2012 Dodge ram 2500 headed for Europe.

Ravenmad

Ravenmad

Observer
Ok, so, I am active duty Army, just got orders for Germany (currently in Colorado) and I am taking my 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel 4 door short box 4x4. Yes it’s 3 times the size of a normal car there, yes it gets poor mileage compared to a diesel tiny car thing, no I am not going to sell it...

So, after talking with a friend last night I am going to fast forward on building my truck for overland style camping and exploring (apparently there are a ton of camp grounds in Europe)... What I am looking for is some input from the more experienced crowd and maybe a few in Europe as to lift and bumper laws. Also, I am attaching a list of parts I am already committed to getting for the truck.... Thanks, I am looking forward to the input.

Front Leveling Kit.
Dynatrac Hub KIt.
Arb front Locker.
Hutcheson Bead locks.
Aluminus rear bumper with tire carrier and Box
Hard tonoe cover with a pull out bed drawer.
Titan replacement fuel tank and second fuel tank (spare tire area) 86 gallons total fuel capacity.
CVT RTT ( gonna need to build or have a rack built for mounting the RTT above the tanoe cover)
33-35 inch tire (still not sure what brand of tire)

Maybe
Cold Air intake
Exhaust system
Want an AEV front bumper but no go till the end of the year apparently
Some type of LED lighting
Some type of rocker protection
Wanted to put a Carli 3.0 on it, but a complete upgrade on the suspension will be the last priority

Ok, that's it..... input please
 
Joe917

Joe917

Explorer
As far as EU laws go for the vehicle it does not matter unless you have to register it there. If you can keep the Colorado registration and your vehicle meets Colorado laws you will be legal in the EU.
 
LocoCoyote

LocoCoyote

World Citizen
Besides, you will have to register it with USAREUR.....vehicle inspection and everything. So in effect you will have to meet German laws.

As for the specifics...let me ask around and I will see if I can find anything out for you.

Camp grounds in Germany (most of western Europe) are more like KOA type camp grounds back home.....doesn't have much to do with real camping. Off road travel in Germany is restricted to various 4x4 parks (where you will pay a fee to drive the grounds). You can do some interesting stuff if you head either north (Scandinavia) of east (Eastern European countries) where the 4x4 rules are less restrictive.

If you are in to overland travel (and by your build it looks like you might be), then you will have the excellent opportunity to get a taste of North Africa while here...take your 30 days leave and drive down to Morocco and spend a week or two driving around there.....very excellent!
 
R

RunninCold

New member
Congrats on the assignment!

Check with the shipping company for the vehicle height restrictions and what accessories (roof rack) they allow on the vehicle during transit.
 
D

dcproven

Adventurer
Oh, and don't expect to find spare parts for your truck over there... and x2 on the Morocco trip, really worth it.
 
R

raven mad 1

Observer
LocoCoyote said:
Besides, you will have to register it with USAREUR.....vehicle inspection and everything. So in effect you will have to meet German laws.

As for the specifics...let me ask around and I will see if I can find anything out for you.

Camp grounds in Germany (most of western Europe) are more like KOA type camp grounds back home.....doesn't have much to do with real camping. Off road travel in Germany is restricted to various 4x4 parks (where you will pay a fee to drive the grounds). You can do some interesting stuff if you head either north (Scandinavia) of east (Eastern European countries) where the 4x4 rules are less restrictive.

If you are in to overland travel (and by your build it looks like you might be), then you will have the excellent opportunity to get a taste of North Africa while here...take your 30 days leave and drive down to Morocco and spend a week or two driving around there.....very excellent!
Click to expand...

I apretiate it, I am standing fast on a front bumper just becouse I dont want to spend $2500, get to Germany, and have them tell me to pull it off, then try to find a stock bumper to put back on. The camp grounds, well, my girls love camping and exploring so a KOA style camp ground is better than nothing, especially comping from Colorado were we can just drive into the national forest and find a nice spot. It will deff. be a change, but I am looking forward to getting my girls out of the US and maybe changing there perspective.
Now, the scandinavia thing is a must, my family is from the southern tip of Norway, so we must go...
 
R

raven mad 1

Observer
dcproven said:
Oh, and don't expect to find spare parts for your truck over there... and x2 on the Morocco trip, really worth it.
Click to expand...

Deff. agree there... I will be packing a bunch of service parts in my Household goods... ie. air, fuel filters...

I considered getting a 2014, but in the end, this truck has 23K on it, no issues, its a known quantity, no eurea or whatever that crap is called for an additive to the fuel system, and the truck runs very well... I will have to do some research on any other service parts to take with. I think I will have a full service done before we leave ie. tranny flush, coolant flush, diffs serviced.
 
R

raven mad 1

Observer
dcproven said:
Oh, and don't expect to find spare parts for your truck over there... and x2 on the Morocco trip, really worth it.
Click to expand...

Morrocco, do you take a ferry across from Portugal ??? I have a friend working in Portugal, I could stay at his place in the country and then cross over on a Ferry... Do you need a special permit, insurance, and I am sure passports as usual???
 
LocoCoyote

LocoCoyote

World Citizen
You do have to purchase 3rd party insurance (it is not too expensive) and for US citizens (and most European citizens) a visa is not required. You will need your vehicle ownership=ip documents...etc. If you want, I can put together a checklist of the things you need.....it sounds much more complex/difficult than it really is. Ferries go daily from several Spanish ports (Portugal is waaaaaay over further west) as well as the UK (Gibraltar :) ) Depending on the port you choose, the ride is anywhere from a few hours to 45 minutes or so.....

The way I do it from Germany is to drive from Germany, through France, then down the east/south coast of Spain to Almeria then over to Nador or Melilla. It takes 2.5 to 3 days to drive casually this way. But there are tons of other options....

Camping in Sweden and Finland ( I assume Norway as well...have not been there yet) is considered a right and "fair use" so long as you are not being destructive and respect other's rights, you can camp just about anywhere..... wild camping at its best.

Trust me about the parts...if you can't get them from the Military associated dealerships on post, you can order them from either the local Dodge dealer...and of course online is always an option (ordered a shock absorber that way once.....and had it delivered to a remote hole in the wall in the middle of the Algerian Sahara!

one last word about your passport....get it before you leave the US....it can be difficult to do as a soldier over here.....get it outside the military channels, unless you want to chase approvals from the chain of command. You will need that passport to travel unrestrictedly in Europe.

Anyway, it is a bit late right now.....I will provide more info later..
 
R

raven mad 1

Observer
LocoCoyote said:
If you are planning on a Morrocco trip, I can only highly recommend Chris Scott's Morocco Overland book.

http://morocco-overland.com/gettingthere/index.htm

http://www.trailblazer-guides.com/book/morocco-overland

Of course it can be found on Amazon as well.....

So where are you heading in Germany? Grafenwoehr? Wiesbaden? Hoehenfels? Kaiserslautern?
Click to expand...

I will deff. Order the book. As far as destinations, I am really open to that. I think I will have to put allot of thought into the priority list and map out each year ahead of time. My girls will of-course have a great deal of input.

I am going to Stuttgart, Germany...
 
LocoCoyote

LocoCoyote

World Citizen
I have not been able to find anything specific about the AEV bumper...... sorry.

I have a bullbar/winch bumper fitted and have not (yet!) had any issues with it...

ENTDECKER_en-394.jpg


I am up north of Frankfurt a bit......drop me a line once you get here and set up and maybe we can meet up and plan some trips or something..... email me (myusername@gmail.com)
 
R

raven mad 1

Observer
Deff. I am hopefull to find people interested in the same type of travel and exsploring, so I deff. will contact you when I get there. maybe we can plan a joint trip to Morocco...
Also, I se the beadlocks on your G-wagon, no issues driving on the road from the police on that? I spoke with the AEV rep again and he said they have a dealer in Germany that I can have the bumper shipped to if I dont get it before I leave here. My other option is a road armor or a aluminus front bumper, but the AEV is the cleanest and least obnoxious I have found to date... Thanks again for all the input, huge help...
 
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