with trip prep!

Cheers

 

[Inline6]

looks like a great build, and Atlanta based as well.

 

[StenchRV]

While washing the truck in preparation for a ceramic waxing, before our trip, it dawned on me that after the camper box is mounted I will not be able to easily access the third brake light and cargo camera. I had given some thought to moving the entire assembly to the top of the camper box when completed.

Pulled the third brake light assembly off of the truck, thought about getting a replacement unit, just the light (used) and I could take care of the rest of the details later. Well as we all do, "how does this work". I started tracing the 360 camera system and cargo camera. Wiring attached to the headliner on the cargo camera. OK, where does it connect? Under the drivers seat. It was easier to pull the seat. OK, found the input, red one not labeled. Pull the camera out of the third brake light assembly, order a 20' fakra cable from Amazon and find a housing for the camera. I need 2 housings, one for the backup camera that comes with the Chassis Cabs, in a bag, and one for the cargo camera. I found a good one, make specifically for the camera. OUCH, not cheap. Buy a plastic one or maybe I could mill one of of aluminum and get it powder coated, more on that later. It will give me something to do while the subframe is being built. We will be just parts ordering fools anyway during the wait.
As far as I can tell, with research, the same camera is used in all 5 of the positions for the 360 view system. Easy enough.






Cheers

 

[StenchRV]

Received an email last night that our box is ready to ship! YAHOO! The sad news from Total Composites is shipping cost have gone up AGAIN!
Only saving grace is we are splitting the cost 5 ways for a full container shipped to O.A.T.
Subframe design details, build and assembly during the shipping wait. Departing next week for the pacific NW!
Hope the weather cooperates!