Ram 5500 Fire Crew Carrier Overlanding Camper Build

[Herbie]

I used 2 heavy duty (ish) drawer slides as the base. These are still way too puny for the weight of the tire & carrier and may eventually need to be upgraded.

Looks great. You'll get a LOT more capacity out of those slides if you can mount them vertically. The de-rating for using them flat is like 50%. Since you have that bottom cradle made out of tubing, you may be able to attach the sliding portion directly to that, rather than to a plate underneath - that way you wouldn't have to raise the whole assembly much, if at all.

 

[simple]

How do the tires ride on the highway? Similar to a BFG mud terrain?

 

[OverlandFT]

Looks great. You'll get a LOT more capacity out of those slides if you can mount them vertically. The de-rating for using them flat is like 50%. Since you have that bottom cradle made out of tubing, you may be able to attach the sliding portion directly to that, rather than to a plate underneath - that way you wouldn't have to raise the whole assembly much, if at all.

For sure, the slides are weaker this way and I debated over the slide mounting quite a bit. I will probably rework the base design at some point down the road -hopefully years down the road lol. That's a good idea though and I could mount the slides vertically with teflon runners on the bottom of the carrier so the weight is directly on the bumper. That's the main reason why I mounted the slides this way... I didn't want the weight of the tire carrier on the slides while bouncing on a rough road.

 

[OverlandFT]

How do the tires ride on the highway? Similar to a BFG mud terrain?

So far, they're smooth and only have a slight hum at highway speeds. I've been into the 4x4 scene for years now and have run oversized BFG MTs, Goodyear MT/Rs, Nitto Trail Grapplers, Toyo Open Country M/Ts, & Cooper STT Pros. All of these started pretty good and a couple turned ugly with miles (looking at you MT/Rs and STT Pros). I have about 2500 miles on these Pirelli tires and they're wearing even and ride nice on the highway. However, I may have a completely different opinion by 5k or 10k miles. So far, so good.

What appealed to me on these Pirellis other than the price, was that they are characterized as a dual purpose road / off road tire. They're not as aggressive as the Conti MPT81s and probably won't perform quite as well off road. They were recommended to me by the tire dealer over the MPT81s for my planned use. There's not much info on them in the states, but they seem to be workhorses in Europe. Someone messaged me saying they run the Pirellis and have 20K miles on them and love em'. The biggest downside is lack of inventory in the US.

 

[jumpman1989]

Do these typically come with towing hitches?

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[OverlandFT]

Do these typically come with towing hitches?

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Sure, just depends on the truck configuration ordered. I plan to add a receiver to this truck for the possibility of flat towing a vehicle on less adventurous trips (mostly hwy).

 

[OverlandFT]

I've been neglecting my build thread, but still working on the truck all these months. Slowly but steadily getting things finished. The water system is complete with 25 gallons fresh, 5 gallon grey, indoor sink, outdoor sink, outdoor shower and on-demand propane hot water heater. I also built the outdoor kitchen with shelves, a ranger II camp chef stove on sliders, 2000w inverter and Kureig coffee maker. Additionally, I added 250W solar to the roof, stairs, a door for the bathroom, and a homemade compost toilet.

I had a quick trip to Moab last weekend to camp with family. We dispersed camped on the way up and back, but the main camping was just at a campground. All the new additions work well except the compost toilet. It was messy, smelly, and just difficult to upkeep in the small space. I thought I could save money by going the DIY compost toilet method, but now I plan to go a different route. The truck got an emissions CEL for DPF sensor circuit and regens too high. I'm hoping it's just the DPF sensor which is cheap and easy to replace. The truck drove great the entire trip despite the CEL.

I have a "big" trip planned in a month to the PNW and still have a few things I'd like to get done on the truck prior. Things on the list are a better toilet, maxxair auto vent, separate drink fridge, and a cargo basket over the cab. Storage limitations is the biggest hurdle with this truck and I need to start utilizing all the options available.

 

[simple]

Was there any insulation originally built into the box?

 

[OverlandFT]

Was there any insulation originally built into the box?

Yes, the build sheet for the box shows the walls and ceiling have R14 insulation (about 3" thickness).

 

[charlieaarons]

Very nice.
I know I’m being repetitive (and a nag), but considering “lack of inventory in US”, have you figured out where to put an unmounted spare, so that a seriously damaged tire doesn’t ruin a long trip? Believe me, I have been there and done that.
Like how strong is the roof? And how high? Or a roof rack on the cab? Unmounted 335 is ~130 lb.

 

[simple]

I purchased a similar truck and am curious what your thoughts are on a few things associated with converting to super singles. Will the life of the unit bearings on the front axle decrease? How is the braking and acceleration? Are you considering any gear ratio changes in the diffs?

 

[DzlToy]

Such an awesome idea and I am likely going to steal this. Been looking at different ideas for the spare on my M1010 project but have been trying to steer away from a swing out like my last rig. It worked fine but I needed to have space behind the rig to swing the tire out, to get into the camper. I couldn't do it parked in my driveway.

Barn door-style track with a skateboard or roller blade wheel in the channel works a treat. The bearings are sealed and the wheels/bearings will take the weight of the tire easily. Drawer slides are not meant to be exposed to the elements and will soon fail. Uni-Strut and C-Channel are both good options for the track.

EDIT: A DIY composting toilet is pretty simple. I presume you have done your research, but you only need three things:

1) To separate the pee and the poo. Together they make sewage. Separate each is inert, or nearly so.
2) A drying or neutralising medium: vinegar for the pee and peat moss or coconut coir for the poo
3) A method to move air over the poo to help dry it out. Ensure that poo is COMPLETELY covered after use.

I have spoken with dozens of people who have used all manner of composting toilets at OvEx shows, boat shows, van life shows and so on, over the last 10 years. When configured properly, there are no smells or issues to speak of. Check out the Humanure Handbook for more tech. I built a simple DIY toilet using a 1 gallon milk jug, a funnel and a 5 gallon bucket, set into a DIY enclosure, made from 1/2" plywood. A 100mm PC fan will be used to move air.

 

[OverlandFT]

Very nice.
I know I’m being repetitive (and a nag), but considering “lack of inventory in US”, have you figured out where to put an unmounted spare, so that a seriously damaged tire doesn’t ruin a long trip? Believe me, I have been there and done that.
Like how strong is the roof? And how high? Or a roof rack on the cab? Unmounted 335 is ~130 lb.

I've been thinking about ordering a sixth matching tire to keep as a backup. I haven't put much thought into carrying one though, but agree it would be good to have on a long remote trip. The roof is plenty strong, but I like keeping the roof height as low as possible (8'10" currently). There's not much room up there either after allocating space for a vent, some sort of cooling unit, and solar panel. I'm planning on adding a roof rack to the front cab for additional storage and that might be a good option if that ram roof can handle the weight. It's just tricky to fit another big item on a fairly small truck.

 

[OverlandFT]

I purchased a similar truck and am curious what your thoughts are on a few things associated with converting to super singles. Will the life of the unit bearings on the front axle decrease? How is the braking and acceleration? Are you considering any gear ratio changes in the diffs?

Sure, everything with the axle/drivetrain will have more wear with larger tires. However, the axles on the 550/5500 are pretty massive and should be able to handle the larger tires without much issue. Ball joints, tie rods, & unit bearings are all suspect for premature failure with a larger, heavier tire. Braking and acceleration are honestly great. The truck rides better with these tires then it did with the stock sized toyos. I get more room shifting between gears on the G56, which makes it easier around town and have no desire to change the gear ratio from the factory 4.44 (if I remember right).

 

[OverlandFT]

Barn door-style track with a skateboard or roller blade wheel in the channel works a treat. The bearings are sealed and the wheels/bearings will take the weight of the tire easily. Drawer slides are not meant to be exposed to the elements and will soon fail. Uni-Strut and C-Channel are both good options for the track.

EDIT: A DIY composting toilet is pretty simple. I presume you have done your research, but you only need three things:

1) To separate the pee and the poo. Together they make sewage. Separate each is inert, or nearly so.
2) A drying or neutralising medium: vinegar for the pee and peat moss or coconut coir for the poo
3) A method to move air over the poo to help dry it out. Ensure that poo is COMPLETELY covered after use.

I have spoken with dozens of people who have used all manner of composting toilets at OvEx shows, boat shows, van life shows and so on, over the last 10 years. When configured properly, there are no smells or issues to speak of. Check out the Humanure Handbook for more tech. I built a simple DIY toilet using a 1 gallon milk jug, a funnel and a 5 gallon bucket, set into a DIY enclosure, made from 1/2" plywood. A 100mm PC fan will be used to move air.

So... I bought a DIY compost toilet kit off etsy with good reviews and everything included (urine separator, vent fan, hose). I did the research and looked at what I needed to make this work. The toilet technically worked, but it's not for me. All the steps included above were followed and I used coconut coir as the medium. The urine container filled up quickly and the RV space is too small to easily install a larger container (64oz is what fit). It overflowed once, which was a big mess to clean up. I noticed a smell from the toilet, which wasn't terrible but I still preferred not to smell it. I think the fan included in the kit was a bit undersized and I could have done a better job sealing the toilet enclosure. The contained units from airhead, natures head and c-head are better for sealing and servicing, which just led me to scrap the whole DIY compost toilet. I'm sure my install wasn't quite right given the space limitations. I'm debating what to do next, but will probably be using the ol' cassette toilet for the big PNW trip in June... lots of backorders currently.