Dodge Ram 5500 motorhome

[guidolyons]

Damn it, Ward! Where are the :jealous: and :envy: smilies?

Looks great, can't wait to see the Intercontinental Cruiser out in the wild. :sombrero:

 

[HMT]

Sigh ... Living in a house is so over rated ...

Teaser photoView attachment 323813

 

[adam88]

Ward is a Canadian, no breaks for him.......or me.....

I meant cause he negotiated the price of it before the Canadian dollar really tanked. They might charge more to do the same project now with everything getting more expensive (e.g., aluminum, appliances.... ). Good time

 

[Jeep]

You are correct, we are seeing a difference in raw materials to a degree, even with Alcoa and Alcan and a few steel mills being in Canada with stat to finish operations, commodities still trade in the USD. With a finished product like Wards, the materials are far less than the labor costs which haven't changed significantly up here so the price difference of a finished product isn't as dramatic as it would be in a materials, or component only deal. Interesting times for sure.

 

[pappawheely]

 

[Healeyjet]

Let me just say Annie and I are sure glad we started this project when we did!

Had a great visit to ITB on Friday and are pleased with the progress being made. It looks like we are about three weeks away from ITB being done their portion of the build.

Here are a few progress pics. Any questions fire away.

I had ordered the AEV Raised Air intake for the truck and had it delivered to ITB for ease. The guys at ITB surprised us by installing it prior to us getting there. We will probably be switching to the pre-filter from the air ram.


Bedroom area passenger side


Bedroom area driver's side


View from passenger side of bed.
Air vent, LED ceiling light and drop down television. On the outside of the bathroom wall is the controls for the ceiling vents and some lighting.


Space under the bed. This still needs to have the panel installed between the under bed storage area and the rear storage area that is accessible from outside. All of the storage compartments are within the thermal envelope of the camper. The under bed area will also be home to the 85 gallon fresh water tank, some heating components and some water filtration equipment


Front driver's side of the camper, the living room area. TV is just sitting there in this photo and will not be mounted in this location. Under the seat is home to the inverter and some heating equipment.


Passenger side above the walk in door. Audio system, Blue Sea components, solar and inverter panels. Bottom left side off this photo will be the home of the television on a swing arm.


This is the view on the back of the Blue Sea panel area. Still lots of work to be done here. Upon completion, all wiring is certified by CSA.

 

[Healeyjet]

DEF and fuel fills, this compartment is home to all of the "shore" hookups. Goodyear tire sitting in it home on the back of the camper.


Still lots to be done on the shore hookup compartment.


The "gasket" between the cab and the camper is now in place. Bottom right in this photo will be the home of the three 270 amp hour batteries.


The gasket area will get a cloth covering to pretty it up.


Steps installed. Bottom left compartment is home to the Oasis Zephyr hydronic heating system.


This heating system. Sitting in place but not installed yet.

 

[Healeyjet]

Annie standing beside the spare tire and lift and the rear swinging storage box for scale. The tire is 41" tall.


The roof of the camper so far. Still some components to be installed up here.


Kitchen area from the walk thru looking back.


Cabinets, the end of the sofa and the front bathroom wall.


Bathroom door all painted and waiting to be installed. It's sitting upside down in the photo and is thus hinged at the front of the bathroom. Leaving the bathroom door open while showering will allow for some arm swing in the shower and will make a visual barrier between the front of the camper and the bedroom / bathroom area.


The start to the shower system.


The side of the fridge waiting to be installed.

 

[S2DM]

Really stoked to see this all together Ward, Imagine how its gonna look with its new shoes!

 

[Hobietim]

Thanks for all the views and information. We are awaiting our Tiger Malayan build on Ram 5500 Crew Cab (Silver !) to be done this May/June, will have to keep track of y'all to catch up on the road somewhere! Really like the look of the AEV snorkel, I agree the Prefilter would probably look better, it's on our list now!

Hobietim

2016 Tiger Malayan "Pak Belang"
Ram 5500, Cummins etc . . .

 

[shortbus4x4]

Nice build. Any more info and pictures of the cab to camper gasket?

 

[mk216v]

Incredible Ward!!
What will go up on the driver/passenger cabover "ledges" (where the TV is temporarily sitting)? Will it be a storage area?

 

[Healeyjet]

S2DM, I cannot wait to see it with the new tires. It will change the look for sure.

Hobietim, yes we will have to watch for you on the road and meeting up some time would be great.

Shortbus, sorry but I don't have any info on the gasket. ITB does probably 25-50 builds a year using them but I am sure they are made to their specs which I am not privy to. Very nice quality though. It looks like a portion of a rubber bulb type thing. Hard to describe.

MK216v, the kickover area is still a toss up. Annie and I talked about it at length on the way home. We want to keep it available for a small mattress down the road for a grandchild should we be blessed with them. ITB and I drew into the plans at one point a removable cabinet under the cabinet on the drivers side that could be unscrewed from the wall and removed. I also drew in a long skinny "fishing pole" storage area right across the front corner of the kick over. Basically come back 10" from the bottom front corner and go straight up. This long skinny cabinet could be a very secure locked cabinet if you really wanted to protect your "fishing poles".
ITB will be adding a small lip to the front of the floor of the kick to keep a mattress in place as well the lip will be removable where it goes around the walk through. We will have a panel to put over the walk through "ceiling" to make a flat surface for a mattress. Until we need it for a mattress it will probably be storage. Maybe with some footman loops on the floor to tie down containers or a netting .....not exactly sure. It is real nice to have it open as it adds a sense of space to the front living area. As well, I can stand in the walk through and use the floor of the kick over as a desk which is a nice bonus.

Ward

 

[mk216v]

S2DM, I cannot wait to see it with the new tires. It will change the look for sure.

Hobietim, yes we will have to watch for you on the road and meeting up some time would be great.

Shortbus, sorry but I don't have any info on the gasket. ITB does probably 25-50 builds a year using them but I am sure they are made to their specs which I am not privy to. Very nice quality though. It looks like a portion of a rubber bulb type thing. Hard to describe.

MK216v, the kickover area is still a toss up. Annie and I talked about it at length on the way home. We want to keep it available for a small mattress down the road for a grandchild should we be blessed with them. ITB and I drew into the plans at one point a removable cabinet under the cabinet on the drivers side that could be unscrewed from the wall and removed. I also drew in a long skinny "fishing pole" storage area right across the front corner of the kick over. Basically come back 10" from the bottom front corner and go straight up. This long skinny cabinet could be a very secure locked cabinet if you really wanted to protect your "fishing poles".
ITB will be adding a small lip to the front of the floor of the kick to keep a mattress in place as well the lip will be removable where it goes around the walk through. We will have a panel to put over the walk through "ceiling" to make a flat surface for a mattress. Until we need it for a mattress it will probably be storage. Maybe with some footman loops on the floor to tie down containers or a netting .....not exactly sure. It is real nice to have it open as it adds a sense of space to the front living area. As well, I can stand in the walk through and use the floor of the kick over as a desk which is a nice bonus.

Ward

Awesome!
"Fishing pole" storage is always handy!

 

[Healeyjet]

MK216v, here is another photo of the kick. The camper is 8' wide so about 1' would be taken up by a removable cabinet on the driver's side then the "fishing pole" storage across the front lower corner. We will see how things go and whether we have any need for these two cabinets.