Alaskan Camper Build Up

blue dog

blue dog

Adventurer
Did you add bigger or additional fuel tank ?? Again, great build. My bank account could only dream of a build like this.
 
blue dog

blue dog

Adventurer
did not know that the 5500 had a 52 gallon tank. I think that will suffice.

I bet you learned a few things on your ford build that were changed on the dodge.

So how does this beast ride down the highway, the leaf pack in the rear looks like something off a end dump. Lastly { sorry for all the questions } why change from the Alcoa wheels to the rickson wheels if they were both 19.5"?

I too love the color, and if i saw this beast in a parking lot, i would naturally stop and drool on it till you came and asked me to leave.

Now get out and cruise the country, lots to see out there.
 
Carlyle

Carlyle

Explorer
blue dog said:
did not know that the 5500 had a 52 gallon tank. I think that will suffice.

I bet you learned a few things on your ford build that were changed on the dodge.

So how does this beast ride down the highway, the leaf pack in the rear looks like something off a end dump. Lastly { sorry for all the questions } why change from the Alcoa wheels to the rickson wheels if they were both 19.5"?

Runs great on the highway, still haven't gotten the speedometer calibrated properly yet. 20" wheels and tires are completely different than the 19.5's, as they are softer sidewalls and can be aired down etc. With the weight of the camper and air bags it doesn't run too bad, al's fair it's not a caddy.

I too love the color, and if i saw this beast in a parking lot, i would naturally stop and drool on it till you came and asked me to leave.

Me too!

Now get out and cruise the country, lots to see out there.
Click to expand...

Working on it
 
P

pods8

Explorer
Great updates. I'll have to hit you up for suggestions to take the fam out to see (I don't really know the layout of CO much yet).
 
Carlyle

Carlyle

Explorer





Those look like just what I need, along with some Turtle Expedition style mud flaps (sans the Ford logo).

 
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Carlyle

Carlyle

Explorer
One of my next projects is working on the storage area under the bed again. First I want to have some baskets that slide side to side over top of the Engels using wire baskets and aluminum T-Tracks. After that, some heavier T-Track and a hanging/sliding shelf in front of the Engels.





Any thoughts?
 
Carlyle

Carlyle

Explorer
klahanie said:
What about access from inside, under the bed...as in tilt up bed?
Click to expand...

There is a door from the inside to the storage area between the settee seats. The bed does not lift amend access is through that door or the side doors. My thoughts are to have sliding baskets that can be slid into the inside access area to retrieve items. A good spot to hide veggies and such.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
 
S

snwbrdr852

New member
I used that same heavy duty T-track for a roof rack setup on my 4Runner and found that the pre-drilled mounting holes were inconsistently spaced and sometimes off-center. Luckily, I had measured and marked correctly to account for the problem and it all worked out very nicely. But I just thought I'd give you a heads up so you can keep an eye out for it if you go that route...
 
Carlyle

Carlyle

Explorer
klahanie said:
Roger that Carl. 'twas meant as a mod for consideration. A lift up bed sounds useful (and trick).

How 'bout those Airedales, can they be taught to retrieve?
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Hi Klahanie,

I don't know if I could even begin to figure out how to make the bed lift up as it is not part of the Alaskan design and between solid wood, aluminum, insulation and full size mattress it probably would take some major cutting and redesign. On the other hand it does sound like a nice idea... The problem with a bed lift as well would be that anything I hung from the ceiling in the storage area would have to be lifted as well and that might get even heavier. The door works well and actually when we are camping we just pop it off the hinge and stick it behind the settee and out of the way.


Airedales make great guard dogs, but are poor retreivers as far I can figure out. Unfortunately at the tail end of our last trip our rescue Airedale, Luci went into status epilepticus and by the time we were able to get her to a vet in Durango the next morning she had been seizing for too many hours. We tried all the usual stuff at he vet, including benzo's and a phenobarb drip, but every time they brought her out of sedation she began to seize again. We decided later that day to put her down.

Of course during all this I discovered that our rear tire carrier had snapped and was hanging on by little more than the latch and some soft aluminum. I talked to a welder in Durango who said the unit was a beyond hope so we detached it and the spare and headed home sans Airedale number two.

Our welder is currently working on a new spare tire rack in chrome-moly this time.

 
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Carlyle

Carlyle

Explorer
snwbrdr852 said:
I used that same heavy duty T-track for a roof rack setup on my 4Runner and found that the pre-drilled mounting holes were inconsistently spaced and sometimes off-center. Luckily, I had measured and marked correctly to account for the problem and it all worked out very nicely. But I just thought I'd give you a heads up so you can keep an eye out for it if you go that route...
Click to expand...


Thanks for the heads up and I found a source for 4' sections that I can drill holes in myself
 
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