Bed rack fabrication for RTT -- 06 Dodge Ram 3500

[Scoutman]

Scoutman I love your set up. Cool truck. Can you tell me where you got your awning from and what you payed for it? Perhaps post a link to a suplyer? Thanks, cheers, Chilli..

Thanks Chilli, I ended up buying it from a member of the portal. He had gotten it via a group buy that had imported a bunch of them to the US before OK4WD started doing it. He never got around to installing it because it interfered with the roof conversion on his Land Cruiser. OK4WD.com carries them in stock for the most current pricing and Rin is very responsive in supporting the AluCab products.

I received my National Luna light and have plans to buy another one or 2. The ability to switch from amber to white is very nice with 3 levels of brightness each. Very pleased.

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[Scoutman]

A few shots of last weekend.

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[Scoutman]

No shots of the prior weekend (at a cub scout camp and raining) but the weekend before that we did a quick family overnighter just to get out of the house. After this trip I ordered an annex extension since there have been a number of times the annex didn't want to reach the ground fully.

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[chilliwak]

No shots of the prior weekend (at a cub scout camp and raining) but the weekend before that we did a quick family overnighter just to get out of the house. After this trip I ordered an annex extension since there have been a number of times the annex didn't want to reach the ground fully.

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Some really nice pics there Scoutsman1 Looks like a great camping trip. cheers, Chilli..

 

[Scoutman]

Phase 1 of the electrical project has begun.

Lighting and charging convenience is the goal with quality parts. I want to reach up and flip a few switches to have the tent powered and task lighting in all the right areas. Separate fused circuits with disconnect plugs so no major pain should something change or need to be removed in the future.

Power for the entire box is fed through the gooseneck plug in the bed of the truck. The hot line will then go through a Carlisle Industries 15a circuit breaker switch just like the ones Blue Sea uses on their below deck panels. Blue sea usb, a power socket, and a 4 circuit fused Weatherdeck switch panel fed from there. The 4 circuits will be tent power (Summit series already has usb and interior light, a National Luna red/white touch light gets installed between the ladders), a pair of Rigid A series warm high power 'rock' lights, a circuit for some National Luna amber/white touch lights (one over tailgate and a future one on the awning), and finally a future pair of Rigid SR-M diffused area lights.

After using this setup for the past year I think this is going to give me plenty light where I need.

Picts are of the main control box and of welding the brackets to the rack.

More to come.

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[uscg2008]

Will you be running a third battery for power or just upgrading you two starting batteries?

 

[Scoutman]

Will you be running a third battery for power or just upgrading you two starting batteries?

The plan is to run a 3rd (house) battery that will power the fridge and rack. I've been running the 2 truck batteries (diesel) to power the fridge for a little over a year now and while it seems to work fine in most cases I have found it's limitations, especially in the summer months. On most moderate temperature trips I will have to crank the truck and let the batteries top back off for a bit otherwise the fridge hits the medium cutoff point and starts alarming me. Cooler weather trips I have no issues running it for a few days without cranking. Summer months is where the real need for solar and a 3rd battery come in. I've never had the truck not start but I have had the fridge shut off and get warm.

The electrical is going to be done is 3 phases to help break up the cost over the next 6 months. First is getting the electrical box in and powered up with lighting. The draw and time I expect to use these items aren't going to add up to much on a given 2 day trip but the convenience of not running wires for the tent and not having to set up lights/lanterns/solar lights is significant. I can cull an armload of gear at this point from one of the camp boxes. Second step is to get the 3rd battery in (group 31, Duracell AGM marine battery) , a smart relay installed, and tie that battery to the fridge and rack control box. The battery is going under the truck since there's lots of real estate there. Third phase (which will probably happen as spring goes to summer and demand on batteries increases) will be to install a solar panel on the roof of the truck, charge controller under the hood and a remote display in the dash. That will cover truck charging while driving and solar charging while sitting and should be more than enough to keep all of my demands met. I don't take many long trips so as long as I can make a full extended weekend running everything (and maybe a fan overnight) I and my family will be happy.

At the moment I'm looking at a Blue Sea ML-ACR smart relay with the combiner switch in the dash and some sort of house battery meter. For solar I'm looking at a Victron MPPT 75/15 with the remote display and a 100w panel. If I can find an all in one system that I'm happy with then I'll consider options. I know CTEK makes some options I need to look into.

 

[Scoutman]

Back on the electrical project again. Should be done after the holidays.

Solder cup sockets with male pins. Weatherproof with dust covers.
Plugs are...
-Rigid rack lights
-tent power and NL red/white
-NL amber/white over tailgate
-future reverse area lighting
-future NL amber/white for awning

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[Scoutman]

Box is ready to install.

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[Scoutman]

I'll post some updated pictures once I can get tapatalk to update. It's not been acting right for some time.

 

[TeamDoty]

Scoutman, I just found your thread... and I'm very inspired! Thanks!

I have a 2005 3500... same color, long bed, srw just like yours. You've done some awesome, very well planned out upgrades for overlanding and I've enjoyed reading every post!

I've modified a contractors ladder rack and "kit bashed" some load ramps into a roof rack for my overbed rack. No RTT for us yet, we're a family of 5 and it's just not in the budget yet. I use a tonneau cover to keep everything under cover and secure - I made a pull out drawer for our stove and pantry container. I keep extraction gear, etc. up on the rack and the day to day stuff under the cover and in a roof top bag that I put on top of the tonneau cover. I certainly don't have the fab' skills or equipment you have, that's for sure - I'm not worthy! hehehe

Thanks again for taking the time to post up your projects and the pictures. It's great stuff... keep it coming!!!

 

[Scoutman]

Here are the pictures from running the power line from the switch box to the tent and also running power for the National Luna LED touch light between the ladders. It'll switch from white to red and has 3 brightness settings for each.

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[Scoutman]

Scoutman, I just found your thread... and I'm very inspired! Thanks!

I have a 2005 3500... same color, long bed, srw just like yours. You've done some awesome, very well planned out upgrades for overlanding and I've enjoyed reading every post!

I've modified a contractors ladder rack and "kit bashed" some load ramps into a roof rack for my overbed rack. No RTT for us yet, we're a family of 5 and it's just not in the budget yet. I use a tonneau cover to keep everything under cover and secure - I made a pull out drawer for our stove and pantry container. I keep extraction gear, etc. up on the rack and the day to day stuff under the cover and in a roof top bag that I put on top of the tonneau cover. I certainly don't have the fab' skills or equipment you have, that's for sure - I'm not worthy! hehehe

Thanks again for taking the time to post up your projects and the pictures. It's great stuff... keep it coming!!!

Thanks for the kind words. :sombrero: The big thing for us is trying different things out and see what works and what we need. This electrical project didn't really solidify till we had used it a while and realized where we really needed the light and power and were looking for more convenience in setup.

I sort of wish I had incorporated a toneau cover into the rack design, mainly for security.

 

[Scoutman]

here's the Rigid 'rock' lights mounted to the bottom of the rack directly over the 2 storage bins we use.

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[Scoutman]

Tailgate light. This is another NL touch light but in amber/white. I figured the amber would give a softer work light when dinner is finished and the bourbon comes out. :campfire:

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