4500 Camper/Jeep Hauler Build

[gprguy]

This build has been something I've been planning for years and I thought I'd document it on here. A year ago I started the ordering process for a 5500 to build into our ultimate camping rig, and that didn't go so well unfortunately. The truck was built in February 2023, subsequently hail damaged, and from there who knows. In June I got tired of waiting and found a similar 2022 4500 and bought it.



The Truck

It's a 2022 Ram 4500 4x4, crew cab, 84" CA Limited. It has all the tech stuff including all the cameras not available on the 2023 chassis cabs. Beyond that it has the HD front suspension, dual alternators and a few other options that aren't too important. One big thing it is missing is the dual fuel tanks - something I plan on remedying.

Why settle for a 4500 you may ask when I originally ordered a 5500? Availability is the main thing, but beyond that there's little difference in the trucks beyond the stickers, badges and possibly gear ratios. It's plenty of truck.

The Goal

Build a truck that can haul our 2020 Lance 1062 truck camper (or it's successor, which would also be a large 4000-5000lb camper), have plenty of storage in the bed and around the camper, and at the same time be able to tow our 34' inTech enclosed trailer with our two Jeeps (or any two vehicles) inside it. Our previous truck, a 2018 Ram 3500 dually, could do either of those things but not both at the same time. At least not with the trailer loaded. We did tow the trailer home from the factory empty with the camper on the back and it towed fantastic.

We also enjoy boon docking and forest roads so the truck needs to be mild off-road capable enough (with just the camper, no trailer) but it's not going to be one of the 48" military tired monsters like you see over on Expedition Portal - this is staying a dually for towing safety. It may get some slightly more aggressive tires in the future but that's only because the truck I found didn't come with the off-road tire option from the factory.

The Plan

My list of plans is extensive, and ever changing.. So I'm not going to put an entire list up at this point. Here are the general highlights:

• Torklift Superhitch Magnum 30k receiver hitch
• Kelderman air ride front and rear with the automatic (electronic) height control system
• Hydraulic leveling jack system, similar to what you see on some class A and C RVs, so I can quickly level the truck before putting out my camper's slides
• Add the missing 22 gallon midship fuel tank
• Fabricate the flatbed in my home shop - currently the plan is an aluminum deck (I have a bunch of the same aluminum deck boards that are used in my inTech trailer's floor) with a steel subframe.
• Storage boxes around the bottom of the bed
• Flip up sides to enclose the underside of the truck camper for more storage
• A large backpack type cabinet behind the cab big enough to store our e-bikes
• Aftermarket front bumper of some sort
• Convert to a Night Edition, I can't take all this chrome

In general the Sherptek beds are my inspiration although I have some different takes on some areas.

I'm hoping to have it done enough to be able to camp in the spring of 2024, although I very much doubt it'll be completely done at that point.

Alright, time to catch up what I've gotten done in the first week and 40 (!) miles of ownership.

 

[gprguy]

Reserved..

 

[gprguy]

Step 1 - Build Janky Fenders and Weigh It

The truck was shipped to me from Wisconsin, so it arrived as it came from the factory - no rear fenders of any kind. Step 1 - build some janky wooden fenders out of scraps I had laying around.



Yes... That's sufficiently awful - excellent...

After this I was able to drive it for the first time and took it to the local scales. In case anyone is interested, the stock truck (plus janky fenders) with a nearly full 52 gallon rear tank and myself in it is 9340 lbs. 5680 front and 3660 rear. Subtract 225-ish for myself, so let's say 9110. My 2018 3500 dually was somewhere around 8800 with the stock bed for comparison.

I plan on weighing it at various milestones during the build, should be interesting.

 

[gprguy]

Dog Shelf and Mud Flaps

In my 2018 I built a shelf for my dog so he can see out the windows. It replaces the driver's side rear seat and leaves the passenger side (as well as the flat loading floor) fully functional. Here's a picture of him enjoying himself in the old truck:



And another from somewhere in the middle of the country that I like to call "Wistful Spud":



Anyway, the hope was that since the 4.5 gen trucks use the same cab as the 4th gens, that the shelf would just swap over. Luckily it did just that.



Next task, swap the mudflaps. Why, you may ask? On my original truck I did not order factory front mudflaps and had already ordered a set of Duraflaps. The 4500 I ended up with came with the Mopar front flaps which are perfectly nice, but the Duraflaps provide a little more coverage and will match the rear mudflaps when that happens.

So I thought I'd post up the Mopar vs. Duraflap comparison in case that's ever useful to anyone ordering a chassis cab. These are the standard width and standard length Duraflaps.

Mopar - narrower, extends higher, made of a more flexible rubber material.



Duraflap - wider, does not extend up as high, made of stiff plastic type material.

 

[gprguy]

Torklift Superhitch Magnum 30K

Our enclosed trailer will only weigh about 20k loaded but a little overkill never hurt. This hitch is beef. Easily installed as well, no drilling required.





I've been happy with everything I've bought from Torklift and this is no exception. I will likely just use the top 2.5" receiver for the time being with my existing drop hitch, but having the option to upgrade to their mega weight distributing dual shank setup is nice.

 

[gprguy]

Kelderman Air Suspension - Prologue

In case you are wondering what a full Kelderman setup with the 3H air control looks like, here it is spread out on a trailer. It's just shy of 1,000 lbs of bits and pieces.



Look at the size of that <bleeping> rear sway bar..



Where to even start with all of this? I have an idea - let's start with something else completely because it's neat and my hands aren't filthy yet from working on the suspension. Let's mount their cool 3D printed overhead mount for the air control system:



It replaces the sunglasses holder, and at first glance you may wonder why you just paid $250 for a chunk of 3D printed plastic. Now that I have installed it I can appreciate the price. The 3D printed piece is thick and complex with a lot of curves. There is a hidden internal metal mount that is precision bent and powder coated. It even comes with a little 3D printed keystone type piece that locks the USB cable in place. In short, they've thought of everything except the instructions. That's right, it doesn't come with any. Luckily Kelderman was happy to send me a description and some videos of how it goes in and it was pretty easy. Routing the USB cable across and down the driver's pillar was the most difficult part.

 

[gprguy]

That's caught up to where I am at the moment. The plan is to start on the front suspension tomorrow.. It's already up on my 2 post lift. More to come as events warrant..

 

[Brutal_HO]

Did they fix the AISIN before you took delivery?

 

[gprguy]

Did they fix the AISIN before you took delivery?

Supposedly yes. I've been watching that thread on and off since it's my biggest concern with this truck (built Dec 3rd), although I don't know if my Feb 24th build date 5500 I abandoned would have been unaffected either. I've only recently become aware of that RSU document and they said if it was needed it was done. I've asked for some proof (screenshot of the dealerconnect page for my truck) and I hope to get that once the holiday weekend is past.

We shall see.. Worst case, I have plenty of time to sort that out while I get it built up for camping.

 

[sludge]

When you say the Duraflaps are the standard ones, is that the 12" wide and 10" long ones?

I need some for my 5500. Too much mud gets flung on the truck without any flaps.

Did you order them straight from Duraflap? Price? How do you like them?

Thanks.

 

[jetrinka]

Holy smokes awesome build thread! Subscribed!

 

[gprguy]

Yep, the standard 12" wide 10" long.

I did - they seem a little pricey at $120, but they are no drill which is more than you can say for the Mopar flaps. The Duraflaps come with some CNC machined plastic spacers along with some metal brackets that are black powder coated. The hardware is all black anodized SS. Good stuff.

The Mopars on the other hand use some factory holes but require drilling several holes in the flare (4 or so? I didn't count). That said if anyone can use a set of very slightly used Mopar front mudflaps for a 4500/5500 only and doesn't mind sourcing their own mounting hardware, I'd be happy to let these go cheap. The factory uses plastic rivets for most of the connections and I had to drill them out to take them off.

Edit: Yes I did order them right from Duraflap. Been using them on my Rams for 10-15 years, can't even remember. Never been disappointed with them.

 

[sludge]

Out of curiosity, did all of the frame mount bolt holes on the Torklift side plates and spacers line up with your truck's frame holes? Just wondering if they had fixed this yet. When I installed mine a year ago, one of the holes on the frame didn't match up with the Torklift hole. I think it was the single bolt hole for the top "frame clamp" piece, if I remember correctly. I found pictures on the internet that verified that Ram had actually changed the location of this hole some time prior to 2021 and Torklift wasn't aware of it yet. Torklift was very good in working with me. I sent the side plates back and they drilled new holes and manufactured a couple of new top bracket mounts. Great company and a great hitch.

 

[gprguy]

Holy smokes awesome build thread! Subscribed!

Thanks! BTW, if anyone is interested in any detail pictures of the chassis/frame/etc, just let me know.. I think there's not nearly enough info out there about the chassis cabs.

Out of curiosity, did all of the frame mount bolt holes on the Torklift side plates and spacers line up with your truck's frame holes? Just wondering if they had fixed this yet. When I installed mine a year ago, one of the holes on the frame didn't match up with the Torklift hole. I think it was the single bolt hole for the top "frame clamp" piece, if I remember correctly. I found pictures on the internet that verified that Ram had actually changed the location of this hole some time prior to 2021 and Torklift wasn't aware of it yet. Torklift was very good in working with me. I sent the side plates back and they drilled new holes and manufactured a couple of new top bracket mounts. Great company and a great hitch.

100% bolt on, I didn't have to drill or modify a thing. If that's a result of you - my thanks. They are a great company, and local to me. I was able to go pick up the hitch at their factory store.. Back in March.. When I thought my 5500 was due to be shipped.

 

[sludge]

Fantastic! Glad they got it updated and it worked out for you. Their hitch works fantastic with my camper and boat. As an added bonus, I'm able to mount my spare on the extension bar using a mounting plate from Stablecamper. Another great company to work with.

 

[gprguy]

Nice. Agreed on Stablecamper as well - I almost ended up with one of their setups but have come to the conclusion that I absolutely hate unloading the camper anywhere other than a solid concrete floor out of the wind.

My big goal for this project is to slide the camper forward just enough to allow the tongue of our enclosed trailer to poke under the tail of the camper and everything clear, but not so far forward that I can't fit our e-bikes in the front cabinet. The trailer is made for it with a long and flat tongue, and it cleared on the old truck, but I want some more room for safety.


(Just to reiterate - I only towed it with the camper on home from the factory and the trailer was empty. Never loaded.)

Anyway - not as much progress made as I wanted today but I did strip the front end down. Should be able to finish it up tomorrow with some manual fill valves at least.

 

[jetrinka]

Honest question. Between the weight on the tongue and the weight of the camper aft of the axle are you worried about stressing the frame forward of the axle?

 

[gprguy]

Honest question. Between the weight on the tongue and the weight of the camper aft of the axle are you worried about stressing the frame forward of the axle?

I am not, for several reasons - one being that the chassis cab frame is just a different animal all together, it is very thick and the dropdown section is in some areas double thick with reinforcement. My flatbed subframe will further reinforce it. Also I will be well within the stated weight limits for 4500/5500 axle and tire weights, the Kelderman suspension is the same as a 5500 gets, the camper has a perfect 48" CG which will be slightly forward of the rear axle by my plans, and the Kelderman dual bag setup really spreads the weight out over a larger area than a single bag. I'm also going to be nowhere near the towing limits for these trucks - 18-20k, mine shows 23k towing capacity in the lookup tool but with just gear ratio changes that jumps up into the mid 30's.

That all said - I was absolutely concerned of this with my 3500 DRW and that's why we never towed the trailer loaded and decided to swap up to a chassis cab. That's why I have a nice 2021 enclosed trailer with only a couple thousand miles on it.

 

[jetrinka]

I am not, for several reasons - one being that the chassis cab frame is just a different animal all together, it is very thick and the dropdown section is in some areas double thick with reinforcement. My flatbed subframe will further reinforce it. Also I will be well within the stated weight limits for 4500/5500 axle and tire weights, the Kelderman suspension is the same as a 5500 gets, the camper has a perfect 48" CG which will be slightly forward of the rear axle by my plans, and the Kelderman dual bag setup really spreads the weight out over a larger area than a single bag. I'm also going to be nowhere near the towing limits for these trucks - 18-20k, mine shows 23k towing capacity in the lookup tool but with just gear ratio changes that jumps up into the mid 30's.

That all said - I was absolutely concerned of this with my 3500 DRW and that's why we never towed the trailer loaded and decided to swap up to a chassis cab. That's why I have a nice 2021 enclosed trailer with only a couple thousand miles on it.

Awesome!

 

[gprguy]

@sludge Or anyone else thinking of ordering some Duraflaps - I just received an email from them that they are doing 15% off online orders, today (the 4th) only. Code at checkout is 4JULY2023.