2007 Dodge Ram 2500 Expedition Rig Build

[semperfidher]

Hello all!

First off, I wanted to thank all of the other gearheads on Expedition Portal for the inspiration to just get outside and explore new places. While most of us on here seem to simply be tinkerers and weekend warriors, the vast expanse of knowledge on this site (gained from countless jaunts into the wilderness) has helped me immensely. And for those of you who are truly living the off-grid lifestyle, overlanding across the world...please keep it up. I live vicariously through your adventures.

Our story:

In 2011, my wife and I traded our 1990 Chevrolet C1500, which was always reliable and in beautiful condition, for a 1974 Chevrolet K20 with a 1970's Mitchell camper on board. While I gained a few hundred bucks from the trade (which i immediately invested back into the K20), we definitely downgraded in our truck's good looks, reliability, and gas mileage. HOWEVER, what we gained was 1. 4WD, and 2. The means, via the camper, to get into the Rocky Mtns during the wintertime. The result? We had a wonderful winter of wilderness camping in Colorado's myriad remote, snow-covered, forest service roads.

Later that spring, and only two days before we were moving across the country for a military change of station, the K20 developed extreme rod knock. We were against a wall. I had no time, no tools (movers had already come), and couldn't risk breaking down in the middle of nowhere with my life's possessions trailering behind my truck.

The Result? A last-minute scramble on AutoTrader and Craigslist to find the truck I had always wanted: a 3rd Gen Ram HD. I didn't want a 6.7l, and found a great deal on an '07 2500 4x4 with a 5.9 and 48re. I was after an ST Trimmed work truck, because i wanted the simplicity of manual windows, doors, seats, etc.

Buying a used work truck in the American West is a gamble, but the truck felt solid, albeit a bit beat up. I've since had to replace ball joints, u-joints, front drive shaft, and brake components (all the NOT FUN things to fix), but almost five years later, I feel as though we've shaken out most of the abused parts from the truck's former life on a Wyoming ranch.

The truck that started it all...


My wife remodeled the inside of the Mitchell Camper, and made it real "lodgey" and comfortable
BEFORE


AFTER


New Truck at the Dealer


Hooked up to the new camper (1992 One-owner Hallmark we picked up for $3500...the original camper didn't fit the Ram)


New Towing Mirrors, JBL Door Speakers, and Firestone Airbags Installed

 

[Healeyjet]

Nice rig. As someone else has said before, the best rig is the one you use! Your latest rig looks very nice and it sounds like a prefect platform for what you want to do. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Ward

 

[semperfidher]

Thanks, Ward! I've been meaning to get this thread going for a while now, but just haven't had the time it seems. I'm loving your Unlimited in your profile pic!

 

[semperfidher]

Wow, Ward....just read your 5500 build thread. I'll consider the bar raised! Very cool project!! More to follow on my thread when i get back home from Christmas traveling...

 

[Regcabguy]

www.cumminsforum.com and www.dieseltruckresource.com are a couple of free forums with a wealth of knowledge.

 

[semperfidher]

Okay, back on here....life gets busy, so I haven't put anything on in a while. Anyways, my wife and I rocked the camper setup for about three full years and while we had a blast using it for our original intended purpose (winter camping), the camper was simply too heavy for my truck. I cracked two rear wheels; once in rural New Hampshire (where we were stranded for two days), and then again in rural Tennessee (where I had to limp the truck along for about 100 miles to get to the nearest repair facility). Obviously, my desire to NOT kill my family or other motorists around me quickly prompted me to try to find an alternative. My wife and I shopped around for trailers and 5th wheels, but finally came to the (no duh) realization that we simply aren't RV/Campground types....so why the heck would we be looking at paying $10,000-$60,000 dollars for something that couldn't even give us the freedom to go where we'd actually enjoy using it?!?!?!
I received the warning that I'd be deploying soon, so my wife and I decided to sell the camper before I left, and started scheming about what we'd WANT in a rig. We WANTed something that could go offroad (as reasonably as could be expected from a long wheelbase 3/4 ton truck). We WANTed something that'd fit over/on that very wheelbase so that we could still manage switchbacks. We WANTed a vehicle truly capable of overlanding....so that's what we decided to do. After a few preliminary sketches, I put together a (in my opinion) decent drawing, complete with proper measurements for a custom bed. Then I deployed, and all designs on the truck stopped for a bit. We emailed a few guys/shops around the US to see if what we designed was feasible both fabrication-wise and budget-wise. Thankfully, it was. Chad, from Valley Truck Repair (truckbeds.com) in Sunnyside, WA, was extremely helpful throughout our design process. He listened to whatever we desired, and TRULY cares about setting his customers up with what they NEED in a truck bed. They specialize in rural fire department and phone company trucks, and make off-road oriented utility beds, focused on strength, light weight, and usefulness. They seemed like the perfect fit.
Below are some pics I took from the post-deployment drive from CA to WA, the build, install, and final product.

 

[semperfidher]

 

[semperfidher]

 

[semperfidher]

One of my main features on the truck's design was it'd modularity. It was imperative that I still retained the ability to have a TRUCK (i.e. a functioning bed). The entire upper back half of the truck bed is removable, which will convert the rig from camper to flatbed pickup truck. This image best shows what it'd look like in flatbed configuration. Notice that the front boxes are welded on, and act as an integrated headache rack. The over cab roof rack is welded and reinforced to hold a full size spare and hi-lift jack. One of my main concerns was the overall strength of the bed, in particular, the overhead rack. I intended to put a decent amount of weight over the cab, and didn't want flex. Valley Truck did a great job strengthening the rack...enough so that jumping jacks may or may not have been done on it to test it's flex. This is the most scientific method of strength testing, of course.






The new shelter... a Tepui Tents Autana Ruggedized. Not quite a hard-sided camper, but it'll do!

 

[semperfidher]

Another big design feature...the Kitchen. This is a 5', 300lb capacity slide out tray where the 50qt ARB Fridge and two-burner camp stove will go. Much of the bed was literally designed around this silly box...cold beer while camping is a MUST.


On the return trip home! Nice and shiny. I wanted to powdercoat the bed, but the money we would've spent to do so much surface area was just better spent elsewhere. For example, before the trip I installed an Air Dog II fuel perforator, a boost/EGT/oil pressure gauge pod, an S&B Cold air intake, and a Smarty programmer. Also spent the money saved from going bare (on the bed, that is) on a hi-lift, the tent accessories, and a Cascadia Vehicle Tents 99inch awning, which I haven't installed yet.


Since, when configured in ExpoTruck mode, we designed the bed to hold our dogs and for us to sleep inside if we didn't feel like setting up the RTT, the next step was to conceal the bed. We found Ricky, at North County Upholstery, in Escondido, CA, who did an EXCELLENT job taking the HMMWV top-like material we'd purchased online and making it into an enclosed, modular shelter.




Barely fit!


The end result!

 

[semperfidher]

 

[semperfidher]

 

[semperfidher]

Pics from the inaugural test trip to Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Nothing fancy, just plopped down into Fish Creek Wash and found a flat spot for an overnighter.




The mess area side of the truck. The CVT awning will eventually go overhead. We have CVT walls to enclose the room for cold/windy days, but the truck is too tall for the walls to reach the ground, so i'm going to have to figure out a custom way to make it work. Fortunately, although the Tepui doesn't completely reach the ground either, they make an extension that'll just zip onto the bottom. Easy day.

 

[semperfidher]

Northern Wisconsin. Made a 4500mi road winter road trip to visit family, see Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, and test out the rig in the cold. You'll notice not many pics of the truck sprawled out, made into a base camp. We stopped one 20 degree night in NE, but the winds picked up to around 40 mph gusts, so it was a pretty sleepless night. I learned that putting away a RTT, from a ladder (because it's so high off the ground), at 0515, in the dark, during 40 mph wind gusts is NOT enjoyable.
The rest of the trip, temps at night hovered between 0F and -15F. My wife and I could've toughed it out, but our dogs couldn't. We got cheap motels. It was times like these when we missed the truck camper, which could be kept at 70F all winter long. Compromises, I suppose.


Porcupine Mountains, MI. Made a day trip from WI to Lake Superior....always have been drawn to gichi-gami. Couldn't say why, but it's just a mysterious, eerie body of water that I find fascinating.


Had to, even though it was closed!


Badlands Natl Park




Pretty sure this guy's famous for being on the dollar bill. Dunno how one gets themselves printed on money...must've been a banker or something.


Devil's Tower is just plain cool. Pleasant surprise on the trip.


After this, we pushed to Rawlins, WY for the night. The next day, we made it all the way back to the San Diego area.

 

[semperfidher]

The calcium chloride the northern states use on their roads really took it's toll on the aluminum. Chad, the builder from Valley Truck, recommended an acid wash that they use in the shop. I have some on order...we'll see how it does on the oxidation.