Atl-atl's Dodge Ram 2500 Regular Cab Long Bed "documentation" thread.

[Atl-atl]

So this weekend I did some work to the camper. I decided since next weekend is going to be a couple hundred miles of dirt roads and some decent wheeling id mount the camper in a little sturdier way. I ditched my plastic bedliner, bought a rubber mat to put between the bed and the camper and bolted the camper to the bed. I sandwiched the bed and floor with 4"x6" steel plates with 3 grade 5 bolts and stainless hardware each. Currently I have 3 plates. I wanted to do 4 but I skipped the fourth due to future flooring plans for the interior. When I had the camper out of the truck I checked the underside of the floor again to make sure all was sound and it appears to be. The plywood is in generally good shape. I also siliconed a bunch of little spots in the canvas that needed repair. It should hold up at least until I can get some new canvas.

Does anyone have experience bolting their camper to their bed? Is this a sufficient way to do it if I'm going to be on some rough roads regularly? I'm tempted to also mount the underside of the "wings" to the top of the bed sides/rails so its not only mounted at the floor. Theres about a half inch between the top of the rails and the underside of the "wings" so I could rip some ply and add some sandwich plates. I know the camper is light weight but I don't have any experience with this and don't want to destroy the camper and ruin the trip this weekend! Any input is greatly appreciated.

It looks a million times better without the tie down gear sticking off the side. Plus its no longer an eye-poking hazard!

Two of the sandwich plate sets are underneath the seat in the storage area so they are completely out of the way and they don't take up any room.

There is a plate set at 3 of the four corners of the floor currently. This is what the tie down plates looked like when I removed them before I repurposed them.

Here is what the underside plate looks like.

 

[leelikesbikes]

have you done anything as far as a fuel tank skidplate on your truck? im just waiting to rip my plastic tank open on something sharp. i really need to build a skidplate and some nerf bars/rocker protection.

 

[Atl-atl]

Ideally id raise the tank up above the frame rails but I don't think thats doable realistically so a skid is definitely something I need sooner than later. Id like to move the exhaust up above the frame rails also. As for rockers, I want to do a cut and fold of the bedsides in front of and behind the back tires. Since my bed is messed up already Im not afraid to put holes in it and cut it up. Id love to shorten the cab at the rockers/bottom of the doors also since its just wasted extra sheet metal to make the truck look proportional but I don't think boatsides are in my near future hahaha.

 

[Atl-atl]

Well our quickly planned bachelor party/overland adventure/camping trip was a relative success. Day one went exactly as planned and was a blast. 130 miles about half of which was on dirt and 1 was decent wheeling.

As for the Ram and Hawk, they held up reasonably well. I will need to do some minor floor repair on the drivers rear. The bouncy trails were too much and the plywood where my bolts/plates were gave out. Two of the three plate sets held up though and I had no trouble cruising home at 70mph. We hit a couple trails that are 3-5 on traildamage and those aren't even the ones that did the damage, it was the slightly milder but much bumpier "easy" parts of the trails that did it. Flexing on rocks is no big deal, the bed didn't tweak the camper. It was the relentless baby-head rock roads that bounced things back and forth that did it. With a few modifications Ill be confident to go down just about any trail as long as its not so tight Id destroy the sides of the camper.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures because I was busy driving and enjoying the time not spent behind the lens.

This is how our (offroad part of the) adventure began. Just outside of Winter Park CO. 4 mildly modified 4WD vehicles, 7 guys, lots of guns whiskey and :ylsmoke: Remember this is CO folks! :elkgrin:

Lots of passengers holding the steering wheel and riding on roofracks was done.

Our first night had us camped on the banks of the Colorado River just outside Kremmling. The trail from the dirt road to the camp spot has about a mile of decent washed out wheeling. If it were a rated trail Id call it a 3-4 due to some slightly technical sections. Only about a mile long. I cant find my pics of it but Ill update with them later.

 

[Atl-atl]

Day two was only about 10 miles of dirt road and then about 50 on pavement unfortunately.

Josh and Josh on a side street in downtown Leadville. Such a beautiful little town surrounded by incredible views. It was my first time.

We stopped by a friends house in Leadville. The house was built in 1886! Obviously it has been renovated.

Its right across the street from one of "those" places. I do not take part but some of the other guys were happy about this. :ylsmoke: This is also where the Volvo joined the pack. It has been all across north America including Alaska. It has been repainted color-matched to Coleman gas bottle green! That car has some crazy stories and this trip only added to the list! Its a 1985 Volvo 240 wagon with 330,000 miles. We tried to drive over Mosquito Pass outside Leadville and didn't quite make it. We were about two miles short of the summit. when a big rock in the middle of a switchback took out the steering rack and subframe. Thankfully the bachelor whom we were partying for owns a Volvo repair shop and made it down to Denver and back to Leadville with spare parts and tools Saturday evening and was able to make a trail repair and drive the car back down Sunday morning! We got quite a few looks and comments from passers by!

The view from Mosquito Pass down into Leadville is absolutely incredible. We had a wonderful sunset thanks to the haze caused by all the recent forest fires(in other states thankfully.) Ill try to get a hold of some of the sunset-y shots my passenger took.

Night two camp spot. We were unsure what view to expect due to arrival after nightfall. The Hawk was used successfully as a windblock.

 

[Atl-atl]

The weather was beautiful, clear and much warmer than expected through the night. 4 of the guys didn't even bother pitching tents.

Our view on the morning of day 3 was amazing. There was a creek just over this small ridge that I believe to be one of the headwaters of the Arkansas. The high ridgeline to the right is the continental divide. We estimated we were around 11,500 here. Right at the sign for the East/South entrance to the Birdseye Gulch 4WD trail if anyone has run or is familiar.

Unfortunately our plans to cross Mosquito Pass and camp at Kite Lake on night 2 were foiled by "the Volvo situation" so we drove back down the pass into Leadville on Sunday morning once the Volvo was fixed. We also noticed the Ranger was frying its Optima battery so a quick stop at the parts store and off we went. The only other real damage anyone sustained was a shattered back window on the Xterra thanks to an errant BB. :Wow1:

One last "reflection" and it was time to head home.

 

[kayak15]

Amazing trip! So jealous to not live in CO. I have family in Littleton and Grand Junction so maybe one day I will make the move west!!

Quick question: we're did you buy the stock offset steelies? I can't find any for a dodge 2500 anywhere.

Thanks for the pictures and report!!

Kevin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Regcabguy]

Colorado sure is pretty,especially with the rains this year!

 

[Atl-atl]

Amazing trip! So jealous to not live in CO. I have family in Littleton and Grand Junction so maybe one day I will make the move west!!

Quick question: we're did you buy the stock offset steelies? I can't find any for a dodge 2500 anywhere.

Thanks for the pictures and report!!

Kevin

They came on the truck when I bought it. I guess they are relatively rare but I can usually find some around here on CL. Theres currently a set listed for $295 on Denver CL.

Colorado sure is pretty,especially with the rains this year!

Yeah its amazing this year, wildflowers everywhere, no burn restrictions!

 

[Atl-atl]

Well it has been forever since Ive posted but I have been super busy, camping a bunch and also I took a week off for a family wedding/major renovation of the camper! Ill be adding a bunch of pictures soon.

A few weeks ago my buddy drove in from Chicago and wanted to ride his MTB/camp so we headed to Winter Park. We camped one night and he rode Trestle MTB park the next day. The spot was amazing, you could see the city lights of Winter Park at night. We were also treated to a double rainbow the next morning. Short but sweet trip. He also has a 3rd gen Ram and loved my camper so much he drove back to the midwest, scoured craigslist and bought one for himself a week later!

My buddies FJ60 with a Howling Moon rooftop tent he bought off this site!

The rainbow we were treated to!!! :Wow1:

The two dodges together.

More of the FJ and Howling Moon tent.

 

[Atl-atl]

After that camping trip I decided the weather was getting cold and it was now or never for a major overhaul! I started by painting the exterior of the Hawk. I cleaned/sanded the exterior and taped off the windows/door. Painted the frames black and the panels white. It looks slightly odd, almost like a police issue camper hahaha. I will change something about the exterior but Im not sure what yet. Maybe Ill get some reproduction stickers to match the old factory ones. I will also replace the rubber trim moulding which should help a little.

Before and after.

All Panda everything lately for me.

Then I went buckwild. Took a week off work and completely gutted her! Stove, sink, propane tank, bench seat...everything was gone eventually!!! :Wow1:

Stripped down to the frame and floors. Removed all the fiberglass batt insulation most of which was half missing or collapsed. Removed every screw, staple, all the wiring, water and gas piping, rotten wood, panelling etc.

Found some blown out corners and some dry rot in the floor so... Floor was removed as was the cabover "wood" that had been replaced with pressboard that was moldy rotten and expanding/cracking/sagging. I did not originally plan to replace the floor but decided there was no better time. I know Ill be MUCH happier in the long run having a brand new floor.

 

[Atl-atl]

I installed 1" closed cell foam insulation. Its rated R6 and Id guess the old fiberglass batt was lucky to be working at an R2. Luckily I have worked with this foam board before so I know the secret to cutting clean edges! It already feels WAY more insulated inside. Im getting pretty excited.

I painted the underside of the floor and both sides of the cabover wood with some crazy goopy paint I got at HD that is supposed to be good at filling cracks and very waterproof because its made for boat docks and things like that. It was about $40 a gallon and seemed to do well on the new 3/4" birch ply I used. I decided not to spring for the $200 a gallon two part epoxy though I wish I would have.

Then I caulked every seem inside with paintable non-silicone and primered 3 coats on nearly the whole interior with good old fashioned Kilz oil based original. I also added a second layer of 3/4" ply on top of the drivers side cabinetry area. There were a few holes from the water system and a small bit of dry rot that I wanted to reinforce.

I wound up pulling almost all the wiring and ditching the entire water system and stove top. Im not sure what I can and can't do with the propane so I need someone to look at it that actually knows about propane heat systems before I fire it up. I ditched the Y in the line that split the stove piping and heater piping and ran a line directly from the tank to the heater. I don't know if this is ok because Ive read that the stove may act as a vent for the system. If anyone can chime in here it will be appreciated.

This is as far as I got last week except for cutting a piece of the old counter to cover the propane tank box and icebox and setting them in place to see what it looks like. I hope to finish most of the interior this week. Up next is sanding and painting the vertical laminate surfaces and reinstalling the bench seat.

 

[Atl-atl]

I also went on another camping trip before I ripped apart the the camper. Forgot to post the pics first though, too excited about the remodel!

This is the trail up to Bill Moore Lake. Leaves already started turning a couple weeks ago. Breck got a dusting of snow last weekend, gonna be a good year!

Bill Moore Lake

Aptly named "poser rock"

 

[Clutch]

**************' truck...great photos too!

 

[Atl-atl]

**************' truck...great photos too!

Thanks! Should have more updates on the rebuild soon since I'm working nights and working on the camper during the day. Hoping to have it mostly finished by Saturday with the exception of the custom counter top I will install and getting the heater working again.


Speaking of the heater, anyone want to help with this? I removed the stove from the camper and routed the propane line directly from the tank to the heater. Is this ok?