Dodge Ram 5500 motorhome
- Thread starter Healeyjet
- Start date
Healeyjet
Explorer
Went on a nice 4 day trip to Cypress Hills in south western Saskatchewan this last weekend. Weather was nice. We got out to do some rough road travel which was fun. We took the Gap Road from West block back to Centre Block. The Gap Road is impassable when wet but luckily it was dry. We ripped right along while the Brother in Law in a 4x4 Chev could hardly keep up behind us. The big tires on the Cruiser just roll across a lot of the washboard while the smaller truck tires on the Chev bounced them around a fair bit. We had to stop two or three times for them to catch up. Did some bike riding and hiking so got some exercise as well. We even had Ray and Marianne Hyland and the boys stop by to spend Sunday night with us and celebrate Annie's birthday.
Saw these two on our bike ride the first morning.
For those thinking Saskatchewan is totally flat, here is the Conglomerate Cliffs. Southwestern Saskatchewan is actually the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains in Canada.
The Gap Road
I will add a Youtube video link as soon as I get it uploaded. I had Annie video me driving the truck through the ditch and the loose cobbles.
The Cruiser is still performing very well. Solar panels are keeping up to our power usage even among the Lodgepole pine forest of Cypress Hills.
Ward
Saw these two on our bike ride the first morning.
For those thinking Saskatchewan is totally flat, here is the Conglomerate Cliffs. Southwestern Saskatchewan is actually the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains in Canada.
The Gap Road
I will add a Youtube video link as soon as I get it uploaded. I had Annie video me driving the truck through the ditch and the loose cobbles.
The Cruiser is still performing very well. Solar panels are keeping up to our power usage even among the Lodgepole pine forest of Cypress Hills.
Ward
Healeyjet
Explorer
Thanks Java
Here is a link to the YouTube video we did driving through the ditch. As always it never looks as "extreme" in a video as it does in real life, LOL. We spent a couple hours in this area climbing the hills and taking photos. It was a real nice afternoon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPU0M570_ec
Ward
Here is a link to the YouTube video we did driving through the ditch. As always it never looks as "extreme" in a video as it does in real life, LOL. We spent a couple hours in this area climbing the hills and taking photos. It was a real nice afternoon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPU0M570_ec
Ward
Healeyjet
Explorer
You are correct about the truck making the ditch look small.:smiley_drive:
Not sure if you remember back to the build but the camper box is hard mounted to the truck frame with large U-bolts so the only movement is a little flex in the frame. The Dodge Ram C&C has a very stiff frame, mount a solid box to it and the suspension does all of the work, just like it should. Whew!
The air ride so far has been great. Super easy to level the camper when parking for the night. Real nice to drive on the highway and even better on a gravel road. The best ride for this camper is about 50 mph on a gravel road.
Ward
Not sure if you remember back to the build but the camper box is hard mounted to the truck frame with large U-bolts so the only movement is a little flex in the frame. The Dodge Ram C&C has a very stiff frame, mount a solid box to it and the suspension does all of the work, just like it should. Whew!
The air ride so far has been great. Super easy to level the camper when parking for the night. Real nice to drive on the highway and even better on a gravel road. The best ride for this camper is about 50 mph on a gravel road.
Ward
java
Expedition Leader
You are correct about the truck making the ditch look small.:smiley_drive:
Not sure if you remember back to the build but the camper box is hard mounted to the truck frame with large U-bolts so the only movement is a little flex in the frame. The Dodge Ram C&C has a very stiff frame, mount a solid box to it and the suspension does all of the work, just like it should. Whew!
The air ride so far has been great. Super easy to level the camper when parking for the night. Real nice to drive on the highway and even better on a gravel road. The best ride for this camper is about 50 mph on a gravel road.
Ward
I did remember! But I was expecting to see a bit more frame flex. Im guessing the box is pretty damn ridgid as well.
Does the air ride have auto level?
Healeyjet
Explorer
The air ride has auto level to a degree. From what I understand, the "level" idea is that the air bags inflate and deflate to keep the distance from the axle to the frame consistent. If there is a heavy wind from the curb side the bags on the drivers side will inflate more to keep the camper level. Thus there will be more air pressure in the drivers side bags than the curb side.
If I go to manual mode I can override the system but that is only done when we are parked for the night and I want to level the camper. In that case I can actually level the camper to an air bubble irrespective of the axles.
Ward
If I go to manual mode I can override the system but that is only done when we are parked for the night and I want to level the camper. In that case I can actually level the camper to an air bubble irrespective of the axles.
Ward
Wow, reading through this whole thread has been a total blast! It's really cool to see what sort of ideas people come up with. I've gotta admit, though, I'm a bit jealous! If you don't mind me asking, what do you guys do for a job? I've noticed a lot of people on here have single vehicles that cost quite a bit more than my house! Maybe I need to re-direct my career toward something different so I can have a chance to take my family on some awesome trips, too! Any ideas?
calicamper
Expedition Leader
TD one thing is for sure overlanding and sailing its not the rig its the time thats the hardest thing to get. And plenty of people have amazing rigs but work like slaves to simply have them vs use them. Lots if folks have paid off low cost sticks and bricks houses and can put money into fancy rigs.
Photomike
White Turtle Adventures & Photography
Buy what you can afford and start traveling. If that is a van, truck with a cap or whatever do it. DON'T wait!!! My dream was to ride across Canada and then maybe around the world, my health went south and that will never happen. Even if your trips are to the local campground/forest reserve or whatever start with what you have! Maybe as you age you will find the money to do longer trips with more equipment.
Healeyjet
Explorer
TDF, I am in logistics. Nothing special. It's just I can do it from the road. On our trip to Asheville I will work by cell phone and internet and we will travel 2-4 hours a day. It wont be perfect but it will be good enough that we can be out on the road. During the trip we will also take time to visit some Japanese Gardens, Frank Lloyd Wright houses and quilt / fabric shops. We had our kids younger than some and are now empty nest at 50.
We decided a couple years ago that we had a 5 year window as our boys didn't seem to be on a quick path to giving us grandchildren ( a reason to stay home) and my parents health is good. Fast forward 1.5 years into our 5 year window and our first grandchild will be born in November of this year. I tell everyone that will listen that the best vehicle to camp in is the one that gets you out and on the road. We have lost some relatives and friends in the last couple years and I realized that we have no control over when the end comes but are in full control of what we choose to do with our time between now and then. As Cali said, time is the biggest hurdle and most valuable commodity by far!!
TDF, how lucky are you that you get to live in Asheville! Annie and I have been there a couple times to stay at the Grove Park Inn and love visiting your city. We can hardly wait to get down there again and stand in front of the roaring fire in the 6'tall fireplace in the Grove Park Inn. Maybe they wont realize we aren't guests, LOL. I also want to visit some of the furniture makers that I follow on Instagram while in Asheville.
Is TDF for Tour de France?
Ward
We decided a couple years ago that we had a 5 year window as our boys didn't seem to be on a quick path to giving us grandchildren ( a reason to stay home) and my parents health is good. Fast forward 1.5 years into our 5 year window and our first grandchild will be born in November of this year. I tell everyone that will listen that the best vehicle to camp in is the one that gets you out and on the road. We have lost some relatives and friends in the last couple years and I realized that we have no control over when the end comes but are in full control of what we choose to do with our time between now and then. As Cali said, time is the biggest hurdle and most valuable commodity by far!!
TDF, how lucky are you that you get to live in Asheville! Annie and I have been there a couple times to stay at the Grove Park Inn and love visiting your city. We can hardly wait to get down there again and stand in front of the roaring fire in the 6'tall fireplace in the Grove Park Inn. Maybe they wont realize we aren't guests, LOL. I also want to visit some of the furniture makers that I follow on Instagram while in Asheville.
Is TDF for Tour de France?
Ward
Haha, yes TDF stands for Tour de France- not many people guess that. When I was still in high school I got an offer from the USPS team to ride with them but, even with their pay I wasn't able to afford to move out on my own with a job that only paid $6.50 an hour, so unfortunately I wasn't able to accept the offer. When you come down to Asheville again let me know- my wife and I and our little girl enjoy getting out and meeting new people, and there really are a lot of fun things to do in the area. There is even a brewery with its own mountain bike trails! We can even shuttle you around for a hike up the Black Mountain Crest trail, which is about 11 miles and hits multiple peaks over 6000 ft elevation and ends on top of Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the Eastern US. Which furniture folks do you follow? Always had a dream of being able to make a living off of custom furniture or doors, made with real joinery and none of the cheap shortcuts people use these days. Over the past couple years my wife and I have been moving towards being able to work from an internet connection as well, but trying to create a home business from scratch has a learning curve! Current plan is 2 years to have us both working from home and able to travel, so here's hoping it works out! Keep the trip reports coming, it's good inspiration to keep pluggin' along.
Healeyjet
Explorer
TDF, Annie and I will be in Asheville in just over a month. We are leaving home in Saskatoon mid September and making our way to Overland Expo East. The chance to camp in the Biltmore Forest was just too much of a draw for us to resist. We are going to stop at some Japanese Gardens, Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, fabric and quilt shops along the way. In total we hope to be on the road 6-7 weeks but we will see. Our Grandchild is due end of November and if it happens to come early we will have to make our way back quicker. We were to leave the 15th but have a nephew coming fro Japan that wants to stay with us for a couple days and he arrives the 19th of September so that may push our departure date back a week. We will be in the camping area so if you get a chance and see the camper come on by and introduce yourself.
We will be updating the thread from the road for sure.
Ward
We will be updating the thread from the road for sure.
Ward