2022 Ram 2500 BH with Bowen Customs flatbed + Total Composites camper build

[sn_85]

Just wanted to start a build thread on my new 2022 Ram 2500 Big Horn. I'll be slowly building this truck up over the next 9 months or so as I await my flatbed truck camper from Total Composites. I come from the Toyota world so this is my first introduction and experience with a truck from the Big 3. Ford and Ram were my top two choices but I really like the interior fit and feel of the Ram HD's and the fact that I HATE the Ford door chime, it's the most annoying noise I've come across in a vehicle. I also appreciated the shorter length of the Ram HD's as I have a shorter driveway so I didn't want the extra length of a 6.75' bed. The Ram's look the best and have an abundance of aftermarket support as well. Now I bought a Ram 2500 and I understand some of the advantages and shortcomings with that platform. Payload on the door is 2180lbs which is much less than other 3/4 tons. I spoke with BVO and Technique Vehicle Outfitters, either of whom I'll be doing my build with and it seems like we can make this work without going too far over GVWR. I know BVO has done 2500 builds with flatbed OEV campers with success. Should I have gotten a 3500? Probably. However I was able to get this 22' Ram 2500 on the lot, within an hour of where I live with about 90% of the options I wanted. I got a decent deal off MSRP for it and got in with low interest rates before the fed rate hike. Plus I was able to get it without a wait and got decent trade in on my 2011 Tacoma. We'll make this work.

My intention for this build is to have a 4 season ski base camp. Our two favorite resorts allow overnight camping so we'll take advantage of this without having to spend money for lodging. It will be nice to have a place to rest up at night and get up on the lifts early. We went back and forth on a hard side and pop-up soft side but ultimately decided a hardside camper would be the best for our use. We wanted true 4 season performance without dealing with thermal transfer. After doing our research we decided on a Total Composites 6.5' flatbed camper. These are shell campers that you can DIY yourself or have a builder spec out for you. The focus on my camper will be in storage space and seating area and I'll keep the heat, water, and cooking systems very simple and minimal to avoid complication, winterization and excess weight. We're not full timing so I don't need hot water or a full wet bath system. So hopefully can keep the camper under 1200lbs. We decided to go with BEAR Vehicles in Santa Paula, CA to do our camper build.

Polar Bear | BEAR Adventure Vehicles Flatbed Camper

The Polar and Kodiak Bear are 4 season campers for full-size trucks with flatbeds. We use Total Composites shells and can provide a blank shell for DIY enthusiasts or fully outfit the camper.

www.bearvehicles.com

To support our flatbed camper I'll also be getting an aluminum flatbed tray from Bowen Customs. I'll have to measure the weight pre and post flatbed at a CAT scale to get true weight but the tray is going to be lightweight and likely 50-100lbs lighter than the stock bed. Check out their trays as they do amazing work. Plus I placed a deposit on one about a year ago when I was going to do the build on my Tundra but decided to step up to an HD truck for obvious reasons and they honored the price at that time and my tray is at least $4k less than what it is currently with rising cost of materials and inflation. The tray is set to be installed next week so I'll be sure to update this thread on the flatbed tray.

Overland Flatbed

Introducing our new overland flatbeds! All aluminum Made in the USA Lifetime warranty on craftsmanship Custom sizes available (Email for quote) Black powder coat standard Base Model Includes The Following: 2x Rear lower boxes 2x Fenders 2x Front body line trim panels (5 stock beds) 2x Front...

www.bowencustoms.com

Suspension wise I haven't decided yet and the build is in progress. Tires will likely be 34-35" tires, which ever is the largest full size spare I can fit underneath.

Here are a few pics of her bone stock.



Picture of my other rig because I'm a Toyota Land Cruiser guy at heart!!!

 

[Lumpskie]

Another Land Cruiser/Ram guy here. Looking forward to seeing your build progress.

 

[buzzuti]

Get it! Have been eyeing Bowen for a couple month.

Can't wait to see the finished.
What is the wait time from Bowen at right now?

 

[sn_85]

Get it! Have been eyeing Bowen for a couple month.

Can't wait to see the finished.
What is the wait time from Bowen at right now?

From what I understand probably 6-9 months. If it’s a simple flatbed I think the lead times are shorter and for their more complicated trays like flatbed with forward garage or their slide in camper beds it’s longer. I went with Bowen because of the introductory pricing, quality and the fact that Brent is a stand up guy. He’ll treat you right and make sure your flatbed is right for whatever build you want to do with it. They can do a lot of customization to their flatbeds that the other companies don’t do. Certainly that adds to cost and the reason why lead times are long but if you can dream it up, he can build it.

That being said the MITS and OEV flatbeds are very nice as well and both are either in-stock or available in like 3 months. You’ll wait a bit longer a Bowen but if you have time it’s worth the wait. The one thing that I appreciate is that Bowen will try and retain a lot of the factory components like reverse camera and backup sensors. I talked with BVO and they said they don’t relocate those things on OEV trays, weird. I’ve gotten quotes for all 3 flatbed trays and Bowen ended up being the cheapest in cost and cheapest in install rate which includes relocation of the reverse camera and backup sensors.

I’ll be sure and report back once I get the tray installed, post pics and answer any questions that I can.

 

[UglyViking]

Excited to see what you think of the Bowen customs tray, been eyeing one also. Just out of curiosity, what made you go with a diesel over the gas option?

 

[sn_85]

Excited to see what you think of the Bowen customs tray, been eyeing one also. Just out of curiosity, what made you go with a diesel over the gas option?

TBH just wanted to try a diesel truck and wanted the efficiency since it was going to haul a camper up mountain passes. I know the diesels engines are heavier, more maintenance and cost upfront, along with higher diesel prices. Have always heard great things about the 6.7L Cummins so I wanted to give it a chance. The 68RFE is a different story lol. Looking back on it would a gasser have made more sense? Probably but the diesel is what I have now so we’ll roll with that until it doesn’t make sense anymore.

 

[sn_85]

Dropped the truck off in Denver at Bowen Customs to get a flatbed installed. Flew back home right after since I need to work a few days in the office and will fly back on Friday to pick her up. This will be the last time she has a truck bed!!!

 

[sn_85]

I picked up my flatbed from Bowen Customs over the weekend. I had a really great experience dealing with them and getting input on the bed design. Dimensions are 83"W x 86"L. 5" of the length is for the headboard so I get about 81" of usable bed length. It sticks out perhaps 2" further than the hitch receiver so not much length has been added. They did relocate the backup camera and rear sensors. It's definitely a bit more tricky to back in the truck since the camera is relocated lower and the rear sensors are up higher. Once the camper is on there it'll be even worse to backup!!! But hey at least I can still see back there like old school reverse cameras. I went with a 3" dropped deck height for this build. The main reason is that I want COG to be as low as possible and my camper is hard sided to any height reduction is valuable. As well I have less cab gap between the truck and camper so it'll look more aesthetically pleasing. What I lost is the ability to add a rear drawer and tires larger than 35". I don't plan to run larger than a 35' tire so this wasn't a big deal to me. It's all about pro's and con's and for me a lower deck height was worse some of the sacrifices.

Initially quality so far is really good. The welds, fit/finish, powder coating, latches and boxes all seem high quality. Brent and his team are accommodating and have great communication. The tray looks badass as well!!! I'm happy I went with their tray and would do so again. The only con was having to deal with I-70 traffic over the powder weekend. I couldn't get out of Denver since parts of I-70 was shut down due to accidents and when it snows there is massive powder panic. I had to book a last second hotel in Frisco as I-70 was closed in Glenwood Springs. I barely got a room at a "reasonable" price. And that is why I don't go skiing in Colorado.

Pictures as promised!!!

 

[sn_85]

Here are some snowy Storm Trooper pics!!!

 

[jsalbre]

Looks great!

Any plans for a new higher hitch?

 

[cj8rockcrawler]

Great departure angle too. I agree on the hitch and maybe the exhaust as well.

I'm excited to see how it turns out. I've been thinking of doing this with my 3rd Gen and keeping the 5th Gen stock.

 

[HappyChappy]

Looks great! This is gonna be a fun one to watch.

 

[sn_85]

Looks great!

Any plans for a new higher hitch?

No plans for a high clearance hitch for now. I think I'll see how it does in off-road situations when it's finally built out and determine if I need one or not. Any ideas who makes one? I'm hoping to not be in too many situations where departure angle is an issue since this rig will be mostly for winter camping and easier trails. I have taken a bump to the rear end of my Land Cruiser before so that's my primary wheeling rig.

 

[jsalbre]

Nice LC!

I don't know who (if anyone) makes a high-clearance hitch. It would probably need to be custom built, or a modification of your existing one, by a competent shop.

 

[Firebird]

That is a really good looking flat bed!

 

[UglyViking]

Oh no, @John Jensen was hacked!

 

[John Jensen]

Oh no, @John Jensen was hacked!

Oh crap! I hope only on this forum but not sure. Received an email on the same crypto subject.
I wonder what that URL represents. Maybe a moderator will come to the rescue.

Thanks for the heads up

 

[Dinky503]

I picked up my flatbed from Bowen Customs over the weekend. I had a really great experience dealing with them and getting input on the bed design.

Thats a clean looking flatbed. do they make it with a goose neck option? if you dont mind me asking how much was it all said and done. if you dont want to post it PM me. Ive been thinking about flat beding my 3500.

 

[sn_85]

Thats a clean looking flatbed. do they make it with a goose neck option? if you dont mind me asking how much was it all said and done. if you dont want to post it PM me. Ive been thinking about flat beding my 3500.

Sure, after all said and done it was about $11K. Keep in mind this is their “overland” style tray which uses high strength and lightweight aluminum so it’s more expensive than a typical heavy steel tray. The look, styling and pricing is indicative of that as well. Compared to other camper and overland specific trays the price is about on par with OEV, Mits Alloys, Norweld, Summit Expedition Trucks. I doubt that you could do a goose neck option with their overland trays. I know Brent had been doing commercial trays prior to getting into the off-road and overland space so you may have to talk to him about some of his commercial products if you wanted to add a goose neck option.

 

[UglyViking]

I'd guess that a gooseneck wouldn't be too much of a challenge, as it's not connecting to the bed, it's simply a pass through, and it's especially "easy" as you had done it @sn_85, where the drawer isn't there so you can have it closer to the bed. You may need to find or fab a extension, but it seems rather straight forward as all things go. The only real downside I could see, would be losing the drawer, which can be quite handy for storing all the recovery gear.