Carlyle
Explorer
Mainly for the room
Alaskan Camper Build Up
- Thread starter Carlyle
- Start date
Mainly for the room
Running Boards
Carlyle
I had the Amp Research Power Step Running Boards installed on my 2010 Ram 3500 Crew Cab and they work great. They come with hidden lights which I was not aware of when I ordered them. When the door is closed the board are up out of the way and can hardly be seen.
Francis
P.S. My 5'4" wife really appreciates the access.
Carlyle
I had the Amp Research Power Step Running Boards installed on my 2010 Ram 3500 Crew Cab and they work great. They come with hidden lights which I was not aware of when I ordered them. When the door is closed the board are up out of the way and can hardly be seen.
Francis
P.S. My 5'4" wife really appreciates the access.
Congrats on receiving the new truck--it looks very impressive just stock. Its now time to change the signature on your posts! I know you have said you are a dirt road driver as opposed to off road--but have you considered nerf bars/rock sliders in lieu of running boards? They might better protect your new investment from unexpected impacts, still will get you a leg up into the cab, and best of all give a rig that stylish Mad Max look--lol.
chilliwak
Expedition Leader
Carlyle, as bad as it is to loose your rig to the fire, at least you are able to make some upgrades. I will be interested to hear what you think about the Dodge as opposed to the Ford. Everything is looking excellent and we all are following your build intensly. Keep those awesome pics coming!
Carlyle
Explorer
It was a great idea Francis, but I finally talked to someone at Amp Research and the DEF tank behind the driver's door will stop the use of their running boards. Bestop, makers of another powered running board just have no idea if theirs will fit. Any suggestion?
Hello Carlyle,
I am excited to watch your new rig come together. I've always wanted to see how a non cab over alaskan on a crew cab flat bed turns out. I admit it's mostly been a looks thing for me as like the turtle truck, unimog alaskan example, and the european expedition rigs that the germans and austrians make. And like you-I need the space of the crew cab (i've got two kids). I'm light years away from building one so it sure is great to be able to watch yours come together. Good luck!
I know you made up your mind on the spare tire. It sounded like there weren't that many good options. But you might take a pretty big fuel economy hit having it on the front bumper (i think that's the solution you settled on). If so, I don't think you will have any trouble putting it on a roof rack over the cab (getting it up and down from there is another story). You could even put one of the yakima or thule wind screens in front of it.
Anyway best of luck and apologies in advance if the unsolicited advice is bothersome,
LKITO
I am excited to watch your new rig come together. I've always wanted to see how a non cab over alaskan on a crew cab flat bed turns out. I admit it's mostly been a looks thing for me as like the turtle truck, unimog alaskan example, and the european expedition rigs that the germans and austrians make. And like you-I need the space of the crew cab (i've got two kids). I'm light years away from building one so it sure is great to be able to watch yours come together. Good luck!
I know you made up your mind on the spare tire. It sounded like there weren't that many good options. But you might take a pretty big fuel economy hit having it on the front bumper (i think that's the solution you settled on). If so, I don't think you will have any trouble putting it on a roof rack over the cab (getting it up and down from there is another story). You could even put one of the yakima or thule wind screens in front of it.
Anyway best of luck and apologies in advance if the unsolicited advice is bothersome,
LKITO
Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
Beautiful Truck! love the color you chose, can't wait to see the progress.
Great choice for the crew cab, with kids it is nice for everyone to have their own door.
keep the build pictures posted. Winter in Pittsburgh sucks! I need more build inspiration.
Great choice for the crew cab, with kids it is nice for everyone to have their own door.
keep the build pictures posted. Winter in Pittsburgh sucks! I need more build inspiration.
I was wondering if you lost your rear camper door snap on insect screen in the fire or if you'll have to sew/fabricate a new one. I remembered seeing the comercial for these... https://www.buymagicmesh.com/?tag=im|sm|go|gn&a_aid=011&a_bid=d330313e magnetic closing ones for about $20 and was thinking if you reinforced the outer edges for the snaps, you could easily pass through the screen without much hassle. I have no idea if the screen is of decent quality or junk--but even if you just use the magnets in a beefier screen it might be a nice project for you.
Carlyle
Explorer
Thanks for all the kudos on the build everyone. Wheels and tires are scheduled to arrive today by Fed Ex freight, 875 pound package... I'll shoot some comparison pics when they are going on. Flat bed is being fab'd lengthened and mounted next week and will be 14' when complete, looking forward to getting the flatbed on so that I can put a pallet of sandbags on and drive this thing around.
I replaced my ham radio last week and went with a Icom handheld to simplify things. External antenna, 12 volt charger and mic ordered as well. Single band and D-star, but great reviews and programmed with all US repeaters already.
Advanture; that mesh looks like a nice idea since the one I had did cook.
Still trying to figure out my running board/slider options. Bestop who make the Power Boards had no idea if they will fit and just left it at that, so they are out. I've looked at a few steps, but nothing is really standing out yet.
Aluminess bumper is at the powder coater's and supposed to ship any day now. My winch is sitting here awaiting it...
LKITO; thanks for the thoughts on the spare, but wrestling a 175 pound wheel and tire off/on the roof of the truck is pretty much out. I don't think Yakima has a tire crane option, though they do sell a lot of stuff. Spare is going on the front and will be an official bug catcher or deer catcher. I already have plans to put a rack on the truck and have the Yakima tracks now for the mount. Guess the headliner will have to pulled for the first time.
I went to mount seat covers that I had made for the back seat and lo and behold the seat back does not "pop up" and out of the clips like the Ford. I talked to the dealer and got the three page instruction sheet for that little project... Some assembly required, ever heard that one?
Called the dealer about floor mats and the Weatherguard/Husky mats are not made for the 5500, it's wider than the 3500 inside and they don't quite fit. Guess I'll need to get a chunk of rubber and cut it to fit.
I replaced my ham radio last week and went with a Icom handheld to simplify things. External antenna, 12 volt charger and mic ordered as well. Single band and D-star, but great reviews and programmed with all US repeaters already.
Advanture; that mesh looks like a nice idea since the one I had did cook.
Still trying to figure out my running board/slider options. Bestop who make the Power Boards had no idea if they will fit and just left it at that, so they are out. I've looked at a few steps, but nothing is really standing out yet.
Aluminess bumper is at the powder coater's and supposed to ship any day now. My winch is sitting here awaiting it...
LKITO; thanks for the thoughts on the spare, but wrestling a 175 pound wheel and tire off/on the roof of the truck is pretty much out. I don't think Yakima has a tire crane option, though they do sell a lot of stuff. Spare is going on the front and will be an official bug catcher or deer catcher. I already have plans to put a rack on the truck and have the Yakima tracks now for the mount. Guess the headliner will have to pulled for the first time.
I went to mount seat covers that I had made for the back seat and lo and behold the seat back does not "pop up" and out of the clips like the Ford. I talked to the dealer and got the three page instruction sheet for that little project... Some assembly required, ever heard that one?
Called the dealer about floor mats and the Weatherguard/Husky mats are not made for the 5500, it's wider than the 3500 inside and they don't quite fit. Guess I'll need to get a chunk of rubber and cut it to fit.
That truly is a heavy tire. If you did want a crane for tandem bicycles, tandem kayaks and a big honking wheel (for the second spare—lol)—as you don't have a cab over to contend with—wouldn't it be relatively simple to have a custom crane fabricated? I'm thinking if you had a heavy walled steel pipe sticking up vertically just behind the cab (and around about the height of the cab or a few inches more to be level with a roof rack) on the passenger side between the back side of the cab and in front of the camper body with a cross brace to form a triangle down to the chassis or flat bed, then had a second pipe a little smaller on its inside diameter so that they telescope together and you could adjust the height of the thing upwards when you wanted to deploy it—keeping it at the desired height by running a rod through holes drilled through both pipes. The upper piece of pipe would then have a "L" shaped boom attached to it (made of the same diameter as the bottom piece of pipe so that it could rotate in the horizontal plane around the middle piece of pipe, but pinned somehow to prevent it from flying off on a big bump) the length of the boom piece would be less than the width of your cab so as not to be sticking out past the cab on the driver's side when stored—but would allow the end of the boom to swing out well past the passenger's side of the cab when lowering or raising items. Then with some creative placement of pulleys, some kind of hook/bridle/shackle, some nylon rope and one of those simple ratcheting crank winches like on the front of small boat trailers you should have a simple camper crane. I'm hoping I explained that clearly. Of course you could always have the crane incorporated into the passenger side upright for a full custom Dakar style/truck trial, full cab, exterior roll cage—which could incorporate rock sliders/a step, and a heavy duty over cab rack into the design. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn_d4dLolNE I'm having a great deal of fun spending gobs of your money. Thank you for the opportunity to be creative—hopefully some of these ideas will be of use to you--and not get you in trouble with the significant other--just tell her its for enhanced safety!
In regards to the floor mats--have you had a look at these ones? http://www.carid.com/custom-floor-mats/lloyd-floor-mats-161257.html It says $53.89--they have 10,000 patterns and manufacture them to order in 2-3 days, is available in a dark tan, and has a bunch of little cups to catch boot slush and what not.
Carlyle
Explorer
Mats not made for the 5500, thanks for the try though. Guess I'll go with Mopar slush mats.
